Inside The Huskies

Terrell Brown Jr. Is a Big Shot with Close-In Shots

The UW guard will lead his team up against Utah at home on Saturday.

Dan Raley

The University of Utah basketball team will enter Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday and try to do what Colorado couldn't do two nights earlier — prevent Terrell Brown Jr. from scoring.

If the Utes just look at the video of Brown's 26-point outing in Washington's 60-58 victory over the Buffaloes, it's all really very simple.

Just stack all of your defenders within five feet of the basket. Honest, just pile them in there. Build a defensive wall.

Against Colorado, the 6-foot-3 senior guard from Seattle launched 17 shots and dropped in 10.

None of his successful field goals came from more than five feet from the basket. 

Brown scored on layins, crossovers, short flip shots. 

Nothing that would qualify as a regular jumper.

Certainly there were no 3-pointers on his scorecard.

His offensive wizardry, in and around the basket, is nothing short of incredible, considering that everyone knows exactly what's coming at all times.

"It's like this is what I do, everybody knows this is what I do and I can still do it," Hopkins said of his overly determined guard. "I wish I had that talent."

This kid who wears the great Michael Jordan's basketball number and scores like him up close leads the Pac-12 in scoring with a 21.2 average over 18 games for the UW (10-8 overall, 5-3 conference).

The league's next closest point-producers aren't even close, in UCLA's Johnny Juzang at 18.1 and Arizona's Benedict Mathurin at 17.4, and none of those below these top three scorers average more than 14.9 per game.

Browns Drives

Terrell Brown Jr. scores two of his 26 points.

Davis Drives / Skylar Lin Visuals

Daejon Davis tries to dribble through the Colorado defense.

Roberts Rebound / Skylar Lin Visuals

Nate Roberts snatches a rebound against the Buffs.

Husky Huddle / Skylar Lin Visuals

Langston Wilson and his teammates huddle up.

Matthews Hug / Skylar Lin Visuals

Emmitt Matthews Jr. gets a postgame hug.

In the Pac-12, it's the Terrell Brown show and everyone else. Even Isaiah Thomas, another crafty UW scorer, came out for a Thursday night look, which Brown appreciated.

Nationally, he bounces anywhere from fifth to 10th, with the top scorers bunched closely together coast to coast, with all chasing Detroit Mercy's Antoine Davis, who averages 24.4.

For Brown, he's scored 20 or more in 11 of his 18 outings, and twice reached the 30-point level or more. His season low is 11 against Northern Arizona, in the second game of the season.

"That kid's been built on hard work and he's been built on just being the toughest guy out there and believing in himself," Hopkins said. "He's a great example for every young player out there or kid who has dreams."

It will be interesting to see what Utah (8-13, 1-10) does to defend him. In their previous matchup, the Utes "held" him to 15 points, one of his season lows. Of course, Colorado had limited him to a dozen the first time around and he more than doubled it on Thursday night. 

Tipoff for the next Terrell Brown shooting exhibition is 2 p.m. on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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