SEATTLE, WA. -- Isaiah Thomas immediately answered Washington's call for more scoring this season with a career-high 30 points, and the No. 14 Huskies held on for a 74-69 victory over Wright State on Friday night.
Thomas was 7 of 14 from the field and 14 of 18 from the line for the defending Pac-10 champions, who nearly frittered away an 18-point lead and their highest preseason ranking since 1985 on the opening night of the round-robin Athletes In Action Classic.
Thomas had 18 points in the highest-scoring first half of his college career
Todd Brown scored 21 points and N'Gai Evans added 17 for the Raiders, who are picked to finish second this season in the Horizon League.
Brown kept them close early by scoring seven points, but during one stretch he didn't score for almost 15 minutes. Wright State fell behind by as many as 18 in Brown's dry spell.
