Seattle, Wash.------In his return to the University of Washington where he started his college career, San Jose State guard Adrian Oliver led all players with 32 points, but the #14-Huskies got a career night from forward Quincy Pondexter in an 80-70 win over the Spartans.

            The 6-foot-6 senior poured in 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds, both carreer highs, for Washington (4-0). Guard Isaiah Thomas with 16 points and forward Tyreese Breshers, who came off the bench with 12, also scored in double figures for the Huskies.

            "Our effort was really good and we played hard. We didn't play as smart as we needed to. Washington's really, really good. We're not going to beat a team on their level unless we play with our brains as hard we did with our bodies. We made some mistakes that really hurt us and didn't adjust to part of their zone attack. Pondexter got it in the paint too much and that hurt us," said San Jose State coach George Nessman.

Despite team and individual foul problems that forced the Spartans coach to use all 12 players in the first half, the Spartans only trailed, 37-31, at intermission. It wasn't until the 12:11 mark of the second half that Washington built its first double-figure lead, 57-46, following an Elston Turner 3-point basket.

The Spartans (1-1) had plenty of chances to tighten the game, particularly in the second half, but had a sub-par night at the free throw line converting just 25-of-37 tries.

Offensively, Oliver kept the Spartans in the game as long as he could with 19 of his 32 points coming after halftime.

"Adrian had to shoot it a lot. We didn't have C.J. (Webster) very much. He was on the bench next to me a whole lot," added the San Jose State coach about his star guard who was 9-of-23 from the field. Webster, San Jose State's best inside scoring threat, fouled out with just 4 points in 11 minutes of action.

"It was a fun game and environment.  It was a good challenge for our team, but we just came up short.  We fought #14 in the country hard.  It was fun coming back here and seeing familiar faces," said Oliver. "It would have been a lot nicer (playing in front of family in friends) if we would have won." 

Justin Graham was the only other Spartan in double-figure scoring with 12 points.

Center Chris Oakes had his second double-figure rebounding game of the season with 12, but Washington out-rebounded San Jose State, 44-37. Oliver was active on the boards for the second game in a row with eight and Graham hustled for seven more.

Both teams had better shooting nights earlier in the season. Washington made 41.5 percent of their tries; San Jose State, 40.0 percent.

San Jose State returns to action Sunday, November 22, at UC Riverside in a non-conference game that starts at 2:00 p.m.