Slow start dooms UW Huskies in 91-75 loss to Stanford
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins added a shootaround to his team’s schedule on Thursday morning.
It’s not typically part of the Huskies’ routine, but that was the point. The coaching staff is searching for a way to focus the players and hopefully put an end to the slow starts that have plagued the early part of the season. But whatever jolt Hopkins was hoping to see against Stanford (7-3, 3-1), it didn’t come during a dismal first half that put UW (1-8, 0-4 Pac-12) in a 17-point hole.
The Huskies couldn’t climb out, falling to the Cardinal 91-75.
“For some reason, our energy just wasn’t there from the start,” Hopkins said afterward. “We’ve got to have better energy. We got to play fearless. We got to be active and energetic and we just haven’t. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it, but it’s got to be better for sure.”
Stanford scored the first 12 points of the game before Nate Roberts made a layup for UW at the 14:31 mark of the first half. After Quade Green added a three with 12:58 left, the Huskies didn’t score again for another 6 minutes and 37 seconds. By halftime, UW trailed the Cardinal 38-21.
The numbers were just as unimpressive as the score. The Huskies shot 28.6% from the field and 26.7% from three. They turned the ball over 12 times. They were out-rebounded 25-12.
“We got to have better starts,” Hopkins said. “That goes back to both ends. It’s not just offense. We broke down defensively with some breakdowns from the scouting report and how we were going to execute, how we were going to defend them. It’s got to be better at both ends.”
But UW emerged from the second half with renewed energy and focus. Sophomore guard Marcus Tsohonis, starting for the first time this season, drained two 3-pointers in the first 2 minutes. He finished with a career-high 24 points on 8-of-21 shooting from the field, including 3-of-8 from three.
Tsohonis started in place of Green, who battled an illness unrelated to COVID-19 during the week and missed several practices. Green still played 35 minutes and scored 15 points. But junior guard Nate Pryor, who had averaged 30.6 minutes over the last five games, didn’t see the floor.
Hopkins said he wanted to settle a smaller group of players into a rotation — 10 players saw the floor against Stanford with seven playing at least 14 minutes — to help them get comfortable. He said Tsohonis, who hadn’t played more than 16 minutes all season, impressed during practice this week. That extended his playing time to 33 minutes.
“We want Marcus to play a little like a point guard and get us into our offense and let Quade play the two,” Hopkins said. “(Marcus is) not only a guy that can be a point guard, but he can score. He’s a good open shooter and knows our defense. It was just his night. He played. Nothing against Nate Pryor. Marcus had a great week of practice and he earned those minutes.”
Said Tsohonis: ‘’I’m just ready whenever, however we’re going to win. If my name is called, my number’s called, I’m ready to go out there and hoop.”
Stanford failed to extend its lead early in the second half, but UW didn’t make a real push until a J’Raan Brooks’ jumper launched a 6-0 run with 12:51 remaining. Green capped the stretch with a layup that pulled the Huskies within 11 points, 57-46.
Then Stanford called timeout, which seemed to drain UW of its momentum. The Cardinal hit back with a 14-2 run that pushed the advantage back to 23 points, 71-48. The Huskies put together one more 11-2 stretch, but they never got any closer than 14 points.
“I felt like in the second half, we came out and we were hungry,” Tsohonis said. “We just wanted to come back. When we put ourselves in a hole, it was just a little bit too late.”
UW shot 40.5% from the field and 26.7% from the 3-point line in the second half while turning the ball over just five times. The Huskies were only out-rebounded by three and even outscored Stanford, 54-53. Unfortunately for UW, the first half still counted. Even a mostly positive second half couldn’t overcome it.
‘’Once we turned it on in that second half, we were in the game, we were coming back,” Tsohonis said. “It was just the little things. If we start out from the gates playing like that and playing like we want to win from the start, I think we’ll be fine. I think we’re going to start winning some games.”
Five Stanford players reached double figures. Ziaire Williams finished with a triple-double of 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. The Cardinal shot 51.5% from the field and 41.2% from beyond the arc. It was far from the kind of defensive performance Hopkins wants to see.
Still — in a season filled with troubles — Hopkins was encouraged to see some light.
“We fought,” Hopkins said. “We’re getting behind and that’s not good. In the second half, I just felt like we fought. We played with a courage and a confidence and a fight in us that was something that I haven’t seen. I was really proud of the guys.
“They just kept at it. … We had a couple opportunities in transition that we missed. We had a couple opportunities to cut into that lead. We just couldn’t get over the top. We couldn’t get over the hump.”
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 8:16 PM.
