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Washington eases past McNeese State in opener

Nov 14, 2010 - 1:41 AM Seattle, WA (Sports Network) - Matthew Bryan-Amaning finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds, as 18th-ranked Washington routed McNeese State, 118-64, in its season-opener.

Aziz N'Diaye had 13 points and 15 boards for the Huskies (1-0), who went 26-10 last season and advanced to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before losing to West Virginia.

Isaiah Thomas added 17 points in the victory, while Justin Holiday provided 11 points and 12 rebounds. Washington had seven players reach double-figure scoring and held a 69-32 rebounding advantage.

"That's how we're supposed to rebound every game, no matter who it's against, we've gotta hit the boards," Thomas said. "That's what's going to make us the best team possible. There's more possession when we rebound."

Patrick Richard had 18 points and eight rebounds to lead McNeese State (0-1), which is coming off a 10-20 season. The Cowboys turned the ball over 27 times in the loss.

"I wasn't disappointed in the way we came in our effort," said McNeese State head coach Dave Simmons. "They had a lot more guys than we did, they had a lot of guys play well on the inside, and they shot very well. Obviously we wanted to come in and play better, but we didn't."

Consecutive threes by Scott Suggs gave Washington a 15-4 lead not even five minutes into the game. The Huskies' advantage stretched to 20 when Terrence Ross' transition three made it a 26-6 contest.

Washington, which made nearly as many field goals (22) as McNeese State attempted (26) in the first half, took a 61-19 lead into the break, then cruised in the second half.

Game Notes

C.J. Wilcox had 13 points for Washington, while Suggs added 11 and Abdul Gaddy 10...Diego Kapelan scored 15 for the Cowboys, and Stephan Martin netted 10...Washington shot 46.7 percent (43-of-92), while McNeese State made 32.7 percent of its shots (18-of-55).