Terrell Brown Jr. wasn’t letting go of the basketball. Not after the career night he had against South Dakota State.
When the final horn blared following the Washington men’s basketball team’s 87-76 victory in the second game of the Crossover Classic, the Husky senior point walked off the Sanford Pentagon court clutching the ball.
And who could blame him?
Brown, who is quickly becoming UW’s newest star, was sensational once again while scoring a personal best 32 points on 13-for-18 shooting from the field. He also had five rebounds, two assists and a steal in 36 minutes.
Washington (4-2) wraps up the four-team, three-day round-robin event with a game against Nevada at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Here are three impressions of UW’s win over SDSU.
THIS DEFENSE WILL TRAVEL
South Dakota State entered the game ranked 10th nationally in scoring, averaging 90.7 points per game. The Jackrabbits scored 102 Monday night and had tallied at least 80 points in all six of its previous contests.
However, the Huskies shut down SDSU, particularly in the first half while taking a 42-32 lead into the locker room.
The Jackrabbits were averaging 11.8 three-pointers per game, but UW held them to 6 of 17 from downtown.
UW FINDS ITS OFFENSE
Not so long ago, the Huskies were regarded as one of the worst shooting teams in the country.
However in the past two games, Washington has scored consistently while notching its season highs in scoring in each contest.
The Huskies connected on 10 of 22 three-pointers, including three from Jamal Bey (12 points) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (13 points). Bey was 3 of 6 from long range while Matthews was 3 of 5 despite missing his previous 10 three-pointers over the past three games.
For the second straight outing, PJ Fuller came off the bench and gave UW a huge offensive lift with 14 points.
CAN’T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT BROWN
During his postgame interview, coach Mike Hopkins effusively heaped praise on Brown, whom he called “Mariano Rivera.”
“He’s like the greatest closer,” the UW coach said, comparing Brown to the former New York Yankees pitcher.
Washington led for over 39 minutes, but whenever South Dakota State inched close, Brown had an answer.
The Husky senior point guard either dashed hard to the rim for a layup, floated a soft shot over a defender or pulled up in the lane for a midrange jumper.
Washington led 57-50 with less than 11 minutes remaining when Brown scored the next 15 points for UW. For five minutes, it was a one-man show as UW players stood far away and gave him room to repeatedly drive to the paint where he converted on 7 of 8 attempts.
Brown has scored at least 20 points in five of UW’s six games. He’s the first Husky to tally at least 32 points since David Crisp did it Feb. 28, 2019.
PRETTY GOOD COMPANY
Terrell Brown Jr. scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Washington men’s basketball team to a 87-76 win over South Dakota State on Tuesday. Here’s a look at UW players who have tallied at least 32 points in the past 10 years.
Name Pts Opponent Score Date
Andrew Andrews 35 UCLA W, 96-93 2OT Jan. 1, 2016
Markelle Fultz 35 Cal State Fullerton W,104-88 Nov. 17, 2016
Dejounte Murray 34 Arizona State W, 95-83 OT Feb. 3, 2016
Markelle Fultz 34 at Stanford L, 76-69 Jan. 14, 2017
Andrew Andrews 33 Colorado W, 95-83 Jan. 20, 2016
Terrell Brown Jr. 32 vs. SDSU W, 87-76 Tuesday
David Crisp 32 at California L, 76-73 Feb. 28, 2019
Jaylen Nowell 32 vs. Santa Clara W, 82-68 Nov. 18, 2018
Jaylen Nowell 32 Belmont W, 86-82 Nov. 10, 2017
Andrew Andrews 32 TCU W, 92-67 Dec. 8, 2015
Nigel Williams-Goss 32 Oregon State W, 87-81 Jan. 25, 2014
Terrence Ross 32 Northwestern W, 76-55 March 16, 2012
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