Washington men struggle before pulling away to defeat Seattle U for 15th consecutive time

SEATTLE – In each of their past two meetings, Seattle University had chances in the final minutes to upset Washington only to watch their cross-town rivals pull away at the end.

On Tuesday night, the Redhawks stayed close until the eight final minutes when the Huskies used a 29-9 run to close the game and capture their 15th straight win in the series – an 81-59 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Isaiah Stewart dominated with a season-high 27 points and 13 rebounds while Quade Green chipped in 20 points, including four 3-pointers.

Seattle University countered with a 21-point assault from Terrell Brown and Morgan Means’ 12, but the undersized Redhawks had no answer inside for Stewart.

Against SU’s four-guard lineup, Stewart canned 11 of 14 field goals and was 5 of 8 on free throws.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first 32 minutes and Washington was up 52-50 when Hameir Wright canned a 3-pointer with 8:21 left to give the Huskies a little bit of separation.

With Stewart scoring inside, the Huskies continued to build on their lead. Nahziah Carter capped the scoring for UW with an alley-oop dunk and Jaden McDaniels had 10 points.

Washington, which entered the game averaging 15 turnovers, once again had difficulties avoiding mistakes and turned the ball over nine times in the first half on a variety of miscues including two carrying violations, two traveling infractions and an assortment of bad passes.

Seattle U, which committed just five turnovers in the first half, turned UW’s turnovers into nine points before the break.

However, the Huskies had just five in the second half.

The stars for both teams dominated and scored in different ways near the basket.

Brown maneuvered in and around UW’s 2-3 zone while squeezing through the smallest openings for dribble-drive layups, floaters and short jump shots.

At the other end, Stewart dashed, danced and darted around Myles Carter for contested dunks, layups and short hooks.

After Stewart’s layup gave the Huskies a 28-26 lead, Washington didn’t make a field goal in the final 6:35 of the first half and the scoring drought allowed Seattle University to take control.

The Redhawks finished the first half with a 7-5 run and led 33-32 at the break.

Seattle U returns to the court Saturday at home against Florida A&M. Washington travels to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic, opening against Ball State on Sunday.