The Washington men’s basketball team needed a bounce-back game like this where its defense bullied and battered Montana State with a relentless assault on Tuesday night.
While 6-foot-11 Franck Kepnang led a trio of UW centers who patrolled the paint, Sahvir Wheeler and a bevy of Husky guards locked down the perimeter and smothered the Bobcats into submission.
When it was over, Washington came away with a satisfying 85-61 nonconference victory at Alaska Airlines Arena that included a handful of highlights on both ends of the court.
Kepnang notched his first double-double of the season and finished with 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting, 10 rebounds and two blocks. Wheeler canned 6 of 10 shots and tallied 14 points and five assists.
Koren Johnson and Anthony Holland came off the bench and added 13 and 11 points, respectively.
It was final tuneup for Washington (5-3) before Saturday’s showdown with cross-state rival No. 7 Gonzaga (7-1).
It was also the first time the Huskies returned to the court since their heartbreaking 86-81 defeat to No. 20 Colorado at the Legends of Basketball Las Vegas Invitational last Saturday.
Montana State provided staunch resistance for about 10 minutes Tuesday.
Bobcats sharpshooter Tyler Patterson drained his third three-pointer to cut UW’s lead to 13-12 and Brian Gooracke’s three-pointer gave Montana State its first lead (20-19) midway in the first half.
That’s when the Huskies seized control of the game with a 20-2 run over seven minutes — a devastating defensive display in which UW forced seven turnovers and MSU missed eight straight shots.
Johnson began the spurt, which included 15 unanswered points from Washington, with a jumper in the paint and he knocked down a short jumper to cap the run and put the Huskies up 39-22 with 2:56 left.
Washington took a 43-28 lead into halftime and outscored Montana State 12-4 in the first five minutes in the second half to go ahead 55-32 and essentially put the game away.
The Huskies held the Bobcats to 38.9% shooting from the field, including 9 of 31 on three-pointers. UW also out-rebounded MSU 44-26.
Robert Ford III scored 13 points while Patterson finished with 12 for Montana State (3-5), which dropped its third straight game.
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