Jaylen Nowell and Naz Carter each scored 14 points in Washington’s 66-61 Pac-12 Tournament Semi-Final win over Colorado.
Washington has never won the Pac-12 Regular Season Title and Tournament in the same season but can do so for the first time with a win tomorrow. The way Friday evening’s game started it looked like the Huskies were headed for an early exit.
The Buffaloes opened the game on an 8-0 run aided by second-chance points on their first two possessions.
The bad news for Washington kept coming when Mattise Thybulle picked up his second foul just three and a half minutes into the game. Just 30 seconds after substituting Thybulle out Hopkins made a bold decision to bring him back in.
“I just wanted to calm him down,” Hopkins told the Pac-12 network after the game. “It’s like having Deion Sanders, you have to have him in there.”
Thybulle gave the Huskies their first lead at 19-18 with a fast-break dunk and then on the other end had one of his patented “blocks from behind” that led to a David Crisp layin to cap a 9-0 run.
Washington went cold and Colorado took a 33-27 lead into the break. Whatever Hopkins told his team at half-time worked as Washington quickly tied the game at 33 following back to back 3’s by Crisp and Thybulle.
That started a 25-5 run that put the Huskies up 14.
Colorado made a late run cutting Washington’s lead to six at 60-54 with a little over a minute to go. Noah Dickerson had a chance to put the Buffs away at the stripe but missed back to back free throws in the double bonus. Tyler Bey made two for Colorado at the other end to cut the Huskies lead to four.
David Crisp split a pair giving the Buffs a chance to further cut into the Huskies lead but Naz Carter made a huge defensive play taking a charge on Shane Gatling with forty seconds remaining.
McKinley Wright IV cut the Huskies lead to 3 with 17 seconds left but the Huskies broke full-court pressure with Nowell finding Crisp for a game-sealing layup.
Keys to the Game
Washington came out like a bat out of hell in the second half
The Huskies opened the 2nd half on runs of 16-2 and 27-5 with Colorado scoring just five points the first 10 minutes of the second half. If Washington had made more free throws down the stretch the game wouldn’t have been close.
Washington’s balanced offense
The Huskies had four different players in double-figures, Colorado had just one. The Buffaloes turned the ball over 18 times, the Huskies only had 10 while distributing 11 assist. Naz Carter and Dominic Green were essential scoring 14 and 8 points respectively to help Washington outscore Colorado’s bench 22-10. When the rest of the team looked shell-shocked, Carter and Green were a calming presence scoring 8 of the Huskies first 10 points of the game.
Colorado ran out of steam
The game was exhibit A in the value of a first round bye. While the Huskies found a rhythm on offense in the second-half, Colorado was playing their third game in three days. They looked lethargic and were just 2 of 14 from behind the three-point line in the second-half. Fourteen of Colorado’s 28 second-half points came at the free throw line. While Washington rotated in nine players, the Buffs only played seven.
Outlook: Washington started slow shooting just 34.5% in the first-half but they improved their shot selection in the second and started getting to the free throw line. Washington has plenty of things to clean up like how they missed 10 free throws, shot just 29% from beyond the arc and got destroyed on the glass where they were outrebounded 46 to 29. But a win is a win and at the end of the night the Huskies will be one of just two teams standing from 12. On to the player grades…
Wright – 7 – Wright wasn’t much of a factor offensively but put in some good work on the defensive end where he had 4 steals and a block before fouling out with a little over a minute to go in the game.
Dickerson – 6 – After scoring a season-low two points yesterday Dickerson didn’t even attempt a shot in the first-half as Colorado double-teamed him every time he touched the ball. He contributed elsewhere by grabbing 11 rebounds. Dickerson has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in four consecutive games and is averaging 13.7 boards over that span. He will need to start making free throws if he wants to be on the court at the end of games, he was just 3 of 7 on Friday.
Thybulle – 8 – Thybulle did a great job playing with foul trouble but did foul out with a little over 3 minutes to go coincidently when the Buffs made their final run. Even though the Huskies had 13 steals Thybulle only had one which ties him with Gary Payton (who was in attendence) for the conference career record of 311. Thybulle finished with 12 points and also blocked three shots.
Nowell – 8 – Nowell got off to a 2-7 start but made 4 of his last 8 shots including a second-half 3-pointer that put the Huskies up 10 while Colorado was trying to mount a comeback. He added 5 rebounds, 4 assist and 3 steals.
Crisp – 6 – Crisp was cold going just 3 of 12 from the field and 1 of 7 from beyond the arc. He also missed three of his six free throws and had three turnovers. He finished with 10 points and 3 assist.
Carter – 9 – Carter was the best player on the court much of the night. He was rewarded for attacking the rim and shot seven free throws which were all earned on drives to the basket. Carter also played excellent defense picking up 3 steals and the charge he took at the end extinguished the Buffs chance at a come-back as it fouled Gatling out. Most importantly he was in control, he had just one turnover and for the most part took good shots.
Green – 8 – Green provided some early offense hitting two threes and scoring 8 points. He also had two rebounds, an assist and a steal in an all around solid game.
Bey – NR – In a short cameo appearance Bey grabbed an offensive rebound and then made an excellent outlet pass for an assist on a dunk.
Timmins – NR – Timmins picked up three first-half fouls and didn’t have much time to make an impact. He finished with one rebound in five minutes.
