Washington basketball falls in Diamond Head Classic finale

Washington basketball met a tough opponent in the Houston Cougars, and fell to them 75-71

Washington basketball had a lead as big as 14 points, but Houston came roaring back in the second half, and were able to put away the Huskies late in the game.

Houston was not able to stop Isaiah Stewart on the inside, he finished with 25 points; however, their star forward Fabian White had 19 points. The Cougars’ two starting guards, Caleb Mills and Quentin Grimes, had 19 and 14 points respectively. Nahziah Carter led the Husky guards with 15, and Quade Green added 11.

Houston was able to mount their comeback when they stopped Jaden McDaniels after he got off to a hot start. He made two three-pointers that got him ten early points; however, he was shut out for the rest of the game.

Two more big keys to the game were Houston’s 16 offensive rebounds to compared to Washington’s nine, and the Huskies had 15 turnovers while Houston had only seven.

As the Huskies get ready for the Pac-12 conference schedule over the remaining of the holiday season they will need to improve on allowing fewer turnovers as well as getting more offensive rebounds.

The Huskies could use an offensive threat in the frontcourt off the bench to give Stewart longer breaks at times. Currently, senior forward Sam Timmins is playing good defense and rebounding well along with setting picks but he provides very little production on the offensive side, maybe redshirt freshman forward Nate Roberts will see the floor more during Pac-12 play.

The Huskies now go into the Pac-12 schedule with a record of 10-3, and their first matchup of the year coming at home against UCLA and USC. The conference schedule is going to be a grind, but the Huskies have all the pieces to compete for another conference title.