5 takeaways from UW’s season-opening loss to Northern Illinois
This wasn’t the result the Washington Huskies were looking for in their first regular season game Tuesday night.
UW had trouble finding offensive consistency, and despite a second-half surge, couldn’t rally past visiting Northern Illinois, dropping their season-opener, 71-64, at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Here are five takeaways from the loss:
1. UW had trouble finding rhythm offensively — in the paint, from 3-point range and the free throw line.
UW didn’t score its first points until nearly three minutes into the game — when Jamal Bey made a short jumper for UW’s first basket of the season — and never seemed to settle into an offensive rhythm.
Of the 75 shots attempted, UW only made 20 of them, finishing 26.7 percent from the floor. UW was 3-of-18 (16.7 percent) from 3-point range and 21-of-36 (58.3) from the free throw line.
“I felt like the quality of shot was bad,” UW coach Mike Hopkins said. “I felt like we were able to get into the paint, and we want to get in the paint, and we want to go to the foul line. … They had 14 blocked shots. We were challenging big guys and not kicking it out. We kept trying to reinforce it to try to get the ball out and get some good looking 3’s, but we didn’t get there.
UW took the lead only twice — on a pair of free throws from Bey with 13:38 to play in the first half, and again on a Nate Roberts free throw with 5:26 to go in the game — and never held it for long.
NIU took the lead for good on a Trendon Hankerson 3-pointer with 4:31 to play, and went on a 20-12 run to close the game. UW scored seven in the final minute, but it was too late.
“It’s one step of the way,” Roberts said. “It’s tough to lose at home first game, but it’s a long season. We can’t dwell on this one game. We’ve just got to learn how to get better. … It’s a quick turnaround. We’ve got a game Thursday. It’s tough, though.”
2. NIU was more consistent on offense — paced by Hankerson’s career night.
NIU finished 21-of-48 (43.8 percent) from the field — and 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) from 3-point range to eventually pull away.
“On the defensive end we try to keep it five 3’s or less, and they made 12. That’s one of our staples,” Hopkins said. “And I felt like we lost Hankerson, obviously. There’s been very few guys that have been able to get hot against us, especially in our zone. We’ve got to do a better job there.”
Hankerson finished with a game-high — and career-best — 28 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and contributed half of NIU’s 3-pointers, finishing 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.
He scored 10 points down the stretch, including what ended up being the game-winning 3-pointer with 4:33 to play, less than a minute after UW took a 52-51 lead.
Hankerson also finished with seven rebounds.
Anthony Crump added a double-double for NIU with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
3. UW did win on the glass — powered by Roberts’ career night.
Even when possessions didn’t result in points, UW — and specifically Roberts — created plenty of second-chance opportunities.
Roberts finished with a career-high 19 rebounds, including 16 in the second half. He pulled down 12 offensive boards.
“If it wasn’t for him it could have been a long night,” Hopkins said. “He was on the glass. He was a beast tonight.”
Roberts added 10 points to complete his third career double-double. He recorded his first two last season against Montana and Utah.
UW collectively outrebounded NIU, 51-37, including tallying 27 offensive boards.
4. Terrell Brown led UW in scoring in his return to Seattle.
The former Garfield High School standout was UW’s top scorer in his first regular season game with the program, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-24 shooting.
Brown was the only UW player to finish with more than three made shots. He also added five rebounds, a team-high three assists and team-high three steals.
Prior to joining UW’s program, Brown had played in three career games inside Hec Ed — twice with Seattle U and once with Arizona.
His scoring total Tuesday was the most he’s scored on this court in those appearances. His previous high was 21 points with Seattle U back in 2019.
5. Five former Washington high school standouts made their UW debuts.
Brown was one of five former local high school standouts making UW debuts Tuesday.
Daejon Davis (formerly at Stanford), P.J. Fuller (formerly at TCU), and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (formerly at West Virginia) each returned home ahead of this season and played significant minutes in the season-opener.
Davis, a former Garfield standout, added three points, six rebounds and three steals in 24 minutes.
Fuller, who played at both Nathan Hale and Garfield in high school, contributed four points and two steals in 16 minutes.
And Matthews, a former TNT All-Area player of the year, finished with seven points and six rebounds in 36 minutes.
Freshman Jackson Grant, who was a two-time TNT and Olympian All-Area player of the year in high school, also debuted, playing three minutes in the first half.
This story was originally published November 9, 2021 at 11:31 PM with the headline "5 takeaways from UW’s season-opening loss to Northern Illinois."
