Washington is hoping to complete a season sweep of the Mountain Schools when Colorado rolls into town on Saturday. Colorado played the Huskies tough in Boulder but this game will be in Seattle where Washington is 13-0.
Who: Colorado Buffaloes @ UW
When: Today, 7:30 PM
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena
How to Watch: Pac-12 Networks (7 day free-trials available on streaming apps FuboTV & Sling)
Colorado Notes:
The Buffs are tied for 5th in the Pac-12 with a 7-7 record. After starting the season 8-1, Colorado lost 8 of their next 11 games.
The Buffaloes are coming off a 2-point loss to Washington State in Pullman on Wednesday night 74-76. Colorado had two chances to tie or take the lead in the final 10 seconds but couldn’t convert. After starting Pac-12 play 2-6, Colorado had won five in a row before losing to the Cougars.
McKinley Wright IV is the Buffs leading scorer at 13.5 ppg, he is shooting 52% from the field but just 31% from behind the 3 point line. Wright is 3rd in the Pac-12 with 5.0 assist per game.
The Last Time: January 12th, 2019, UW 77 @ Colorado 70
Washington jumped out to a 13 point lead at half-time and held on in the second half to earn their first sweep of many. Jaylen Nowell provided 19 points and David Crisp added 16. Washington took advantage of Wright IV leaving the game with a shoulder injury. D’Shawn Schwartz scored 22 points to lead the Buffaloes while making four out of five behind the three point line.
Injury Update:
Both teams appear relatively healthy.
Matchups to Watch
Which team’s depth will rise to the occasion?
Both teams have excellent benches and a 9 man rotation. Naz Carter and Dominic Green combined for 16 points in the first matchup between the teams. Carter came-alive with 12 points against Utah on Wednesday and the Huskies would love more of the same from him. Colorado Freshman Evan Battey is averaging 7.8 points and 4.2 rebounds off the bench. The Buffs bench scored 28 points against the Cougars.
Will David Crisp and Jaylen Nowell break out of their mini-slumps?
Crisp has shot just 25% from beyond the arc the last three games in 24 attempts. You know that he can get hot again at any moment but when his shot isn’t falling he needs to take fewer off-balanced looks and start setting his feet again.
Nowell has shot below 40% from the field in two of the last three games, he shot under 40% only once in the first 10 Pac-12 games.
Rebounding Battle
Washington was able to take advantage of some second chance opportunities against Utah but the Buffaloes are a much better team on the glass ranking 2nd in the Pac-12 in rebounding margin at +5.2.
Tyler Bey, Colorado’s 6’7” sophomore wing is 3rd in the Pac-12 in rebounding with 9.4 per game. If the last name sounds familiar, that is because he is the cousin of UW freshman Jamal Bey.
Prediction: Colorado has been one of the hottest teams in the Pac-12 sweeping the Oregon schools on the road and the Arizona schools at home during their run. For whatever reason they couldn’t seem to make any plays down the stretch against Washington State.
I imagine Colorado is going to try to attack Washington inside as WSU and ASU had some success doing, Utah didn’t have the personnel to capitalize and settled for jump shots but the Buffs are one of the few teams in the Pac-12 who don’t shoot many 3’s ranking 11th in the Pac-12.
Considering Colorado’s bulk inside (Batty is 6’8”, 264), Washington will need Sam Timmins to give them more meaningful minutes (Fouled out in five minutes Wednesday).The Buffs last two losses were by a combined 4 points (Oregon State and WSU) so they’ll fight but I don’t see it being enough.
Final: Washington 66 – Colorado 58
Last Game’s Prediction
Washington 78 – Utah 62
Actual: Washington 62 – Utah 45
