Brockman leads UW

SEATTLE – Jon Brockman had 23 points and 13 rebounds to lead Washington past Cleveland State 78-63 in the Huskies’ home basketball opener Tuesday night.

Quincy Pondexter added 15 points for Washington (1-1), which bounced back from an embarrassing loss at Portland on Saturday when Pondexter didn’t even score.

Norris Cole scored 20 points for Cleveland State (1-1), which missed 18 of its first 21 shots and fell behind by 24 points late in the first half.

But the Vikings, the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League, made 9 of their first 11 shots after halftime and got within 56-53 with just under 11 minutes left on two free throws by D’Aundray Brown.

But that appeared to be a signal for Brockman to go back to work, which he did by dominating inside to restore order.

The rugged senior, who has 53 points and 27 rebounds in two games, didn’t score and took just one shot during Cleveland State’s run to within three points.

But he ignited the Huskies when he fell hard to draw a foul away from the ball on bewildered Viking Renard Fields as freshman Isaiah Thomas was making his first shot in eight attempts, from 3-point range.

Brockman made two free throws for a rare five-point play to put Washington suddenly back up 63-53 and Cleveland State couldn’t respond.