Koren Johnson comes off bench to score 30 as Husky men handle Stanford

SEATTLE – Koren Johnson scored a career-high 30 points off the bench and Keion Brooks Jr. had 20 points and several highlight dunks for the Washington men’s basketball team which steamrolled Stanford in the second half en route to an 85-65 win on Thursday night.

Early on, the Huskies had difficulty containing Cardinal forwards Maxime Raynaud and Brandon Angel who scored 15 and 14 points respectively before the break.

Conversely, Stanford couldn’t stop Johnson who canned a contested three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first half and give the Huskies a 40-38 lead.

Washington began the second half with eight unanswered points to go up 48-38 before Brooks took over.

The fifth-year Husky poked the ball from Angel for a steal and didn’t hesitate as he motored down court. It hardly mattered that Kanaan Carlyle and Jones impeded his path to the rim.

Brooks rose high and sailed over them for a highlight dunk that brought the Alaska Airlines Arena crowd to its feet.

Seconds later, Paul Mulcahy stole an inbound pass from Jones and lofted a pass to the rim for Brooks who sailed high once again and flushed a tomahawk alley-oop dunk that drew another roar from the crowd.

The flurry of haymakers capped a 12-0 run to start the second half and gave the Huskies a 52-38 lead.

Stanford battled back and cut its deficit to 56-47 and minutes later trailed 68-57.

That’s when the Huskies put the game away with an 11-0 run that began with Johnson’s three-pointer followed by dunks by Brooks and Moses Wood.

Then backup forward Wilhelm Breidenbach converted a layup and Brooks flushed another dunk for a highlight.

Near the end, Johnson sank one more three-pointer before he retired to the bench and was serrended by the crowd, which chanted: “Koren Johnson.”

Husky point guard Sahvir Wheeler had 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Raynaud and Angel led Stanford (12-12, 7-7) with 19 points.

The Huskies host California at 5 p.m. Saturday.