Thomas leads No. 14 Washington to exhibition win

Returning Pac-10 freshman of the year Isaiah Thomas scored 18 points, though he and No. 14 Washington looked ragged throughout much of a foul-filled, 77-48 exhibition victory over Division II Central Washington on Wednesday night.

Quincy Pondexter, Washington's only senior and the replacement for departed star Jon Brockman as team leader, added 15 points and seven rebounds.

The defending Pac-10 champions, who open Nov. 13 against Wright State, shot 38 percent from the field despite constant open looks against an overmatched defense. They made just 18 of 37 free throws and had 15 turnovers.

Washington is returning three starters and the top two reserves from the team that last season won its first outright conference title in 56 years before losing to Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies have also added Abdul Gaddy, last season's Washington Class 4A high school player of the year and a much-needed true point guard rated by most as a top recruit in the nation at his position last season.

Noble'D Shelton scored 10 points for Central Washington, which shot 15 percent in the first half.

All but two of the Wildcats' players are junior-college transfers, so this wasn't exactly a stern tuneup for Washington.

But it sure beat the first week of preseason practice, when the Huskies couldn't even have a full practice. Seven of their 12 players have since recovered from the flu.

With the rugged Brockman now gone to the NBA, the Huskies are asking Thomas to run the team less this season and return more to his record-setting scoring roots of three years ago as a junior at Curtis High School in University Place, Wash.

Early in his first game back in that top scorer role, Thomas looked rushed and antsy.

He air-balled his first jump shot, a 3-point attempt. He missed a layup. He and fellow starting guard Venoy Overton missed open men ahead of them on fast breaks.

Yet Thomas hit consecutive 3-pointers to close the half. He swished the latter at the halftime buzzer then strutted back across halfcourt and patted Pondexter on the head for the pass.

When Gaddy entered for the first time 4 minutes into the game, a home crowd eager to see him roared. His first pass was a smooth entry feed inside to Tyreese Breshers for a 3-point play. In the second half, Gaddy wowed the crowd with a windmill-like pass to classmate C.J. Wilcox for a layup on a baseline cut. That put Washington up 66-30.

Gaddy missed all three of his shots, had six assists, three turnovers and four fouls.

The Huskies showed old, Brockman-bred habits early, consistently feeding Breshers inside for baskets. Breshers, who redshirted his freshman season last year because of knee and shin injuries, scored six consecutive points - the last a Brockman-like bull rush through the low blocks and two defenders to put the Huskies up 11-3.

Washington missed 21 of its first 27 shots while firing from everywhere else.