SEATTLE, Wash. - The Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team fell to the Washington Huskies on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in a preseason exhibition game.
The Nanooks shot well from the floor, posting a 45.8% field-goal percentage and 43.8% three-point percentage, but the Huskies overpowered them on the glass and defensively, grabbing nine more rebounds and forcing 26 turnovers. In the first, the Nanooks got on the board nearly a minute and a half in.
Tyler Mrus hit a jump shot, making it 5-2, and kick started his strong night offensively. The UW lead grew to 13 at 15-2 before
Logan Stempniak ended the drought with a turnaround jumper, making it 15-4 Washington. The Huskies run continued until the 12-minute media timeout as they extended their lead to 14, making it 21-7.
Out of the break,
Bryan Nguyen grabbed the next five Alaska points, connecting on a jumper outside the paint and a three-pointer at the 8:02 mark. These points made it 27-12, the closest they'd come late in the first half. Washington's lead grew to 19 but a
Paul Johnson jump shot, Mrus second chance bucket, another Mrus jump shot and a
Jordan Kanoe jump shot pulled the 'Nooks back to within 16 going into the break.
At the half, Mrus led the 'Nooks with eight points and was one of four Nanooks with two rebounds.
Bryan Nguyen and
Logan Stempniak added five points as Alaska trailed UW 43-27 at the half.
Mrus began the second with a bang, connecting from deep to make it a 14-point game. Despite his strong offense and the Nanooks attempts to crawl back into the game, the Dawgs pushed their lead to 25 with 14:21 remaining in the second at 56-31. Another small run came from Alaska as Mrus and Kanoe connected on back-to-back three-point plays, pulling the 'Nooks within 19. They managed to pull within 16 on two separate occasions but the Washington offense stalled the 'Nooks efforts and responded every time.
The final 10 minutes of play was all Washington. They pushed ahead and maintained a 20+ point lead for the final 10:21, pushing ahead by 31 for a final of 95-64.
Alaska was led by
Tyler Mrus, who posted 20 points on 7-12 shooting. He added one three-pointer and went 5-6 from the free-throw line. Stempniak joined Mrus in double-digits, posting 11 points on 4-8 shooting and 2-3 from three. He added three rebounds and two steals. Kanoe ended with nine points and
Bryan Nguyen added eight.
The Nanooks open their 2022-23 season on Friday, Nov. 11 at Hawaii Pacific in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge.
For more information on the Alaska Nanooks men's basketball team, follow @NanooksMBB on Instagram or Twitter, or like the Alaska Nanooks athletics page on Facebook.
