Maybe call them the “Killer B’s”? Four Washington players were in double figures Monday night as the Huskies dropped Seattle University 77-66. Kieon Brooks, Cole Bajema, Jamal Bey, and Braxton Meah combined for 64 of the Huskies’ points.
Trailing by 2 at halftime, 40-38 the Washington Husky men’s basketball used a 20-2 second half surge to pull away from their cross-town rival Seattle University. The Huskies went up by seventeen 76-59 on a Oregon-transfer Frank Kepnang’s 10-foot jumper.
The Huskies, separated by 3 miles from Seattle U, moved to 5-1 on the season and will get ready for Oregon State on Thursday.
On the night, Washington had four players in double figures:
–Kieon Brooks, Jr. with 20 points, going 6-14 from the field and 7 for 9 from the freethrow line
–Braxton Meah, 18 points, 7-7 and 4-4
–Cole Bajema, 16 points, 5-10, and 5-5
–Jamal Bay, 10 points, 4-5 and 2-2
In the first half the Huskies shot 43-percent from the floor before heating up to 58-percent in the second half the Huskies. Much of UW’s points came on easy buckets in transition as the Husky defense had 14 fast break points off of 10 steals.
Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks, Jr. after the game said that the Huskies ratcheted up the intensity in the second half.
“We came out with a lot more fight than we did in the first half,” he said. “In the first half they pushed us around a bit.”
The pushing by the Redhawks led to 12 freethrows for Washington connecting on 11. Even with the advantage from the charity stripe Washington found itself down by 2 at the break.
“They kinda wanted it more than us,” Brooks said of Washington’s first half effort.
Three and a half minutes into the second half the Redhawks appeared to want it a bit more, taking a 6-point advantage when Tyson Cameron dropped in a 3-pointer giving. The deficit was a needed wakeup call for Washington as they went on an 8-0 run.
The teams traded buckets until Frank Kepnang hit a jumper with 12:51 remaining in the contest giving Washington a 54-53 advantage–a lead the home team would not relinquish.
“We fought harder than they did,” Brooks said of the Washington’s second half performance.
The defensive effort was focused on the Redhawk 3-point shooters, limiting SU to just 4 of 20. The Huskies went 0-6 from behind the arc in the 2nd half.
For the game Washington shot 22-26 from the freethrow line.
Effort wise on the glass Seattle U’s effort led to 26-16 rebounding advantage before the break. However, the Huskies flipped the script outrebounding Seattle U, 20-16 in the second frame.
Where the Huskies have made strides since last season is points in the paint, outscoring SU by a 2-1 margin–with over half of their points in the key.
“If teams are going to try to overpower the Huskies it won’t be easy,” said RealDawg.com’s Trevor Mueller. “At 7-1 Meah is a physical presence that can block shots and score in the paint.”
Meah had a perfect night from the field going 7 for 7 and 4 for 4 from the freethrow line– or eighteen points in 28 minutes.
When Meah is forcing opponents to shoot from perimeter is where Brooks says the Huskies are at their best.
“Our defense is our identity,” he said. “When we can force turnovers we can get out and run with the best of them.”
Next up for the Huskies are a road contest to open conference play in Corvallis, Oregon against the OSU Beavers. That game tips off at 7:00 on ESPN/U.
