Emmitt Matthews Jr. finished with 21 points and nine rebounds to help Washington pick up a 73-62 victory over Northern Arizona on Thursday night in Seattle.
The Huskies (1-1) bounced back from a poor shooting performance that led to a season-opening loss to Northern Illinois on Tuesday. Washington attacked the rim and earned numerous trips to the free-throw line.
Washington made 24 of 35 free throws, earning 11 more foul-shot attempts than the Lumberjacks (0-2), who shot 18 of 24 at the line. The Huskies sank 20 of 29 free throws in the second half.
The Huskies trailed 48-46 with 13 1/2 minutes left in a game that had eight lead changes to that point. Washington then went on a 13-1 run, holding the Lumberjacks without a made field goal for more than seven minutes.
A pair of Mason Stark jumpers cut Washington’s lead to 59-55 with 6:11 left and kept Northern Arizona in the game momentarily. However, the Huskies pulled away for good using a 10-1 surge that began with a Matthews 3-pointer and featured five points from Terrell Brown Jr.
After shooting 9-for-24 against Northern Illinois, Brown Jr. shot a more efficient 4-for-9 from the field Tuesday en route to 11 points. Neither team shot well from the floor as Northern Arizona hit 37 percent and Washington made 36.7 percent.
Washington’s Jamal Bey totaled 15 points despite shooting 4-for-13 on field-goal attempts. Daejon Davis had 10 points and five rebounds before fouling out late in the second half.
Northern Arizona battled better than it did in an 81-52 loss at Arizona on Tuesday. However, the Lumberjacks were unable to overcome 21 turnovers that led to 16 Huskies points.
Ezekiel Richards scored 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting for the Lumberjacks, and Jalen Cone had 11 points.
Northern Arizona’s Carson Towt grabbed 13 rebounds and finished with nine points before he also fouled out in the closing minutes.
–Field Level Media
