Seattle University hung tough with its fellow Division I program from the Emerald City, but the University of Washington put together a significant run to start the second half on its way to a 63-48 victory over the Redhawks Friday night at KeyArena at Seattle Center.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) finished with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals, but he shot just 4-of-19 from the field, including 2-of-11 from behind the three-point line. Freshman Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) was a bright spot off the bench for the Redhawks, also scoring 10 points, while William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) and Jack Crook (Manchester, England) each led Seattle U with nine rebounds as the Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 45-40.
After Washington’s Quevyn Winters hit two three-pointers midway through the first half to tie the game at 11-11, Seattle U scored the next eight points, half of them scored by Cohee. Washington responded with seven unanswered points, including another three-pointer by Winters and a dunk from Shawn Kemp Jr., but Seattle U was able to maintain a 21-20 advantage at halftime.
Washington (2-0) took control in the second half, outscoring Seattle U 19-4 over the first five-and-a-half minutes after halftime. Andrew Andrews led the Huskies with three three-pointers and two free throws during that stretch, while Kemp once again excited the crowd with back-to-back alley-oop dunks.
Down by 16 halfway through the second half after another three-pointer from Winters, Seattle U slowly cut into the Husky lead, outscoring Washington 12-3 over a five-and-a-half minute span, punctuated by a jumper from Cohee. Nigel Williams-Goss hit a jumper to stop the Redhawk run, and the Huskies scored the final nine points of the game to earn its 10th straight victory over Seattle U.
“I thought we gave up offensive rebounds in the second half which were big, plus we got extended a little bit and did not stick to our game plan. It’s early in the year and you want your guys to stick with the game plan, but that is not always the way it works. But I think the guys played hard, and we gave ourselves a chance to be in the game and compete,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Kemp and Winters led the Huskies with 12 points apiece, with Williams-Goss earning 11 points and six assists, Andrews also scoring 11 points, and Robert Upshaw coming off the bench to contribute nine points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots. As a team, the Huskies shot 37.3 percent from the field (22-of-59), including 8-of-26 from behind the three-point line, and 68.8 percent from the free throw line (11-of-16).
The Redhawks struggled offensively all night long, hitting only 28.6 percent of its field goal attempts (20-of-70), including 3-of-21 from behind the three-point line. Seattle U committed only 13 turnovers, but they led to 19 Husky points, while the Redhawks were able to score only six points off 11 Washington turnovers.
Seattle University (1-2) will face Montana in the second game of the Marv Harshman Classic doubleheader Sunday, Nov. 23, starting at 7:30 p.m. at KeyArena. Tickets are on sale for the Marv Harshman Classic, also featuring a matchup between Washington and Pacific, through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office. The Seattle U-Montana contest will be streamed online on the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch), plus it will be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr.