The Huskies start the second-half of Pac-12 play with three road games in a row starting with the Arizona Wildcats on Thursday night in Tucson.
A lot is on the line for the Huskies this week. If they can sweep the Arizona schools suddenly 18-0 seems possible. Their remaining road opponents Washington State, California and Stanford are a combined 5-22 in Pac-12 play and sit 12th, 11th and 9th respectively in the standings. Washington has home dates with the Mountain and Oregon schools remaining.
Thursday vs. Arizona Wildcats (14-8, 5-4), 6PM @ McKale Center on ESPN2
Opponent Notes: Arizona has won at least 12 conference games nine years running but that streak is in jeopardy for the first time since Sean Miller went 10-8 in conference play back in 2009-2010, his first season in Tucson. In 10 years under Miller Arizona has never gotten past the sweet 16 and suffered an embarrassing upset to Buffalo in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament opening round last year.
A formal investigation into Arizona Men’s Basketball was announced by the NCAA on Monday following an FBI probe that led to a former assistant coach pleading guilty to federal charges. Word is that Miller could be subpoenaed to testify against another former assistant. That’s just on the court issues. More relevant to Thursday Arizona has lost 4 of their past 5 games including a heart-breaking overtime loss to Arizona State on Thursday. The Wildcats hit 14 3-pointers at a 50% rate but shot just 13 of 39 (33%) on 2-point field goals. Arizona is led by 6’6” Sophomore guard Brandon Randolph, averaging 15 points per game.
Injury Update: While Washington Senior Forward Noah Dickerson is going to be a game-time decision. Miller has already declared second-leading scorer freshman Brandon Williams out with a recurring knee injury. Williams was averaging 12 points and 3.6 assist per game. Junior Dylan Smith will likely get the call again in William’s absence.
Schedule: Arizona and Washington both played Gonzaga and Auburn in non-conference play. The Wildcats lost to Gonzaga by 17, the Huskies by 2. The Cats lost to Auburn by 16, the Huskies lost to Auburn by 22.
Last Time: Washington upset #9 Arizona last year 78 to 75. Dominic Green hit a three-pointer while falling down at the buzzer after Jaylen Nowell’s shot was blocked by DeAndre Ayton, there was no return game to Tucson.
The last time Washington won in Tucson was January 28th, 2012. That day Tony Wroten scored 17 points and blocked a potential game-tying shot at the buzzer to help Washington earn a 69-67 victory.
Matchup to Watch: Chase Jeter vs. Washington Bigs
If Dickerson were to sit out either Sam Timmins or Dominic Green would slide into the starting lineup. Timmins and Hameir Wright can both effectively play the middle of the 2-3 zone but they are also prone to foul trouble. On the offensive end Wright isn’t particularly comfortable playing with his back to the basket and while Timmins has shown improvement in recent weeks, he’s never going to be considered a real post up threat. The Huskies will want to make sure they give Timmins and Wright touches inside to keep the Wildcats honest and get to the basket via the dribble drive.
Prediction: Arizona is desperate for a win but that didn’t help USC or UCLA against the Huskies. The Huskies have some deficiencies on their front line, especially without Dickerson but Arizona doesn’t really have the horses to take advantage. They rank just 203rd out of 351 Division 1 teams in rebounding with a -.1 margin. They are 291st in blocked shots so they don’t really have a rim protector.
Where things get tricky is knowing Washington has been notoriously bad at turning the ball over against pressure. While USC and UCLA helped the Dawgs out by turning the ball even more than they did, Arizona won’t be so generous (#15 in the nation in turnover margin and #1 in Pac-12 play for fewest turnovers.) How will Washington win? I don’t think Arizona will shoot as well as they did from beyond the arc against Arizona State. They are last in the Pac-12 in shooting percentage and Washington has a tendency to force teams into bad shots, Dawgs roll before the big showdown in Tempe.
Final Score: Washington 69 Arizona 57
