Washington picked up win No. 10 on Friday night, defeating the Montana Grizzlies, 66-63 at Alaska Air Lines Arena.
With the Huskies leading 64-62, Montana guard Michael Oguine was fouled by David Crisp with 5.2 second remaining. Oguine would make the first free throw but missed the second. Matisse Thybulle would be fouled after getting the outlet pass and make both free throws to secure the Huskies’ win.
“We’ve won some close games and we were lucky tonight that we didn’t let one bite us. But I got to give our guys a lot of credit. They made the plays that they had to,” Coach Mike Hopkins said about the close win.
In a game the Huskies could not find anything on the offensive end, turning the ball over 18 times, and finishing with only four assists, it was UW’s zone defense that came up big for the Huskies. Washington forced 20 Montana turnovers and had a combined 23 blocks and steals on the night. And when the game mattered the most, UW locked up the Grizzlies. Montana failed to score a field goal in the final 4:14 of the game. The Grizzlies only scored one point in the final 4:14 of the contest.
Washington’s main issue outside of the turnovers and lack of ball movement on offense was rebounding. The Huskies were out-rebounded 41-27 on the night. The most glaring stat was the 20 offensive rebounds Montana pulled down.
If there’s one key stat the Huskies could point to that led to their victory, was their 17-for-21 free throw shooting. The Grizzlies meanwhile, made just 4-6 free throws.
The Huskies were led by Jaylen Nowell’s 13 points. But it was true freshman Hameir Wright that continues to show how much potential he has. The 6-foot-9 forward finished the night with 11 points, five rebounds, and four blocks.
Washington improves to 10-3 on the season, while Montana falls to 7-5.
The Huskies have wrapped up non conference play and start Pac-12 play on December 29 at USC.
