Huskies Start Slow But Pull Away from Weber in Opener

Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks Jr. sets the tone for the UW

University of Washington basketball season openers are never artistic, no matter who's on the floor. Hey, it's still football season. Consider that Keion Brooks Jr. traveled the first time he touched the ball. He missed his first shot. He next threw a pass out of bounds. 

Maybe trying too hard to impress, the Kentucky transfer sat down not quite four minutes into the action and took a moment to compose himself.

On Monday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, his new team followed his lead. After trailing much of the opening half and looking out of sorts, the Huskies collectively settled down and handed a purple-shirted Weber State team a 69-52 defeat before a not quite half-full gym.

Brooks led all scorers with 20 points, though he didn't shoot particularly well, hitting just 6 of 15 from floor and 7 for 13 on the foul line. PJ Fuller was the only other Husky in double figures with 10.

"You're in a new place, playing your first college basketball game in a new environment, there's going to be some nerves,"UW coach Mike Hopkins said. "He's an 80 to 85 percent foul shooting. He just had one of those days. But the one thing you can do, is you can depend on him." 

The Kentucky blueblood and his West Coast teammates still are getting to know each other. They finally got on the same page with a 12-0 run to go from four down to an eight-point advantage to close out the first half. This season opener, the 112th in program history, belonged to them.

Right then and there, the Wildcats could have used someone to step up and play like Damian Lillard, their most famous basketball alum and NBA staple in Portland, but this Big Sky roster doesn't have one of those.

A 6-foot-7 senior forward, Brooks got thing moving in the Huskies' direction by driving hard to the basket and hanging in the air for a soft shot that nestled into the basket to draw the UW within 23-21.

After Cole Bajema hit a 3-pointer to put his team up for good at 24-23, Brooks hit one of two free throws, Jamal Bey knocked down a pair, 7-foot-1 newcomer Braxton Meah tipped one in and Brooks completed the game-changing burst with a follow-up shot on a Bajema misfire and they headed to the locker room with a 31-23 lead. 

"I'm just happy to be playing here," Brooks said, admitting to some nerves. "It's a great staff, great teammates. It's just fun being here and I love all these guys."

Needless to say, Keion Brooks Jr. got Weber State's Zahir Porter to leave his feet / Skylar Lin Visuals

During this sudden opening-night awakening, it was all dirty work that changed things around and Hopkins' sixth Husky basketball team was willing to get it done. They led by double figures much of the second half.

The coach opened with a lineup of Brooks, Meah, Bey, Fuller and Noah Williams, three transfer and two holdovers. That gave the home team a good mix of size but these guys initially struggled to get much offense going. They kept after it.

Williams, the Washington State transfer, started the game, played in the opening half, but didn't appear after the break. He sprained an ankle and Hopkins told him to sit out the half. He pulled 18 minutes and scored 4 points, grabbed a pair of rebounds and came up with 2 steals. 

Bajema took over for Williams in the second half and picked up the slack, spelled at times by Keyon Menifield. However, he twice came up lame in the second half, cramping up. He had to be helped from the floor by a pair of trainers with 2:57 left to play. 

In his college debut, freshman guard Keyon Menifield had 8 points for the Huskies on 3-of-4 shooting / Skylar Lin Visuals

Making his college debut, Menifield was exciting to watch, scoring 8 points in 13 minutes. He connected on 3 of 4 shots, including a pair of 3-pointers. 

These Huskies clearly are more imposing inside defensively than they've been in some time, collecting 7 blocked shots, 3 by Kepnang before he fouled out.

The Huskies play again on Friday night against North Florida at home.

That'll give them a chance to work on a few things before it's time to top off again.

"I've got to make those damn free throws," Brooks said.

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