SEATTLE _ A day earlier Mike Hopkins said he was more "confident" and "comfortable" heading into his second season with the Washington Huskies men's basketball team than last year when the former Syracuse assistant was an unproven first-year coach.
"Last year there was a lot of uncertainty," Hopkins said on the eve of Tuesday's season opener. "This year there's more certainty because you know when they're at their best and when they're not and how to coach them."
Perhaps that experience _ just 34 games with the UW _ helped Hopkins and the No. 25 Huskies overcome a nine-point halftime deficit and hold off Western Kentucky for a tight 73-55 victory Alaska Airlines Arena.
Jaylen Nowell and Noah Dickerson finished with a game-high 17 points while David Crisp added 13 for the Huskies.
Hopkins anticipated a tough challenge in the opener and the Hilltoppers gave the Huskies fits despite missing a pair of senior starters in point guard Lamonte Bearden and forward Desean Murray.
Washington employs a stingy 2-3 zone, but the Huskies had great difficulty deciphering WKU's zone, which virtually shut down Dickerson and UW's perimeter shooters in the first half when the Huskies trailed 36-27.
Washington started the second half with a 13-0 run to surge ahead 40-36, but the Hilltoppers didn't go away easily and tied the score at 46-46.
From there, UW took control with another spurt led by Dickerson.
He scored eight straight points for the Huskies, including a dunk and a layup that gave Washington a 60-50 lead.
And then Dominic Green delivered the dagger _ a 3-pointer with 5:04 left that pushed Washington in front 63-50.
The final minutes included a thrilling play from Matisse Thybulle, who blocked a shot by Jared Savage and jumped out of bounds to save the loose ball. Thybulle passed the ball to Crisp before racing down court and finishing the fast break with a two-handed dunk.
The Huskies never found their shooting touch _ they were 5 of 25 on 3-pointers _ but it didn't matter this time.
Crisp connected with Nahziah Carter, who cut along the baseline for an alley-oop dunk, which was one of the few successful set plays for the Huskies.
On their next offensive trip, Carter cleaned up a Sam Timmins miss and scored on a put-back that gave Washington a 27-19 lead with 5:37 left before the break.
And then, UW's offense completely fell apart.
The Huskies launched a series of errant 3-pointers while surrendering 17 unanswered points at the other end of the court.
Savage capped the first-half scoring with a rainbow dagger behind the arc that put WKU up 36-27 at halftime.
The start of the season doesn't get any easier for Washington, which plays at No. 11 Auburn on Friday.
