UW Basketball Team Hosts North Florida in Second Outing

Visting Ospreys lost at Gonzaga in season opener.

Dan Raley | Nov 11, 2022

In this story:

Washington Huskies

As a prelude to the big football game in Oregon this weekend, the University of Washington basketball team returns to action on Friday night by hosting North Florida in an 8 o'clock matchup at Alaska Airlines Arena.

These Huskies (1-0) come off a 69-52 season-opening win over Weber State on Monday, while their next opponent, the Ospreys (0-1), began this Western trip at Gonzaga that night and lost 104-63.

Mike Hopkins chose to use just eight players in the first game, mixing his four new transfers together with three returning Huskies plus a true freshman.

It's one of his more interesting collection of players, led by 6-foot-7 Kentucky transfer Keion Brooks, supported inside by a pair of bruising big men in 7-foot-1 Fresno State transfer Braxton Meah and 6-foot-11 Oregon newcomer Franck Kepnang, and given an electric boost by true freshman guard Keyon Menifield.

Check out the Skylar Lin photo gallery here for a breakdown on the eight UW players who drew game time in the opener.

The Kentucky transfer came to the UW to showcase his game in a way that Terrell Brown did last season. He scored a team-high 20 points in the opener on 6-for-15 shooting and grabbed 7 rebounds. He'll be one of the more elite players in the Pac-12.

The Huskies' tallest player, Meah plays a more prominent role for the UW than he did at Fresno State. He starts up front. In the opener, he finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds, knocking down 3 of 4 shots. He doesn't try to do too much.

Williams, in his first Husky game since leaving Washington State, lasted a half before he had some sort of leg issue and sat out the rest of the game in a precautionary move. In 17 and a half minutes, he 4 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals and shot 2-for-6 from the floor.

The returning veteran is a new starter who has assumed an immediate leadership role, supplying a playmaker and playing determined defense. In the opener, He scored 10 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 4 assists, while turning over the ball 6 times.

The only returning starter, Bey is back for a fifth season in the program and supplies a shooting role. He scored 9 points against Weber State on 3-for-6 shooting, 1 of 3 from 3-point range.

Possibly the most improved player on this team, Bajema showed a concentrated effort to drive to the basket for the first time against Weber State while providing an outside shooting touch. While slowed by cramps, he finished with 9 points on 3-for-7 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds.

An explosive player inside, the Huskies haven't had someone like him who is as tall as he is in quite a while. Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels were much shorter. Kepnang had 3 blocks against Weber State to go with 3 points and 6 rebounds. He played 24 and a half minutes in the opener.

By far the most fun player to watch, Menifield began his college career with an 8-point game on 3-foot-4 shooting with an assist and a shot block. However, he played just 13 minutes and 43 seconds because he was in constant foul trouble.

Incredibly quick, the 6-foot-1 Menifield already has become a fan favorite by making a lot of things happen. In 13 minutes against Weber State, he scored 8 points on 3-for-4 shooting. He can also get a little out of control at times. In his short stint, Menifield drew four fouls, three in the opening half.

"He's a guy who plays exceptionally hard," Hopkins said. "Now he needs to defend without fouling. When gets into a rhythm offensively, he's as good of an offensive player as we have."

Inside, the Huskies rotate Meah and Kepnang in the post. In the opener, they collectively played 40 minutes, scored 9 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, blocked 4 shots and stole the ball once.

"It changes the game," Hopkins said of his new big men. "We have great. rim protection."

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories — as soon as they’re published.

Not all stories are posted on the fan sites.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook by searching: Inside Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on Twitter: @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation or @DanRaley

Published Nov 11, 2022

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.