Washington basketball gets upset by UCLA

Washington basketball fell on Thursday night for the second time this season at home, this time at the hands of the UCLA Bruins 66-64

Washington basketball got off to another terrible start, falling behind 34-24 by halftime. It didn’t help that five-star freshman Jaden McDaniels collected four fouls before halftime, and fouled out with 16:10 to play in the second half.

The Huskies were able to get back into the game by starting the second half on a 15-9 run. After that, no team held more than a three-point advantage and the Huskies weren’t able to capitalize on some opportunities towards the end of the game.

Isaiah Stewart kept the Huskies in the game, putting up another incredible stat line of 24 points and 11 rebounds. Both teams left a lot at the free-throw line, Washington went 23/32 from the charity stripe, while UCLA went 8/15. Nahziah Carter made a three-pointer with 23.8 seconds left in the game to put the Huskies up by one, however,  Jake Kyman hit his seventh three-pointer of the game for the Bruins (all of his team-high 21 points came off the bench) with eight seconds left to end the game.

Guard Chris Smith, the Bruins’ leading scorer on the season, had 17 points on the night. Kyman and Smith carried the Bruins for the majority fo the night. Another thing that lifted the Bruins over the Huskies was their advantage of the offensive glass, they snatched up 22 offensive rebounds compared to the Huskies’ 11. The struggles on the offensive glass for the Huskies were also very apparent against the Houston Cougars at the Diamond Head Classic.

The Huskies have a little bit of extra time off, as they don’t play again until Sunday when the USC Trojans come to town. The Trojans beat the Washington State Cougars 65-56 on Thursday night. Mike Hopkins has some adjustments to make, and with the talent, he has on the roster, he should be able to come up with the proper game-plan to get the Huskies back on track.