No. 20 Washington hangs on against Mount St. Mary's

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Isaiah Stewart scored 16 points and blocked five shots, and No. 20 Washington pulled through a sluggish offensive performance to beat Mount St. Mary’s, 56-46, Tuesday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

The Huskies (2-0) came home off an impressive win over then-No. 16 Baylor on Friday in Anchorage. But the young squad, sporting a top-25 ranking, sputtered out of the gate.

Mount St. Mary’s (1-2) took the lead 2:43 into the first half, and did not relinquish it until for more than 11 minutes of game time. The Mountaineers, who led Georgetown at halftime of their season opener on Nov. 5, went into halftime tied with the Huskies at 21.

Washington shot just 27.8 from 3-point range, and went 7-of-14 from the free-throw line. Freshman guard Jaden McDaniels, key to the win against Baylor, scored five points on Tuesday.

A Huskies side known for its stifling zone defense struggled with Mount St. Mary’s own zone, coughing up 15 turnovers.

The woes on offense prevented Washington from pulling away until the final minutes. The Mountaineers took a one-point lead midway through the second half on a Nana Opoku lay-up. Hameir Wright responded with the second of his two 3-pointers, giving Washington a lead it did not give up, but that also never grew to more than the final margin of 10 points.

Although defense kept Mount St. Mary’s in it, the Mountaineers’ inability to score thwarted its upset bid. Vado Morse was the lone Mountaineer to score in double-figures, finishing with 10 points. Naim Miller scored nine points on 3 of 4 3-point shooting off the bench.

Washington’s zone defense forced Mount St. Mary’s into 29.1 percent shooting from the floor. The freshman Stewart’s five blocked shots led a team effort of 11 blocks. McDaniels and Wright both added two apiece.

–Field Level Media

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