Washington found themselves in an all too familiar spot against the 1-7 Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks late in the second half. The Huskies trailed 63-62 with 8:21 remaining in the game. But as they have done all season, UW closed the game in strong fashion. The Mavericks scored just points 10 points in the final 8:21 of the game – as the Huskies closed the game on a 24-10 run – to win 86-73.
“We were down one with seven minutes to go in the game and Matisse Thybulle decided to be Deion Sanders,” Coach Hopkins said after the win.”You saw the affect that he has on the game and then everybody.. the urgency to find the shooters… and then we were getting the rebounds and those 50-50 balls that we weren’t getting for 32-33 minutes of the game. That’s the difference. We’re at our best when we are playing defense and we’re rebounding the ball – we’re flying around.”
One of the major stats in the game that proved to be pivotal in the first half was rebounding. The Huskies were out-rebounded by the Mavericks, 25-16 at the half. That was a major reason UW led just 42-39 against Omaha. But UW would go on to out-rebound Omaha, 18-16 in the second half and beat the Mavericks, 86-73.
Washington once again continues to be much improved this season at the free throw line. The Huskies coming into tonight, were shooting 71.4 percent from the line. Tonight, UW went 19-24 from the line (79.2%).
The Huskies were led by David Crisp’s 24 points. Matisse Thybulle’s defense might have been the difference in the game as he finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 3 steals. Noah Dickerson scored 16 points, while Jaylen Nowell added 14 points.
Washington improves to 6-2, while Omaha drops to 1-8 on the season.
The Huskies next face Kansas on Wednesday in Kansas City. You can catch that game on ESPN2 at 6 p.m.
