Washington Stumbles Early, Falls to Nevada For First Loss

The Huskies trailed from start to finish in the non-conference game against the Wolfpack.

The Washington basketball team trailed from start to finish, couldn't hit a free throw and showed off its weaknesses in an 83-76 loss to Nevada on Sunday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, its first defeat in three outings. 

As Steve Alford's Wolfpack stretched the lead to as much as 16 points, Huskies coach Mike Hopkins at times stood slightly slouched over with a hand on his left hip and no answers to avoid this setback.

"On loose balls and hustle plays, they were the first to them," Hopkins said after the disappointing loss. "That's what we have to be better at. We have to defend without fouling. We're putting guys on the foul line way too much."

It took six minutes into the second half before UW could string together consecutive scoring possessions and cut the deficit from 15 down to 8 with 11:22 remaining in the game. 

Graduate transfer forward Moses Wood knocked down a 3-pointer for the Huskies after fellow graduate transfer Sahvir Wheeler converted a layup to give the offense an initial spark but it didn't last. 

Nevada guard Kenan Blackshear led all scorers with 31 points on 12-of-22 shooting in 36 minutes, while Keion Brooks and Sahvir Wheeler were the only Huskies in double figures with 19 and 14 points, respectively.

"We didn't assert ourselves defensively, as far as our physicality and pressure," Brooks said. "We let them get too comfortable. They're a really good team that's coached well. So, if you let teams like that get comfortable and get in rhythm, when the ball starts going in it's going to be hard to stop."

On Blackshear's dominance against UW, Brooks said, "He kicked our [backside] tonight. It's that plain and simple." He added the Huskies could have pressed more to get the ball out of his hands. 

While UW found only spurts of success offensively, Nevada was steady throughout the contest, scoring 60 points off 2-point shots. 

The Huskies tried to make a final run, but could never get any closer than seven points over the final 28 minutes of play.

Both teams struggled from behind the line, shooting a combined 8 of 35 behind the 3-point range. What really hurt the Huskies was their inability to convert from the free-throw line. 

"Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in. I don't know why or what. You just have to keep swinging," Hopkins said when asked about the inefficiency from the line. 

UW made just 9 of 21 attempts, with center Braxton Meah misfiring on 6 of 7 foul shots. On the other hand, Nevada was good on 21 of 26 from the line.

Wheeler, who started his second game at point guard after missing the opener, appeared to be assessed a technical foul for attempting to reach for the basketball while Nevada's Nick Davidson held it.

However, Hopkins said the referee told him the Kentucky graduate transfer said something that got him penalized, but wouldn't specify what exactly was spoken. 

"He's a very respectful human being. So it's hard for me to believe that he would say something that would be... bad taste in nature," Hopkins said of Wheeler.

It was a costly move as Wheeler fouled out of the game with 5:23 remaining. He converted 6 of 11 shots from the floor in 31 minutes. 

The Sunday game returned senior center Braxton Meah to the starting lineup against Nevada for the first this season after he opened all 31 games last year. He'd been slowed by an ankle injury. Meah finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds in 12 minutes of playing time. 

Although UW lost its first game on Sunday, Brooks remained confident this team can make strides moving forward. 

"They're a tournament team that brought a lot of their guys back; we just got put together in the summer," Brooks said. "Like, I'm not worried about it. I've played a lot of college basketball. We're going to be fine."

Washington returns to the court on Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada when the team faces Xavier in the Continental Tire Main Event. 

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