SALT LAKE CITY — Take your lumps now and reap the rewards later. That will be the philosophy for the Eastern Washington men's basketball team this season as they battle through the toughest non-conference schedule in the Big Sky. The Eagles lost their season opener at Utah on Monday night, 101-66.
Utah led wire-to-wire at the Huntsman Center, scoring two quick threes to open the game before Wyoming transfer Jake Kyman scored the Eagles' first points of the year with a pull-up midrange jumper. Junior forward Dane Erikstrup hit EWU's first three to make it a 12-10 Utah lead just under eight minutes into play.
From there, the Utes took over. They particularly locked down on defense, earning an 18-2 run as they held EWU without a bucket for nearly four minutes, pushing their lead to 24 at the half.
"I talked to our guys yesterday, and our big thing was 'no matter what happens, today is going to be an overreaction'... we just have to focus on getting better," said head coach David Riley after the game.
"We haven't had great starts at Eastern Washington since I've been here, but we've always found a way to find one thing to get better at, take that and go on to the next game and move on from there. We're going to stick to that blueprint. We have great, high-character men."
The Eagles shot the ball better in the second half — 51.6% on 16-of-31 from the floor compared to 25.7% (9/35) in the first — but Utah did so as well, putting up 57 points in the final 20 minutes on 63% shooting, including 7/13 from 3-point range.
"I think we had some silly turnovers but besides that, it was much better (in the second half)," continued Riley. "If you shoot 51% against a Pac-12 team, you're doing something right. We did some good stuff offensively… but then we were worried about the first half, stopped playing defense, stopped going to our principles and (Utah) put up a big number."
The biggest bright spot on the evening was the play of redshirt freshman LeJuan Watts. The Fresno native, after a year of development without seeing the floor last season, posted a team-high 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting while pulling down 10 rebounds for a double-double. He added 2 assists and 2 steals.
"That kid is going to be special. He had a hell of a redshirt year and I'm proud of him. I know his dad is looking down on him and is proud."
Watts' father, Walter Watts III, played at Utah as a center and was a key figure on the Utes' Sweet Sixteen team in 1991. Sadly, he passed away in 2016 at the age of 47. LeJuan's brother, Walter IV, played football for Utah.
The game also saw collegiate debuts for Nic McClain (3 points), Sebastian Hartmann (5 points) and Mason Williams (6 points).
Eastern, who boasts an average height of well over 6-foot-5, was no match for Utah's rebounding frontcourt. The Utes finished with 48 to Eastern's 28, including a 12-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
There's no rest for the weary for the Eagles, who will next play at Ole Miss on Friday. The Rebels are coached by 2019 AP National Coach of the Year Chris Beard and have the nation's leading shot blocker from a year ago in center Jamarion Sharp, who transferred from Western Kentucky.
"That's a very athletic team and (Coach) Beard is one of the best defensive coaches of all time… a hell of a coach all around. It's going to be a tough, tough place to play."
Friday's game at Ole Miss will start at 5 p.m. PT. It will be available streaming via ESPN+ and on the radio via 700 ESPN, 105.3 FM and the Varsity Network App.
Season tickets for EWU men's and women's basketball are now available and start as low as $100! Tickets for basketball and all EWU Athletics events are available at goeags.com/tickets or via the EWU Athletics Ticket Office at 509-359-6059.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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