Washington Makes Easy Work of Montana State With Blowout Victory

The Huskies used a double-digit scoring run to separate in the first half against the Bobcats and never looked back on Tuesday night.

Washington's basketball team shook off a pesky Montana State effort and pulled away with a 15-0 first-half run on Tuesday night, earning a 85-61 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena. 

Four players scored in double figures for the Huskies (5-3), led by senior center Franck Kepnang, who finished with a season-high 16 points and hauled down 11 rebounds for UW over 19 minutes of action. 

After managing just one rebound in 12 minutes in Saturdays loss to Colorado State, the 6-foot-11 Kepnang stepped up his efforts in his fifth consecutive start at center against the Bobcats (3-5) and set the tone early on both ends of the court. 

"Franck came out [and you see] how Franck is when you see his energy, especially on the defensive end," UW coach Mike Hopkins said after the game. "Defensive rebounding, we've been focusing on, so to see him go out there and do that, that was really good."

UW jumped out to an early 11-4 lead with 3-pointers from forward Moses Wood and point guard Sahvir Wheeler, with the latter finishing with 14 points. 

However, Montana State's 6-foot-8 guard Tyler Patterson, a local product from Snoqualmie, Washington, got the Bobcats back in it and brought them within one, 13-12 at the 13:27 mark in the first half with a pair of 3-pointers of his own.

"We were really focused on improving our defense," Hopkins said. "I felt like after Patterson hit a couple, he hit his first 3, and we didn't want that to happen. It was in the scouting report, but we adapted on the fly."

Anthony Holland, a 6-foot-5 transfer guard from Fresno State, dropped in a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to get help the Huskies begin to pull away, one of five UW players to score from behind the line in the opening 20 minutes.

Fellow guard 6-foot-2 sophomore Koren Johnson likewise hit a 3-pointer during this pivot moment and finished with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor. 

Hopkins noted the impact that Holland made, along with junior forward Willhelm Breidenbach, senior center Braxton Meah and Johnson, who all combined to score 32 points off the bench for UW.  

With just over seven minutes remaining before half, he Huskies pulled away, going on a 19-4 run to lead 43-28 at intermission.

Nothing changed for UW in the second half except the size of its lead. 

Holland knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game with 13:43 to push the UW lead to 63-34. He added another two points from the free throw line and finished with 11 points.

The Huskies' advantage grew to as much as 33 points with 9:59 left in the game when the 5-foot-9 Wheeler provided his final two points before being subbed out.

Montana State cut into the deficit with an 11-0 run over the final 1:13 of the game to avoid a more embarrassing loss.

The 24-point margin is the third largest win for the Huskies this season, behind a 27-point rout of UC San Diego last week and a 34-point drubbing of Bellarmine in the season opener. 

Washington returns to the court on Saturday night to host No. 7 Gonzaga at Alaska Airlines Arena. 

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