Washington coach Mike Hopkins was so pumped up after beating Ball State in the first round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, he photo-bombed two separate media interviews with his players.
Before the No. 22 Huskies’ touted freshman forward Jaden McDaniels could answer the first question lobbed his way, Hopkins pounced in front of the wide-eyed player and yelled, “He’s a BEAST!”
He basically did the same thing to sophomore guard Quade Green, another star of the 85-64 win, a few minutes later.
Precocious UW came out with a similar exuberance, breaking the DHC record for points in a first half by pouring in 51. The Pac-12 team, making the program’s first appearance on Oahu since playing in the 1984 Rainbow Classic, rode out a dry spell early in the second and heads into tonight’s semifinal against Hawaii.
“We’re really, really talented, we’re still learning, we’re still inexperienced,” said Hopkins, who won Pac-12 Coach of the Year in each of his first two seasons in Seattle. “But these are the games against really high quality opponents, (that) will help us become a team.”
McDaniels scored a season-high 22 points, fellow front-court frosh Isaiah Stewart supplied 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Green added 21 on 7-for-8 shooting with six assists. All three players were McDonald’s All-Americans in high school.
UW (9-2), a favorite to win the tournament, served notice it will be a threat playing at any tempo, or with any defense.
The Huskies, renowned for their zone, switched to man-to-man to earn separation after an early torrent of made shots by the Cardinals (6-5). Tahjai Teague led the Mid-American Conference team with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Huskies sank eight 3s in 12 attempts in the first half to help break the tournament scoring mark before halftime, leading 51-40.
“It was the first game in Hawaii, first game in the tournament for both of us,” Green said. “So everybody gonna come in juiced up, ready to play, knock down a couple of shots. It’s all about the conditioning.”
Ball State crept within three early in the second half, but Nahziah Carter exploded for a one-handed tomahawk dunk for a 62-51 lead with under 10 minutes left. The Huskies’ next trip down was a Hameir Wright two-handed flush on a give from Carter.
A 3-pointer followed by a transition dunk from McDaniels iced the outcome with four minutes left.
Georgia Tech 74,
Boise State 60
The Yellow Jackets (5-5) of the ACC busted a stalemate wide open with a 20-2 run in the second half and maintained the advantage behind the play of guard Jose Alvarado (14 points). Forwards Jordan Usher and Moses Wright scored 18 apiece to help earn a semifinal date with Houston.
Alvarado energized his teammates with his hustle plays, and hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the game, strumming an imaginary ukulele with three fingers in the direction of the Broncos’ bench both times.
Abu Kigab led the Broncos (6-5) of the Mountain West with 17 points.
Houston 81, Portland 56
The lengthy and athletic Cougars (8-3) of the American Athletic Conference jumped ahead early on the Pilots (8-5) of the West Coast Conference and coasted to a victory.
Houston dominated inside, grabbing 14 offensive rebounds and outscoring Portland in the paint by 20. Guard Quentin Grimes scored a game-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting, with six assists.
‘Iolani alumnus Hugh Hogland, a third-year Pilots sophomore, scored three points with five rebounds off the bench.
