David Crisp scored 17 points and Mattise Thybulle added 15 points, 5 steals and 5 blocks to lead Washington to their 12th victory in a row, 67-60 over Arizona in Tucson.
Washington led 29-28 at halftime but Arizona scored the first bucket of the 2nd half. Washington answered with a 7-0 run capped by a Crisp layup. After two free throws by Arizona’s Justin Coleman, Crisp hit a three-pointer to put Washington up 39-32, at the time their biggest lead of the game.
Crisp came up big again finding Thybulle for a dagger three that gave Washington a 59-47 lead with 6:12 to go. Crisp had 3 assist and 12 of his 17 points came in the 2nd half.
Keys to the Game
Chase Jeter vs. Washington Bigs
The question before the game was whether Sam Timmins or Dominic Green would start if Noah Dickerson couldn’t play. The surprise came in that they both started with Hameir Wright sitting out with flu symptoms. Dickerson came off the bench to score 10 points in 26 minutes off the bench in a gutsy performance.
Jeter, the Duke transfer gave the Huskies some trouble in the first-half scoring 10 points on 4 of 6 shooting. When it looked like Washington didn’t have an answer for him Dickerson forced him to the bench twice. He drew Jeter’s third foul with 19:17 in the 2nd half and his fourth with 17:38 to go. Jeter would eventually foul out with 2 minutes to go as Arizona tried to forge a desperate comeback. Jeter scored just 2 points in the 2nd half.
Washington won the Turnover Battle
The Huskies turned the ball over 19 times which isn’t a surprise considering their struggles against USC and UCLA last week. The pleasant surprise was Washington forcing an Arizona team that is the best in the conference at taking care of the ball into 20 turnovers, the Cats had just 8 against Arizona State last week.
Arizona is an awful shooting team
The Huskies got hot in the 2nd half hitting 58% of their shots while the Wildcats went cold shooting just 36%. Arizona had plenty of open looks from beyond the arc but couldn’t convert going just 4 of 18, 22%.
Wildcats leading scorer Brandon Randolph came into the game averaging 15 points but was held to just 6 points on 2 of 13 shooting (0-6 from 3). Justin Coleman led the Cats in scoring with 16 but 7 of those came from the free throw line.
Outlook: This initially looked like it would be the easier of the Huskies two games in The Desert but Arizona put up a good fight in the first half. Washington has plenty to clean up, they gave up 16 offensive rebounds and didn’t shoot particularly well in the first half (42%) but the beautiful thing about defense is that it travels. The Huskies prepare for an Arizona State team that will hope to bounce back from a surprising 21 point home loss to Washington State. On to the player grades…
Crisp – 8 – Crisp came alive in the 2nd half and carried the offense when Thybulle went out with foul trouble. He continues to come up with big shots in key moments.
Thybulle – 9 – Thybulle’s run of games with 7 steals ended at two but he still had 5 steals and 5 blocks. Thybulle’s 3-point percentage is the lowest in his four seasons at Washington (31%) but after going 3 for 4 against Arizona he’s now made 7 of his past 10 attempts from beyond the arc.
Nowell – 7 – Nowell finished with 12 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He also led the team in rebounds with 6. Nowell was quiet in the 2nd half (4 points, 5 FGA and 0 FTA) and he turned the ball over 4 times.
Green – 6 – Green played 28 minutes and was solid grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing 2 assist without a turnover. He continues to struggle for his shot as he was just 1 of 5 from beyond the arc. Green is 4 of his last 19 from 3 (23%).
Timmins – 5 – Timmins didn’t play much as both teams went small. He was somewhat ineffective grabbing just 1 rebound in 13 minutes. He also had 3 fouls and 2 turnovers.
Carter – 9 – Carter brought solid energy off the bench. He was just 1 for 6 in the first half but made his first three attempts in the 2nd half and finished with 10 points.
Dickerson – 8 – Dickerson was clearly not 100% but he battled and did his team a service getting Jeter out of the game with his ability to draw contact.
Bey – NR – Bey had an assist in 5 minutes.
Prediction: 69-57 Washington, Actual Score: 67-60 Washington
