Help for Huskies
SEATTLE – First, it was Cal State Northridge’s defense that prevented Ryan Appleby from putting on another long-range clinic. Later, it was a balky back that slowed the senior guard who had drained 17 3-pointers in his first three games back from a thumb injury.
So with Appleby not able to provide an offensive spark, Justin Dentmon and Venoy Overton came off the bench to combine for 32 points and go 6 for 7 from 3-point range.
That, along with another typical game from Jon Brockman (21 points, 10 rebounds) was more than enough for Washington in an 80-66 victory over the Matadors Saturday afternoon.
“He couldn’t go in there and really do any damage, but some other guys stepped up and hit 3s and did a nice impersonation of him, so that was nice to see,” said Washington coach Lorenzo Romar.
While Appleby, who came into the game averaging 19 points, attempted only one field goal in 14 minutes, plenty of 3-point opportunities were available for his teammates, especially Overton.
The freshman guard scored a career-high 14 points, going 5 for 5 from the field and 4 for 4 on 3-point attempts.
“They were leaving me open,” Overton said. “After one shot I heard their coach say, ‘We’ll take that.’ It seemed like they were putting more pressure on App and the other guards, so they left me open and my shot was going tonight I guess.”
The Matadors probably felt like they could get away with leaving Overton open, seeing as he came into the game shooting 20 percent from long range.
“I’m a way better shooter than my numbers,” he said. “I know I can shoot the ball but I’ve just been having some terrible shots and picking my shot selection kind of bad. But I know I can shoot it. If I keep my confidence up I know I can stroke it.”
Appleby, meanwhile, was happy to play the role of decoy when he was on the floor. With the Matadors using a box-and-one defense to keep him from getting open shots, other players had scoring opportunities and converted.
As a team, the Huskies shot 52.9 percent on 3-point attempts, their second-best total of the season.
Washington 80, Cal State Northridge 66
Cal State Northridge (7-3)—Heard 7-12 0-0 14, Chitwood 2-7 0-0 4, Miller 2-5 3-6 7, Haynes 2-8 0-0 5, Jenkins 5-12 3-4 17, Tresvant 3-10 0-1 7, Wayne 2-2 0-0 4, Colston 0-0 0-0 0, Townsend 4-6 0-0 8. Totals 27-62 6-11 66.
Washington (7-4)—Wallace 0-3 0-2 0, Brockman 8-12 5-7 21, Smith 3-7 0-0 8, Morris 3-9 6-8 13, Appleby 0-1 0-0 0, Overton 5-5 0-0 14, Dentmon 5-7 6-8 18, Bryan-Amaning 0-4 4-8 4, Holiday 0-0 0-0 0, Pondexter 1-5 0-1 2, Wolfinger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 21-34 80.
Halftime—Washington 42, Cal State Northridge 33. 3-point goals—Cal State Northridge 6-18 (Jenkins 4-4, Haynes 1-4, Tresvant 1-6, Heard 0-1, Chitwood 0-3), Washington 9-17 (Overton 4-4, Dentmon 2-3, Smith 2-4, Morris 1-3, Wolfinger 0-1, Pondexter 0-1, Appleby 0-1). Fouled out—Chitwood. Rebounds—Cal State Northridge 29 (Townsend 10), Washington 42 (Brockman 10). Assists—Cal State Northridge 11 (Jenkins 5), Washington 16 (Brockman, Dentmon, Overton, Pondexter 3). Total fouls—Cal State Northridge 27, Washington 19. A—9,128.