Wright State's rally falls short against Washington

No. 14 Huskies posts big first-half lead, then hangs on to beat WSU in season opener.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 1:36 AM Saturday, November 14, 2009

SEATTLE — They had a namesake of basketball great Isaiah Thomas and a Pac-10 championship and, of course, the home court, so it didn’t seem odd the Washington Huskies held a 12-point lead at halftime Friday night, Nov. 13, against Wright State.

But there were the Huskies with under five minutes to play trying to figure out how Wright State was giving them such a hard time at Bank of America Arena on the banks of Lake Washington in the Athletes in Action Classic.

Suddenly, the Raiders were within six points and even the other two teams in the tournament — Belmont and Portland State — were trying to figure out what was going on.

Well, senior Todd Brown was busy making baskets, scoring 21, showing he’s ready to go from the start of this season rather than wait until December, as he did last year.

There also was the play of junior point guard N’Gai Evans, who would not give in and kept his team in contention even with usual starters Vaughn Duggins and John David Gardner on the bench with a suspension and an injury.

In the end, it didn’t make much difference as Washington beat Wright State 74-69 behind the 30 points put up by Thomas, a guy whose father named him because he lost a bet and his wife wanted a Biblical name for her child anyway.

Washington, No. 14 in the country, plays its second game tonight, against Belmont, in the three-day tournament, while Wright State plays Portland State. Sunday, WSU meets Belmont, while Washington finishes the tournament against Portland State.

As turning points go, midway in the first half was a good start. Although the Raiders were having problems hitting their 3-point shots — and starting senior forward Cory Cooperwood was out of the game with two fouls before two minutes had been played — they were staying nearly even until they lapsed nearly five minutes without scoring a point.

After Brown drove to the basket and completed a three-point play to draw the Raiders within a point, 14-13, with 13:22 to play, Wright State didn’t score again until Brown dunked with 8:33 to go.

In the meantime, Washington ran off 11 straight points and the defending Pac-10 champions never let their lead dip under double figures the rest of the half.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.