Washington pulls away in second half to beat Eastern Washington 87-69

From staff reports

SEATTLE – Mekhi Mason scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Washington Huskies to a 87-69 victory over the Eastern Washington men’s basketball team Tuesday at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies (7-3) shot a season-high 61% from the field against the Eagles (2-9), who allowed more than 80 points for the seventh time this season.

“We’re frustrated because we’re getting better but we’re not getting rewarded for it,” EWU head coach Dan Monson said in a postgame radio interview. “(The Huskies) have been struggling shooting the ball and we seemed to be the perfect storm for them getting out of their shooting slump. Defensively, we’re closer than it looks.”

Senior Andrew Cook, Eastern’s leading scorer this season, again led the Eagles with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Redshirt junior Nic McClain added 15 points before fouling out in the second half.

Eastern led early, but a couple of free throws by Zoom Diallo gave the Huskies a 17-15 lead that they never gave back, though the Eagles remained within single digits during the first half. Vice Zanki’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds before halftime cut Washington’s lead to 37-32. Diallo made a layup with 1 second left to give Washington a 39-32 halftime lead.

The Eagles never got within a possession in the second half, when Washington pushed its lead to as many as 22 points.

“We’re a team that doesn’t trust each other when things are going bad,” Monson said. “When guys aren’t frustrated or tired, we do a really good job executing. But when things go bad on the defensive end – which is every game at some point – we go off on our own, and that’s a recipe for these losses.”

Washington outrebounded Eastern 32-24 and made 10 of 19 3-pointers. Senior Great Osobor, who played his first two seasons at Montana State, added 16 points for the Huskies, who are playing their first season as a Big Ten member. They host Washington State on Wednesday.

Redshirt freshman Emmett Marquardt finished with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles, who as a team shot 50% from the field (28 of 56).

The Eagles are 1-18 all-time against the Huskies, the lone victory (62-58) coming on Dec. 14, 2002.

Eastern has an 11-day layoff until its next game, which comes Dec. 21 at home against Lincoln (California) University. Its four-game homestand continues on Dec. 30 (against Eastern Oregon) and culminates with Big Sky matchups on Jan. 2 and Jan. 4 against Montana and Montana State.

“Our season is measured by our success in the Big Sky and that (Big Sky) tournament,” Monson said. “We’re not headed at warp speed, but we are at least headed in the right direction.”