With a 27-point debut, UW freshman Isaiah Thomas worth the wait

Most of the 7,836 who braved the rain-slicked roads to get to Edmundson Pavilion on Thursday night came to see if Isaiah Thomas really has it.

And on this night, as I.T. made his long-awaited Huskies debut, he unquestionably did.

The 5-foot-8 freshman guard led the Huskies to an easy 105-85 exhibition men's basketball victory over Western Washington, scoring a game-high 27 points, hitting 9 of 12 shots — including 8 of 8 inside the three-point line — and 8 of 12 free throws.

Thomas, used to such offensive outbursts from his days at Curtis High School in University Place, where he scored a record 51 points in a Class 4A state tournament game in 2006, called it "just another day at the office."

But senior forward Jon Brockman saw it a little differently.

"Pretty impressive for a first game as a freshman," Brockman said. "He's a fun player to play with. He's going to do some big things."

It's the kind of start Huskies coaches long envisioned for Thomas, who committed to UW in the spring of 2006 to much fanfare while a junior at Curtis, where he was The Seattle Times' Class 4A Player of the Year. But academic problems forced a two-year detour to South Kent (Conn.) Prep School and delayed his arrival to UW by a season.

Thomas admitted to some early jitters in his Huskies debut, but he settled down quickly, scoring 12 points in the first half. He scored 15 in the second half before leaving with 2:36 remaining, playing just 19 minutes.

He scored a lot of his shots on drives in the lane, saying that once he saw his outside shot wasn't working — he was 1 of 4 on three-pointers — he decided to penetrate.

"He did a nice job," said Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar, whose expectations for Thomas run high.

Romar wasn't as pleased with everything else, however.

The game was never in doubt, as UW took an early 30-12 lead and the lead grew as high as 30 in the second half. But Romar found some reasons for concern.

The Huskies committed 20 turnovers and let Western score 58 points in the second half, 20 in the last five minutes.

"We just had too many lapses," said Romar. "Too many times we were negligent with the ball. Too many times we didn't get down and guard the way we should have. We can't do that."

On the other hand, the Huskies showed the improved athleticism that should make up for some of the ills that cost them during their 16-17 season of a year ago.

The Huskies set the tempo throughout, forcing 22 turnovers and outrebounding the Vikings 56-35.

All of that led to easy baskets, as five Huskies reached double figures: Justin Dentmon scored 18, Brockman 14, Quincy Pondexter 13 and Matthew Bryan-Amaning 12.

Brockman, despite a bruised back suffered in practice Monday, grabbed 18 rebounds.

And the Huskies also showed vast improvement at the free-throw line, hitting 20 of 29 (69 percent). Last season, the Huskies shot an NCAA-low 58.6 from the line. Romar noted later, however, that UW was 16 of 19 at the line in its exhibition game a year ago.

Western, picked to finish second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of NCAA Division II, hit 13 of 21 three-pointers and was led by the 17 points of O'Dea High School grad Michael Duty.

The Huskies begin the regular season Nov. 15 at Portland at 8 p.m.

NOTE

• Every Husky suited up except freshman forward Tyreese Breshers, still recovering from offseason shin surgery. Center Artem Wallace, still recovering from surgery to repair a knee injury suffered in a loss to Valparaiso last March, didn't play.

WESTERN WASHINGTON 85
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Schell	20	2-4	2-2	2-4	1	4	6
Duty	28	7-16	1-3	0-6	1	2	17
Graham	34	3-8	5-9	1-3	4	2	13
Anderson	34	5-15	2-2	2-7	4	2	15
Alford	23	2-6	4-4	0-0	0	2	8
McAllister	10	0-0	0-0	0-4	1	3	0
Wiederkehr	7	1-3	4-4	0-0	2	1	7
Blanche	3	0-0	0-0	1-2	0	0	0
Mitchell	9	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	2	6
Brittinen	18	0-5	0-0	1-3	1	3	0
Severson	14	4-8	2-2	0-2	2	1	13
	200	26-67	20-26	10-35	16	22	85

Percentages: FG .388, FT .769. Three-point goals: 13-21, (Duty 2-3, Graham 2-3, Anderson 3-6, Alford 0-2, Wiederkehr 1-2, Mitchell 2-2, Severson 3-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2, (Mitchell, Brittinen). Turnovers: 22, (Schell, Duty, Graham 4, Anderson 9, Alford 2, Blanche, Brittinen, Severson 3). Steals: 11, (Schell 2, Graham, Anderson 5, Alford 2, Severson).

WASHINGTON 105
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Pondexter	22	5-11	2-4	5-8	1	1	13
Brockman	22	5-13	4-6	7-18	2	3	14
Gant	19	1-3	2-2	1-5	0	3	4
Thomas	19	9-12	8-12	0-2	3	1	27
Dentmon	23	7-10	0-0	1-4	2	3	18
Overton	22	2-4	3-3	0-0	2	2	7
B-Amaning	18	6-10	0-0	0-2	1	0	12
Suggs	13	0-5	0-0	1-1	1	3	0
Holiday	11	0-5	0-0	2-3	1	1	0
Turner	20	1-7	0-0	1-6	3	1	3
Wolfinger	11	3-4	1-2	3-4	1	1	7
	200	39-84	20-29	22-56	17	19	105

Percentages: FG .464, FT .690. Three-point goals: 7-21, (Pondexter 1-2, Thomas 1-4, Dentmon 4-6, Overton 0-1, Suggs 0-2, Holiday 0-1, Turner 1-5). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 7, (Gant, Dentmon, Bryan-Amaning 2, Holiday 3). Turnovers: 20, (Pondexter, Brockman 4, Thomas 2, Overton 4, Bryan-Amaning, Suggs, Holiday 3, Turner, Wolfinger 3). Steals: 10, (Brockman, Thomas, Dentmon 3, Overton 2, Bryan-Amaning, Holiday, Turner).

Western Washington	27	58	—	85
Washington	50	55	—	105

Attendance: 7,836. Officials: Mark Reishling, Mike Scyphers, Bill Kennedy. Technical fouls: None.