Washington (13-4) vs. California (5-12)
Saturday, January 19th @ 2:00 PM PST
Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, Washington)
Line: California –16.5
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1000AM KOMO/97.7 FM
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Forward – Noah Dickerson
13.3 PPG
6.4 RPG
Guard – Matisse Thybulle
9.2 PPG
2.9 RPG
Guard – Jaylen Nowell
17.0 PPG
5.2 RPG
KEY PLAYERS: CALIFORNIA
Forward – Justice Sueing
14.4 PPG
6.2 RPG
PREVIEW
The Washington Huskies Basketball team enters this contest with some momentum after a convincing 80-64 home win over the Stanford Cardinal. The California Bears are coming off a 82-59 blowout road defeat by the Washington State Cougars. The Huskies will be looking for a 5-0 conference start and remain in first place in the Pac-12 standings. With a win over the Bears, the Huskies can achieve a program milestone with 1,000 home victories at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• UW is the only Pac-12 school that is still undefeated at home as it enters Saturday’s game with 9-0 mark • The Huskies are nearing 1,000 career wins in its current arena at AAA as they currently sit at 999, which already gives them the most wins in its current arena of any Division I school.
• UW has shot 50 percent or better from the field in three of its four conference games including the last two.
• UW recorded a season-low six turnovers against Stanford … it was the second time in the last three games the Huskies have posted 10 or less turnovers (also had eight against Utah) … UW’s six TOs against Stanford were its fewest since the 2015-16 season when it had four against WSU on March 2, 2016.
• UW is holding its first 17 opponents to just 65.8 points per game, 13 teams have been held to 70 points or less and UW has won 12 of those games
• Sophomore Naz Carter has already matched his rebound total from a year ago as he is at 57 through 17 games … additionally he is averaging 12.3 points in Pac-12 play and is shooting 70 percent from the field in those outings (21-30) … he averaged just 4.7ppg in league action last year.
• Seven of sophomore Naz Carter’s career 15 10+scoring efforts have come in the last 16 games.
• Junior Sam Timmins has seen a rise in his production over the last three games as he is averaging 4.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, has recorded 7 blocks, 4 steals and is shooting 71.4 percent (5-7).
• Nowell has recorded six 20-point scoring efforts this season, and three in the last four games … he now has 16 on his career … Nowell is 5th in the league in scoring averaging 17 ppg.
• Nowell is averaging 7.3 rebounds in Pac-12 action, up from 5.2 overall this season … he averaged 4.5 in league play a year ago.
• Nowell is one of three players on the initial Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award watch list to be shooting over 50 percent (51.6), averaging over five rebounds (5.2) and 3 assists (3.4) and scoring at least 16 points a night (17.0), joining Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman and Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver.
• Nowell has shot at least 50 percent from the field in 25 of his 51 career games (49.0 percent) … in those 25 games, UW has a 20-5 record.
• UW has had six different players lead the team in scoring through 17 games in David Crisp (1), Noah Dickerson (5), Jaylen Nowell (8), Dominic Green (1), Naz Carter (2) and Matisse Thybulle (2).
• Crisp has had a standout start in Pac-12 play, averaging 16.5 points, on 44.4 percent shooting from the field (20-of-45), 57.1 percent from 3 (12-of-21) and dishing out 2.0 assists.
• Nowell has seen an uptick in not just his scoring production (16.8 ppg) but in his assists as well as he currently leads the team with 58 (3.4 per game) which is up from an average of 2.7 a year ago.
• Thybulle is 34-of-37 from the FT line this season, shooting at a 91.9 percent clip, up from 71.4 percent as a junior, 84.1 percent as a sophomore and 71.4 percent as a freshman.
• Thybulle, UW’s career steals leader at 252, is 69 away from first place all time in Pac-12 history (321, Gary Payton, 120 games, 1986-90) and is currently fourth all-time.
• Thybulle is the only player in Division I averaging at least 2.18 blocks and 2.76 steals per game.
BEARS NOTES
– The Huskies are undefeated in conference play and riding a six-game win streak. Cal enters the matchup with three Golden Bears averaging double figures in conference play, led by Justice Sueing’s 16.6 points per game. Sueing paced the Bears in scoring in three of five Pac-12 contests while also leading Cal in rebounding in four conference games for 7.0 rebounds per game.
– Bradley joins Sueing as one of two Bears who has scored in double figures in at least four conference games. The rookie is averaging 13.2 points. Though McNeill is averaging just 6.5 points in his last two outings, he turned in a season-high 23 points in Cal’s last road trip at UCLA.
– California is looking for its first conference win since Feb. 3, 2018 (vs. Oregon State, 74-70), and first Pac-12 road win since Dec. 30, 2017 (vs. Stanford, 77-74).
– Justice Sueing owns a career 19.5 points per game average against the Huskies, including a career-high 27 points at Washington last January. He recently matched that 27-point total against Arizona.
– In Cal’s last trip to Washington, Juhwan Harris-Dyson’s stat line included 6 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block and a career-high 5 steals.
– Roman Davis is coming off a career-high rebounding performance, pulling down a team-high 7 rebounds at Washington State.
– Cal is averaging 6.6 steals in Pac-12 play, led by Darius McNeill’s 10 steals.
– Matt Bradley’s 40.0 percent shooting clip (8-20) from 3-point range paces the Bears in Pac-12 play (min. 5 attempts). He’s also shooting 46.3 percent from the floor and has scored in double figures in four of five league games.
