Stewart scores 26 as No. 21 Washington beats Hawaii 72-61

HONOLULU (AP) — There was no stopping Isaiah Stewart on this one. Not with a single defender, anyway.

The freshman phenom had 26 factors and 13 rebounds to steer No. 21 Washington over Hawaii 72-61 within the Diamond Head Traditional semifinals Monday.

Quade Inexperienced added 11 factors and 7 assists for the Huskies (10-2), who will play Houston for the event title on Wednesday. Jaden McDaniels had 9 factors and 13 rebounds, and Nahziah Carter chipped in with 10 factors.

Stewart made 13 of 21 photographs from the sphere. He scored 16 factors within the first half and completed together with his fourth straight double-double.

“I believed they had been going to double (me), however I noticed that they had been taking part in 1-on-1 and I thank God for coaches and teammates as a result of as quickly as they noticed that, they instructed me, ‘They’re taking part in you 1-on-1, so simply go each time, don’t even look to cross out,’” Stewart stated.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound ahead is a projected lottery decide within the NBA draft subsequent June.

“There have been some occasions I used to be making an attempt to be unselfish, however they instructed me simply preserve going on the market,” Stewart stated.

Hawaii acquired inside six on Zigmars Raimo’s basket in transition with 5:28 left, however went scoreless for greater than three minutes whereas the Huskies reeled off an eight-point run to stretch their result in 59-45 with 2:04 remaining.

Justin Webster had 16 factors and Raimo added 15 factors with 15 rebounds to steer the Rainbow Warriors (8-4), who shot a season-low 28%.

“They’re one of many extra prolonged and athletic groups you’ll see within the nation and so they disrupted us, for positive, and all credit score to them,” Hawaii appearing coach Chris Gerlufson stated.

The Huskies dominated in each factors within the paint (40-18) and fast-break factors (24-9).

Washington led 37-22 at halftime.

“I believed our guys performed gritty,” Huskies coach Mike Hopkins stated. “A little bit little bit of foul hassle and so they simply stored preventing — that’s what you’ve acquired to do. You’ve acquired to point out poise and also you’ve acquired to maintain preventing. It is not going to be excellent on a regular basis. You’ve acquired to remain collectively and do these issues. I believed tonight that these guys did.”

BIG PICTURE

Washington is off to its greatest begin for the reason that 2014-15 season, when it opened 11-Zero earlier than dropping its subsequent 4 video games. The Huskies, who’ve received eight of 9, had been picked to complete third within the Pac-12 preseason media ballot. They open start play in opposition to UCLA at house on Jan. 2.

Hawaii has but to achieve the title recreation of the Diamond Head Traditional within the 11-year historical past of the event. Hawaii completed third within the 2014 and 2015 editions of the annual eight-team subject. The Rainbow Warriors had been picked to complete fourth within the Huge West in a preseason media ballot.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Hawaii missed its first eight photographs from the sphere and didn’t convert a subject objective till the 12:22 mark with Raimo’s jumper from the elbow. The Rainbow Warriors missed their first 12 3-pointers, together with seven by Eddie Stansberry, earlier than Webster lastly hit from lengthy distance with 2:23 left within the first half.

“They’re good at guarding the 3-point line and taking the three away after which once you put the ball behind the zone, they’re good at trapping,” Gerlufson stated. “We weren’t at our greatest tonight and I believed we let our taking pictures early type of carry over into another components within the recreation, however the very best factor about it’s we get to regroup and play shortly. We now have a extremely good crew coming in on Christmas Day, so we’ve acquired to prepare for that.”

UP NEXT

Washington: The Huskies personal a 5-2 benefit over Houston all-time. The groups final met on Dec. 24, 2004, which resulted in a 110-63 win for Washington.

Hawaii: Will face Georgia Tech for third place Wednesday. The groups have cut up 4 conferences and final met in 1973, when the Yellow Jackets pulled out an 85-82 house win over the Rainbow Warriors.