Eastern Washington @ Washington preview

Eastern Washington at Washington

Last Meeting ( Dec 14, 2014 ) Eastern Washington 77, Washington 81

Game 1 of the Mike Hopkins era went down as a win Friday but it was anything but easy for Washington in a come-from-behind 86-82 victory over visiting Belmont. The Huskies will try to smooth out some more wrinkles Sunday night when they host Eastern Washington.

Hopkins, the longtime Syracuse assistant under Jim Boeheim who replaced the fired Lorenzo Romar last spring, found his team trailing 70-61 with 5:40 remaining Friday, but Washington rallied around freshman guard Jaylen Nowell to outscore Belmont 25-12 the rest of the way. The Huskies trailed 43-35 at the half, by as many as 10 in the second half and didn’t take the lead for good until Nowell’s layup with 32 seconds remaining. “In the second half, there were probably two or three times the game felt like it could get away (from us), and these guys kept fighting,” Hopkins said in his post-game news conference. Eastern Washington had no such struggles in its Friday-night season opener, beating Walla Walla University 82-61, but then again, few were expected against a visiting NAIA program.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network

ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON (1-0): Returning three starters from a 22-12 squad but having to replace their head coach, the Eagles won in the coaching debut of former assistant Shantay Legans. Forward Bogdan Bliznyuk, a first team preseason All-Big Sky Conference selection, led the way with 18 points and four assists, while forward Jesse Hunt (11 points, 10 rebounds) and guard Ty Gibson (11 points) made key contributions off the bench. Eastern Washington dominated Walla Walla inside for a 34-13 scoring advantage in the paint, and limited the visitors to 34-percent shooting while forcing 16 turnovers.

ABOUT WASHINGTON (1-0): Nowell, a 6-foot-5 in-state signee and one of the few top recruits who didn’t bolt when the Huskies dumped Romar, scored 25 of his game-high 32 points in the second half, including nine in the final 2:24. Fellow starting guards David Crisp and Matisse Thybulle combined for 29 points, seven steals and six rebounds, but frontcourt starters Noah Dickerson and Sam Timmins struggled with nine combined points, six rebounds, four turnovers and eight personal fouls. After surrendering 81.1 points per game last season, the Huskies are adapting to the zone defense Hopkins brought with him from Syracuse, but it’s clearly still a work in progress as Belmont scored 82 points on 49.2-percent shooting.

TIP-INS

1. Washington leads the series 13-1, with the last meeting an 81-77 Huskies win on Dec. 14, 2014.

2. Nowell’s 32-point effort, on 12-of-18 shooting, marked the second straight season a Washington freshman debuted with a 30-point night after No. 1-overall NBA Draft pick Markelle Fultz had 30 a year ago.

3. Sunday’s game is the start of a nine-game stretch away from home for Eastern Washington, which also will face the Pac-12’s Stanford and Utah in that span.

PREDICTION: Washington 84, Eastern Washington 75