UW Men's Basketball | Huskies pull away in second half

The Huskies are still far off-Broadway, though they took another step closer to getting there Tuesday night, beating New Jersey Tech 88-47 in a first-round game of the Western Regional of the NIT Season Tip-Off.

For a few brief moments, the Huskies looked like opening acts themselves, letting the undermanned Highlanders -- who were playing Division II basketball until last season -- hang within relative striking distance until late in the first half.

But a 10-0 run to end the first half blew the game open, giving UW a 45-24 halftime lead, and the Huskies cruised from there in what was their regular-season opener in front of 8,655 at Edmundson Pavilion.

To reach their goal of spending Thanksgiving in New York, they will have to beat Utah in the regional final tonight at 7:30 p.m. The Utes, looking like an improved unit under first-year coach Jim Boylen from the team that went 11-19 last season, beat High Point 77-64 in the opening game of the tournament. The winner of tonight's game will advance to the semifinals of the NIT next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.

"I think a lot of people around us have already bought their plane tickets, so we have to perform or they are going to New York without us," said UW forward Jon Brockman.

UW jumped to a 17-3 lead six minutes in, keyed by some hot shooting from the three-point line -- the Huskies were 6 for 10 in the first half -- and the expected rout seemed on.

But some sloppy play by UW -- the Huskies had 12 turnovers in the first half and were just 5 for 13 on free throws -- allowed the visitors to stay within about 10 or so until shortly before halftime.

"We will have to be better [tonight]," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar, who celebrated his 49th birthday. "If we commit 12 turnovers in the first half [tonight] it will be a long first half and an uphill battle in the second half."

UW finished with 15 turnovers.

Morris, playing his first game as a Husky after sitting out last year as a transfer from Stanford, led all scorers with 16.

"I felt really comfortable out there," Morris said.

Another player coming off a redshirt year, guard Joel Smith, who missed last year with a foot injury, added 12, as did Brockman. Quincy Pondexter added 11 after scoring just one in the first half when he concentrated on defense and didn't take a shot.

Justin Garris scored 10 to lead New Jersey Tech, which lost 70-28 in its opener Saturday at Manhattan. New Jersey Tech was 5-24 last season and is rated 340th out of 341 teams in the Sagarin ratings this week.

Utah wins

Utah defeated High Point 77-64 behind the 18 points and 10 rebounds of 7-1 center Luke Nevill and the second-half shooting of guard Johnnie Bryant to advance to the West Regional Finals.

Utah (2-0) led just 32-28 at halftime but broke the game open early in the second half, with Bryant scoring 10 points in a span of just over two minutes.

High Point was led by the 19 points and 10 rebounds of Arizona Reid, the preseason pick as the Big South Player of the Year.

Nevill hit 6 of 12 shots overall, going 3-6 in each half, in having his way inside.

Kim Tillie added 12 points off the bench for Utah, which outrebounded High Point 34-20.

Gant to redshirt

Huskies freshman forward Darnell Gant will redshirt this season, the school announced before the game. The 6-8, 206-pound Gant, a graduate of Crenshaw High in Los Angeles, said he initiated the decision in part to gain some weight and strength and also to improve his game. His decision leaves UW with 11 active players until guard Ryan Appleby returns from a broken thumb.

Four to be signed

Today is the beginning of the early signing period for recruits in the class of 2008, and the Huskies are expected to sign four players, including former Curtis High guard Isaiah Thomas, who is now at South Kent (Conn.) School. The others expected to sign are 6-6 guard Scott Suggs of Washington High in Washington, Mo; 6-4 guard Elston Turner Jr. of Elkins High in Houston; and 6-6, 260-pound forward Tyreese Breshers of Price High in Los Angeles. The class is rated 14th in the nation and fourth among Pac-10 schools by Scout.com.

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com

Box score

NEW JERSEY TECH
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Milosevic	28	1-5	1-2	0-6	0	3	3
Stonkus	27	3-3	0-2	0-3	0	5	6
Wilson	32	2-5	0-1	2-5	3	2	4
JGarris	23	4-9	0-5	0-2	2	3	10
Peters	20	2-7	0-0	0-1	1	4	5
Epps	15	2-4	0-0	0-1	0	1	5
Magnus	7	1-1	1-2	0-1	2	1	4
Jefferson	2	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	3
Skema	3	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	2
Lyn	22	2-7	0-1	1-1	2	2	5
Edwards	21	0-3	0-0	0-0	1	0	0
	200	19-46	2-13	4-25	11	21	47

Percentages: FG .413, FT .154. Three-point goals: 7-14, .500 (J.Garris 2-4, Jefferson 1-1, Magnus 1-1, Peters 1-2, Lyn 1-3, Epps 1-3). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 4 (Edwards, Wilson, Milosevic, Stonkus). Turnovers: 29 (Wilson 10, J.Garris 6, Lyn 5, Stonkus 2, Epps 2, Magnus, Edwards, Milosevic, Peters). Steals: 5 (J.Garris 2, Milosevic, Edwards, Peters). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
	Pondexter		24	4-8	3-5	2-5	2	3	11

Brockman	21	4-8	4-7	2-9	1	3	12
Smith	20	5-7	0-0	1-2	1	0	12
Overton	20	1-3	2-2	1-2	6	3	4
Dentmon	26	1-5	0-2	0-2	4	0	3
Oliver	21	4-7	1-1	1-3	3	0	11
Morris	23	8-13	0-0	3-5	1	2	16
Bryan-Amnng	16	4-8	0-2	1-3	1	2	8
Wallace	7	2-4	0-2	2-4	0	1	4
Holiday	11	1-3	0-0	1-6	2	2	2
Wolfinger	11	2-3	0-0	0-0	0	2	5
	200	36-69	10-21	16-46	21	18	88

Percentages: FG .522, FT .476. Three-point goals: 6-15, .400 (Oliver 2-4, Smith 2-4, Wolfinger 1-1, Dentmon 1-3, Morris 0-1, Overton 0-2). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3 (Morris, Holiday, Smith). Turnovers: 15 (Pondexter 3, Overton 3, Morris 2, Brockman 2, Bryan-Amaning, Oliver, Dentmon, Smith, Wolfinger). Steals: 13 (Oliver 3, Smith 2, Bryan-Amaning 2, Morris 2, Dentmon 2, Pondexter, Brockman). Technical fouls: None.

N.J. Tech	24	23	--	47
Washington	45	43	--	88

Attendance: 8,655.