Washington (14-4) vs. Oregon (11-7)
Thursday, January 24th @ 6:00 PM PST
Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Oregon)
Line: Oregon –2.5
TV: ESPN2
Radio: 1000AM KOMO/97.7 FM
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Forward – Noah Dickerson
13.2 PPG
6.7 RPG
Guard – Matisse Thybulle
9.4 PPG
2.9 RPG
Guard – Jaylen Nowell
16.7 PPG
5.4 RPG
KEY PLAYERS: OREGON
Center – Bol, Bol
21.0 PPG
9.6 RPG
PREVIEW
The Washington Huskies Basketball team enters this contest with some momentum after a convincing 71-52 home win over the California Bears. The Oregon Ducks are coming off a 78-64 road defeat by the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Huskies will be looking for a 6-0 conference start and remain in first place in the Pac-12 standings. With a win over the Ducks, the Huskies will be looking for its first 6-0 start in conference play since 1983-84 when it started 6-0.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• Four of UW’s five Pac-12 wins have been by 16 points or more … the last time UW had that many wins with at least a 16-point margin was the 2011-12 season.
• UW has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 3 of its 5 Pac-12 games including two of the last three.
• UW is holding its first 18 opponents to just 65.0 points per game, which leads the Pac-12 and is 35th nationally … 14 teams have been held to 70 points or less and UW has won 13 of those games.
• Over the last two seasons under Mike Hopkins, when senior Dominic Green hits at least 2 from 3-point range, the Dawgs are 16-2 … they are 8-1 this year when Green knocks in at least 2 from distance … when he hits 3 from behind the arc UW is 10-0 over the last two seasons.
• The Huskies earned their 1,000th career wins in Alaska Airlines Arena with the victory over Cal … UW has the most wins in its current arena of any Division I school.
• Thybulle is one of 15 players nationally named to the watchlist for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year … he is the only player nationally to average 2.7 steals and 2.3 block.
• In two games against Oregon last season, Dickerson averaged 16 points and 9.5 rebounds.
• Dickerson is getting to the FT line on average seven times a game this season, which is up from 6.3 as a junior, 4.6 as a sophomore and 3.1 as a freshman.
• Sophomore Naz Carter has already passed his rebound total from a year ago as he is at 62 through 18 games … additionally he is averaging 10.6 points in Pac-12 play and is shooting 66.7 percent from the field in those outings (22-33) … 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 17 games.
• Nowell has recorded six 20-point scoring efforts this season, and three in the last five games … he now has 16 on his career … Nowell is 5th in the league in scoring averaging 16.7 ppg.
• Nowell is averaging 7.6 rebounds in Pac-12 action, up from 5.4 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 (51.1), averaging over five rebounds (5.4) and 3 assists (3.4) and scoring at least 16 points a night (16.7), 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 52 career games (48.1 percent) … in those 25 games, UW has a 20-5 record.
• UW has had six different players lead the team in scoring through 18 games in David Crisp (1), Noah Dickerson (5), Jaylen Nowell (8), Dominic Green (2), Naz Carter (2) and Matisse Thybulle (2).
• Crisp has had a standout start in Pac-12 play, averaging 15.6 points, on 46.2 percent shooting from the field (24-of-52), 57.7 percent from 3 (15-of-26) and dishing out 1.6 assists.
• Nowell has seen an uptick in not just his scoring production (16.7 ppg) but in his assists as well as he currently leads the team with 62 (3.4 per game) which is up from an average of 2.7 a year ago.
DUCKS NOTES
• 1 – Oregon’s current streak of six consecutive victories against Washington is the Ducks’ longest in 80 years. The Webfoots won seven in a row against the Huskies from 1937-38 to 1938-39, when the two schools played four times a year.
• 2 – Ehab Amin is one of two active Division I players with 1,000 career points, 500 career rebounds, 200 career assists and 200 career steals (John Konchar, Purdue-Fort Wayne). The 2016-17 NCAA steals leader has 14 steals in the last five games and averages 1.7 swipes per game to rank second in the Pac-12.
• 3 – Payton Pritchard joined Oregon’s 1,000-point club last week at Arizona. Pritchard also has 393 career assists. With another 7 assists, Pritchard will become just the sixth player in program history with 1,000 career points and 400 career assists. Pritchard’s 20 points Saturday at ASU were his most since netting 22 in the season opener against Portland State.
• 4 – With Bol Bol and Kenny Wooten on the shelf with injuries, Paul White stepped in to fill the void. He has reached double figures in points in six straight games.
• 5 – Freshman Louis King is the Pac-12’s No. 5 scorer (16.8 ppg) and No. 4 rebounder (8.2 rpg) in conference games. He’s scored in double figures in all five Pac-12 games, and opened Pac-12 play with back-to-back double-doubles against OSU and UCLA. He nearly got another double-double last Thursday at Arizona with 10 points and nine rebounds.
• BENCH – Kenny Wooten came off the bench last Thursday night to spark the Ducks’ win in Tucson with five points, seven rebounds and two blocks. It was Wooten’s first appearance since fracturing his jaw Dec. 21 at Baylor.
