The University of Washington Huskies men’s basketball team (5-2) used a career night performance from Dominic Green to overpower Eastern Washinton 83 to 59 Tuesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena. Green hit seven three points on his way to scoring a career-high 25 points. Guard David Crisp added 14 points. Regardless of who the opponent was, the Huskies were in search of a win after last weeks heartbreaking buzzer beater loss to Minnesota in the Championship game of the Vancouver Shootout.
The Huskies have consistent scorers in Jaylen Nowell ( 18.6 pts) and Noah Dickerson (16.6) but have been searching for a third score to keep teams from doubling up on either of the dynamic duo. A third consistent score would make teams have to play hard honest defense. While it was against Eastern and way too early to tell, Green showed that he can spread defenses with his perimeter shooting, which then can open up the middle for Nowel and Dickerson.
On Tuesday night Green hit four 3-pointers in the first half which helped Washington build an 18 point lead. Green continued his shooting prowess in the second half as the Dawgs led ballone dtheir lead to 27 points .
The Huskies made 12 of 28 3-pointers. Green was 7 of 10 on 3s, finishing two off the school record of nine 3s set by Ryan Appleby in February 2008 against Oregon State. Green’s previous high was six 3-pointers last season against Bethune-Cookman. While he is averaging just 7.9 pts a game, Green leads the team with a 3 point field shooting percentage of 452%. A third consistent perimeter threat would allow the Huskies to move the ball around and find the open shooters. Something the Huskies did well on Tuesday night according to Husky head coach Mike Hopkins.
” If you win by one or by 10 or by 20, whatever it is, I just want my team to play well. It is never about the score it is about the performance. I felt that for the most part in the first half, we moved the ball well and found the shooters, when you do that it is a positive vibe and you pick up some rhythm, Hopkins said after the game.
“We were able to get off some shots, if you want to win you have to knock down shots. I think that the guys and the staff worked hard all week. Defensively for the most part, we held them at the three point line early. I felt that when we had a pretty significant lead we didn’t contest the way that we normally contested, which allowed them to hit some threes. I told the team that, in order to be a great team, we have to cover those shots no matter what.”
The Huskies played the first half without Dickerson, their second-leading scorer because he was not feeling well. He scored his first basket with 16:50 remaining on the low block and finished with seven points in 11 minutes.
Jesse Hunt led Eastern Washington (1-4) with 15 points, but the Eagles simply did not have answers for Washington’s hot shooting. The Huskies
Green’s previous career-high of 20 points came against Western Kentucky in November 2016. … Nowell flirted with a triple-double, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
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Post-Game Quotes
#1 David Crisp
How did the game against Minnesota impact you guys?
It made us hungry. We saw a lot of things that we could have done differently. We came back and practiced and focused, we didn’t hang our heads or pout, we just keep trying to get better.
How important is it that you get a third scorer to go along with Noah Dickerson and Jalen Nowell?
We always talk about that. When the ball is moving, it could be anybody’s night. We have to stay unselfish, we have to make sure that we are always playing good basketball and making the right plays. It is easy when you can just drive in and kick out to the open man. Every body is happy when we have nights like this, everyone on the bench is already on their feet waiting for the shot to go in.
What can you take from this game that will help you when you face tougher opponents?
Staying locked in. That is the hardest thing I these types of games. When you get a comfortable lead and start to slack off. We have to continue to force guys to miss their shots. When you get lazy, you let them get good shots and that builds their momentum. No matter if we have a lead, or if we are down, we have to have the same mindsets. We have to play harder every possession.
GAME STATS
