BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

And they're off.

Amid promises to be guard-heavy and run more this season, the Washington men's basketball team was both in the season's exhibition opener, a 105-85 drubbing of Western Washington Thursday night.

The 7,836 filling much of Bank of America Arena came looking for relief from the dour local sports scene, something to hang a rain-soaked hat on heading into the winter. That hope received a jolt from a marauding Isaiah Thomas and his teammates Thursday.

Thomas scored 27 points in his freshman debut, zipping into the lane time and again, no one on Western Washington able to slow down the Tacoma product. Thomas was 9-for-12 from the field, as good as advertised offensively. Maligned as an average or worse defender, Thomas even forced a five-second call against Western's Morris Anderson while hounding Anderson while he dribble.

Thomas' ability to power to his strong side, the left, and angle in shots off the glass against taller defenders was a repeated theme. As the Washington lead grew to 30 points, and defense became more of a laissez-faire pursuit for both teams, Thomas at times went between his legs on three consecutive dribbles and threw no-look passes when the simple would do.

But this was exhibition after all, a preseason affair that finally and officially gave Washington its first chance under the lights and in front of faces not just belonging to a coach.

"I looked back to try and compare where we were last year at this time, to this year, and I think we're further along," head coach Lorenzo Romar said.

No need to have cosmic powers to predict Thomas' offensive exploits or Jon Brockman's 18 rebounds Thursday night. But a soothsayer would have been necessary to envision Justin Dentmon's 3-point shooting accuracy.

Dentmon said he's been working on his jump shot all summer, and Thursday it showed. The senior was 4-for-5 from behind the line, his lone miss rimming out. Dentmon also hit a long two, big toe on the line. Last season, Dentmon shot 31.8 percent from 3-point territory.

For all the positives, there were negatives. Too many turnovers, 20, from lazy passing or forcing the ball offensively. Western Washington scored 58 points in the second half, a total Romar labeled "far too many."

Freshman Scott Suggs and Justin Holliday seemed to have trouble with the bright lights, combing to go 0-for-10 and looking lost at times offensively.

All in all, what was seen was expected. Romar rotated his talented, versatile stable of guards, starting Thomas at the point and Dentmon as the shooting guard. Venoy Overton, who locked up Western's Anderson and threw away the key, came in at the point, which slid Thomas to the shooting spot. At times Overton played with Dentmon or freshman Elston Turner. Around they went.

This was an end and beginning to a circular journey for Thomas. After spending two years at South Kent (Conn.) Prep School, Thomas was finally able to pull on the Washington uniform he committed to wearing when he was a junior at Curtis High School in 2006.

"It's something I've been looking forward to, my family's been looking forward to and it finally came today," Thomas said. "I was just blessed to experience something like that."

Tip-ins: Brockman said his back still hurts, he fell on it at practice Monday, and he will be wearing a special padded shirt this week during practice. ... Senior Artem Wallace is progressing according to Romar, and should be fine for the regular-season opener next Saturday at Portland. ... Quincy Pondexter had eight rebounds, five of them were offensive. ... Former O'Dea player and Bellevue CC transfer Michael Duty led the Vikings with 17 points. ... Western Washington freshman Cameron Severson is from Petersburg, Alaska, population 3,224, or less than half the number of people in the stands Thursday night. Severson went 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point line. ... Matthew Bryan-Amaning went baseline and came around from a crowd-pleasing dunk on the other side of the basket in the second half.

Todd Dybas is the editor of Seattlesportsonline.com. He can be reached via e-mail at tdybas@seattlesportsonline.com