Tonight, Washington will look for its 13th win in a row against an Arizona State team that is still tied for 2nd in the Pac-12 despite their horrific loss to Washington State on Thursday.
Washington (19-4, 10-0) is coming off their first win at Arizona in 7 years but the Sun Devils (15-7, 6-4) are looking to bounce back from arguably the upset of Pac-12 play, a 91-70 loss to the Cougars in Tempe.
The Sun Devils actually lead the conference in scoring but couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn against the Cougars. While WSU got hot going 12 of 30 from beyond the arc (40%), the Sun Devils were just 5 of 33 (15%).
Another telling storyline of the Washington State game was that an ASU team that is 1st in the Pac-12 and 15th in the nation (out of 351 teams) in rebounding margin at 6.6 rebounds per game, somehow got outrebounded by 7. It was just the 4th time this season that ASU has been outrebounded. The Sun Devils are not a particularly good shooting team from the field (41%) or beyond the arc (33%) but they are usually able to crash the offensive glass to compensate with second opportunities.
Saturday vs. Arizona State Sun Devils (15-7, 6-4), 8PM @ Wells Fargo Arena on ESPN
Opponent Notes: ASU is the Huskies’ only remaining road opponent with a winning conference record.
The Sun Devils are led by Zylan Cheatham, he’s the Pac-12’s leading rebounder (11.1 per game) and one of only two players in the nation (Ethan Happ, Wisconsin) averaging at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assist. Cheatham, a transfer from San Diego State, has dedicated this season to his younger brother who was shot and killed four days after Christmas.
Point guard Remy Martin is the reigning Pac-12 sixth man of the year (he actually shared the award with Colorado’s Devon Collier). He averaged 9.6 points per game a year ago and is up to 13.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 5.1 assist as a sophomore. Martin has 7 assist or more in 5 straight games. Over that span he is averaging 8.4 assist per game. Martin went just 1 for 9 from 3 against the Cougars.
Luguent Dorts is the Sun Devils leading scorer at 16.2 points per game. Shot selection has been an issue for the Freshman from Montreal who takes five 3’s per game even though he’s shooting under 28%.
Injury Update: Hameir Wright will be a game-time decision with flu-like symptoms. Mattise Thybulle is also suffering from flu-like symptoms but is probable to play. Noah Dickerson is probable to play with a sore ankle. Arizona State freshman Taeshon Cherry is out with a heel injury, Cherry was averaging 6.9 ppg and 3 rebounds per game in 18.7 minutes.
Schedule: The Pac-12 has a combined 3-15 record against AP top 25 teams this year but ASU has two of those wins defeating then #15 Mississippi State 72-67 in November and then #1 Kansas 80-76 in December.
Despite the WSU loss, the Sun Devils are one of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four In.” He has the Sun Devils playing a play-in game as a #12 seed.
Last Time: Washington beat Arizona State 68-64 last year in Seattle. Noah Dickerson had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Dawgs who nearly blew a 10 point half-time lead. Thybulle had six steals in that game.
Matchup to Watch: Washington’s ability to limit second chance points
As mentioned above, Arizona State is a strong rebounding team and crashes the offensive glass to the tune of 13.2 rebounds per game. Washington’s 2-3 zone has a tendency to concede offensive rebounds but that hasn’t hurt them too much in conference play yet. Sam Timmins didn’t play much on Thursday against an Arizona team that went small playing into the Huskies hand, that won’t be the case Saturday as the Sun Devils have 5 players in their rotation with a wing-span of 6’11” or longer.
Prediction: Could the Huskies really make it three road sweeps in a row? The Huskies have played Colorado and Oregon State on the tail end of their last two road trips, each team coming off an easy midweek win over Washington State. The Sun Devils already punted a game so they will be throwing the kitchen sink to avoid a home sweep.
Even though I think the Sun Devils have a huge advantage on the glass, Washington has been able to negate their mediocre rebounding margin by forcing turnovers (10 steals per game, 6 blocks per game in Pac-12 play). The Huskies need Dominic Green to snap out of his slump, he’s getting good looks but just needs to start putting them down. Jaylen Nowell has just 12, 15 and 12 points his last three games, all under his season average of 16.4. Everyone knows Nowell is a great 1 on 1 scorer but you’d like to see him do a little more off the ball as teams are increasingly playing zone against Washington.
I think this game being a late night ESPN game favors the Sun Devils who draw decent crowds but as they have all-season, I imagine the Huskies will find a way. It’s more a matter of,“Who will step up this time?”
Final Score: Washington 66 Arizona State 62
