UW struggles with free throws, three-pointers but easily downs Central in exhibition

As auditions go, the Washington Huskies men's basketball team accomplished their top goal: No one got hurt.

Otherwise it was difficult to draw any meaningful conclusion from a game the 14th-ranked Huskies dominated while drubbing Division II Central Washington 77-48 in an exhibition Wednesday at Edmundson Pavilion.

Still this much is known: Isaiah Thomas can still score at will, UW's harassing defense drives opponents crazy and the Huskies still struggle shooting free throws and three-pointers.

And in the search to replace departed seniors Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon, 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman forward Tyreese Breshers and Venoy Overton stepped into the spotlight.

Breshers, who sat out last season because of leg injuries, gave a glimpse of his potential in the first half. He bullied the Wildcats beneath the rim and tallied six points and three rebounds in 14 minutes in a Brockman-like manner.

He played sparingly in the second half before fouling out.

"He hadn't played in literally a year and a half," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "For not playing in a year and a half, he did pretty good."

When Breshers tired, center Matthew Bryan-Amaning and forward Darnell Gant filled the void in the middle, and they each had a game-high 10 rebounds.

Overton, who lost his starting job at point guard last season to Dentmon, returned to the starting lineup and began the scoring, draining an open three-pointer.

Aside from playing his trademark harassing defense, Overton (11 points) displayed command running the offense and led UW to a 43-18 lead at the break.

Despite the 25-point lead, the Huskies' offense was stymied at times by Central's 2-3 zone.

"At the start, on the defensive end we flowed together, but on the offensive end it was kind of just stand and watch," Overton said. "We didn't work too much on zone offense and it was a little different, so we had to make a quick adjustment."

As good as Overton was, the Huskies wouldn't have cruised to an easy win without Thomas, who scored 14 points in the first half and finished with a game-high 18.

"We know the ins and outs of our team," said Thomas, who had six rebounds, two assists and two steals to negate four turnovers. "It's just a matter of getting better individually."

The Huskies made it a laugher early in the second half when senior co-captain Quincy Pondexter scored seven points in the opening minutes, including a layup that pushed Washington ahead 55-25.

He finished with 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting and seven rebounds.

Romar experimented with different lineups and used a 12-man rotation. He lamented the Huskies' poor free-throw (18 of 37) and three-point (5 of 21) shooting.

Despite forcing 21 turnovers and holding Central to 23.4 percent shooting from the field, Romar said UW must improve defensively before it begins the regular season Nov. 13 against Wright State.

"The things that glared to me is we fouled too much," he said. "We've got to be able to defend without fouling as much, and that will come. We've been preaching such an aggressive style defense, we get overzealous at times."

Washington committed 26 fouls and sent Central to the free-throw line 35 times, but the Wildcats made just 15.

Newcomer Abdul Gaddy finished with six assists, one point — missing his three attempts from the field — four fouls and three turnovers. Freshmen C.J. Wilcox and Clarence Trent each had six points.

The Wildcats, who lost four starters from last season's team, got 10 points from senior guard Noble'D Shelton.

Washington 77, C. Washington 48

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (48) — Sprinker 2-3 2-2 6, Clyde 2-3 1-6 5, Perez 0-6 0-0 0, Cook 0-7 2-6 2, Tyler 2-12 1-2 6; Clift 1-4 0-0 2, Dunn 1-3 0-0 2, Snowden 0-1 0-0 0, Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Shelton 3-9 2-7 10, Gibler 1-2 2-2 4, Johnson 1-3 1-2 3, Sivak 1-6 3-6 5, Nelson 1-3 1-2 3. Totals 15-64 15-35 48

WASHINGTON (77) — Bryan-Amaning 1-6 0-3 2, Pondexter 5-10 4-7 15, Gant 2-6 2-6 6, Overton 4-9 2-3 11, Thomas 6-14 4-7 18, Gaddy 0-3 1-2 1, Trent 3-4 0-0 6, Suggs 2-6 0-0 5, Wilcox 2-6 2-2 6, Turner 0-4 1-2 1, Breshers 2-3 2-5 6. Totals 27-71 18-37 77.

Halftime — Washington 43-18. Three-point goals — CWU 3-23 (Perez 0-4, Cook 0-3, Tyler 1-6, Clift 0-2, Miller 0-1, Shelton 2-6, Sivak 0-1), UW 5-21 (Pondexter 1-3, Overton 1-3, Thomas 2-6, Gaddy 0-2, Suggs 1-2, Wilcox 0-3, Turner 0-2). Fouled out — Sprinker, CWU; Breshers, UW. Rebounds — CWU 36 (Clyde, Tyler 5), UW 41 (Bryan-Amaning, Gant 7). Assists — CWU 9 (Tyler 3), UW 17 (Gaddy 6). Total fouls — CWU 24, UW 26. A — 8,570.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com