Instant Reaction: No. 20 Washington Drops Mt. St. Marys 56-46
Instant Reaction
It seems appropriate that the Huskies debuted their Adidas Star Wars kicks this season as Naz Carter did some Skywalking of his own as number 20 Washington dropped the Upset Minded, Mt St Mary’s Mountaineers 56-46. Seattle basketball fans haven't seen a thunderous dunk like Carter’s since the Sonics’ Shawn Kemp was trolling Allton Lister, Chris Mullen, and the Golden State Warriors.
The Huskies struggled to find the bottom of the net early and often as they found themselves tied with the Mountaineers 21 at the break. In fact, the Huskies trailed the Mountaineers 34-33 halfway through the second half until Washington’s Hameir Wright dropped a 3 with 10:37 to put the Dawgs up for good.
The Washington D began to turn the defensive screws on Mt. St. Mary’s as they force 11 second half turnovers as the home team pulled away in the end.
As if they weren’t already, Freshman Isiah Stewart put the country on notice that he can score in a variety of ways inside the paint as he went 7 for 10 on the night to lead all scorers with scorers with 16. Carter helped out with 14 and Wright chipped in with 9.
What We Saw
A young Husky offense that struggled to find rhythm and a defense that will scare a lot of teams.
Jaden McDaniels doesn't have to score to be impactful as he had 5 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Huskies let he Mountaineers hang around far too long. In fact, Washington trailed for over 12 minutes of the contest
Key Stats
Isiah Stewart was 7 for 10 from the field and finished with 16 points in 35 minutes
Jaden McDaniels had only 5 points but 9 rebounds
Mt. St. Marys' leading scorer was Vado Morse who shot just 4 of 15 from the field
Turning Point (s)
There was a buzz around Alaska Airlines Arena when the Dawg Pack learned that the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats lost to Evansville...once they looked up from their phones Google Maps App for where the city of Evansville was actually located. They realized that Mt. St. Marys was to be reckoned with and they began to impact the game with crowd noise.
Naziah Carter's soaring, sky-walking dunk. The Huskies have had some little big-time dunkers like Nate Robinson and Isiah Thomas but Carter and his 44" vertical leap brought the crowd (and internet) to life. It was obvious that UW had the superior athletes and they simply needed to execute on the offensive side of the ball.
Where Do They Go From Here?
The Huskies hit the road for their second time above the 49th parallel as they take on Tennessee in Toronto Saturday at 200 in the James Naismith Classic.
