Stony Brook-Washington Preview

Given its unheralded opponent, Washington would appear to have a promising chance to secure its best start in 40 seasons, but the 13th-ranked Huskies also are focused on cleaning up a sloppy performance from their latest win.

They'll try to put on a better showing in their final game before opening Pac-12 play Sunday night against Stony Brook.

Washington (11-0) has matched its best start in coach Lorenzo Romar's 13 seasons and has a chance to win its first 12 games for the first time since 1975-76 when it faces the Seawolves (7-6). Stony Brook has suffered all of its losses on the road and has dropped eight in a row there dating back to Feb. 27.

It's also 0-13 against AP Top 25 opponents since joining Division I in 1999-2000, with all of those defeats taking place on the road. The latest was a 73-62 loss at No. 21 Connecticut on Nov. 25, 2012.

Washington will try to send the Seawolves to another loss while cutting down its season-high 18 turnovers from a 66-57 victory over visiting Tulane on Monday. It averaged 11.5 in its first 10 games.

"We've played 11 games and I think this is the first one where we just weren't ourselves," Romar said. "We turned the ball over far too many times. We just weren't ourselves. A lot of balls we hand in our hands we just weren't able to hold onto them. But we were able to survive."

The Huskies overcame those miscues by shooting a season-best 52.1 percent and limiting the Green Wave to 31.7 percent. That continued a season-long trend of stingy defense - Washington has limited opponents to a conference-low 33.6 percent shooting and is third in the Pac-12 in scoring defense, allowing 58.4 points per game.

Shawn Kemp Jr. provided a team-best 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting for Washington, which has connected at 50.6 percent in its last three games. Leading scorer Nigel Williams-Goss, who contributed 14 points and nine assists, also acknowledged his team wasn't at its best.

The Huskies open their conference slate at California on Friday.

"We know we didn't play with the mental focus that we needed to," Williams-Goss said. "I think some of our intensity waved up and down throughout the game."

Stony Brook has won back-to-back games heading into its first matchup with Washington after losing four in a row for the first time in seven seasons.

The Seawolves also boast one of the nation's leading rebounders in Jameel Warney (12.8 per game). The junior forward and reigning America East player of the year is also averaging 14.9 points and had 10 points and 12 rebounds Tuesday for his NCAA-best 11th double-double of the season.

Leading scorer Carson Puriefoy, averaging 15.2 points, scored a team-best 18 in a 59-47 victory over American on Tuesday.

The junior guard is averaging 18.5 points in his last four games and was at his best against a pair of major conference opponents. He scored a career-high 26 points at Georgia on Nov. 18 and had 25 at Providence on Dec. 13.