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Washington renews Seattle rivalry with rout

Mar 4, 2009 - 7:25 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Mother Nature allowed the cross-town rivalry between Washington and Seattle to continue a year earlier than expected.

After Tuesday's result, the Redhawks probably wish they had waited until the 2009-10 season to take on the Huskies.

Jon Brockman scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as 13th-ranked Washington cruised to a 87-60 rout over Seattle.

The teams met regularly before the Redhawks dropped out of Division I after the 1979-80 campaign. However, the Huskies and Seattle agreed to meet for five straight seasons beginning in 2009-10 following the Redhawks' return to Division I.

"For just turning into a Division I team, being independent, they've had a good season," Brockman said. "They've been in some close games with some really big teams. It's a rivalry that will get stronger and stronger as long as they keep it going. It's something special for the city, and something for the city to wrap itself around."

After a snowstorm in late December forced Washington to call off its contest with Lehigh, the Redhawks agreed to fill the void with the most logical time for the meeting coming during a one-week break in Washington's schedule.

"It was fun to get that game kick-started again," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "We'll continue to do that."

Seattle kept it close early as the Huskies hit only two of their first nine shots in the opening four minutes.

But, Washington caught fire after that, putting together a 21-4 run over the next 7:26. Brockman scored eight points during the stretch as Washington forged a 25-8 lead with 8:04 remaining in the half.

"I was actually pleased that our guys were able to shift gears and step out of our conference play," Romar said. "With the intense mental expectations, I thought in the first half we did an excellent job of coming out and being focused. We answered the bell, in that regard."

After a 3-pointer by Mike Boxley ended the run, Washington guard Isaiah Thomas scored three straight points, eclipsing the school's freshman scoring record of 451 points. Thomas finished with 12 points, giving him 461.

Thomas' 3-pointer at the end of the opening 20 minutes gave the Huskies an insurmountable 42-19 lead entering the locker rooms.

"They are so aggressive on the ball that they speed up all parts of the game," Seattle coach Joe Callero said. "They just have the ability to hit the elbow and the wrist and the physicallness. It's not dirty. It's very smart basketball. It's momentum changing. It takes you out of your regular comfort zone.

"They just do a great job of pushing your buttons to make you play faster, shoot faster, dribble faster and put you out of your position and that really gets their transition going."

The only nervous moment in the game came with 4:20 remaining in the first half when junior forward Quincy Pondexter crashed to the floor after converting an alley-oop.

Pondexter clutched his right shoulder as he was taken to the locker rooms, but returned to start the second half and helped Washington stretch its lead to as many as 33 points en route to its fourth straight win.