Washington (1-1) vs. San Diego (2-0)
Monday, November 12th @ 8:00 p.m. PST
Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, Washington)
Line: Washington –9.5
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: 1000AM KOMO/97.7 FM
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Forward – Noah Dickerson
Noah Dickerson returns for his senior season and is currently averaging 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds per game this season. He is a dominant player in the paint and can also rebound the basketball. Last season, Dickerson was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for his stellar play.
Guard – Matisse Thybulle
Matisse Thybulle returns for his senior season and is averaging 8.0 points this season and garnered 101 total steals last season. He is the spark plug and energy of the team with his elite play on defense. Last season, Thybulle was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Guard – Jaylen Nowell
Jaylen Nowell returns for his sophomore season and is currently averaging 16.5 points and 2.5 assists per game this season. The talented all-court guard excels in the midrange game and is often the go-to-guy down the stretch. Last season, Nowell was named to the All-Pac-12 Freshman team.
KEY PLAYERS: SAN DIEGO
Forward – Isaiah Pineiro
Isaiah Pineiro is a redshirt senior who was named to the All-WCC Preseason Team. He led the Toreros in scoring for the second straight game after scoring 25 points against Weber State earlier this week and was one point shy of his career high.
Guard – Olin Carter III
Olin Carter III is a senior and has worked his way up the USD record book and is among the top-20 in points and approaching the top-10 in multiple additional categories. Last game against UC Davis, he finished with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Guard – Isaiah Wright
Isaiah Wright is a redshirt senior and was an All-WCC second team selection a year ago. Wright became an instant leader on the court for the Toreros last season, taking over point guard responsibilities after transferring from Utah and sitting out the 2016-17 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
PREVIEW
The Washington Huskies came into the start of their regular season returning all five starters from last season, and that experience will prove to be the driving force to their success this season. Last game the Huskies faced the #11 Auburn Tigers on the road and were dominated in every facet of the game. While the Huskies realized that they haven’t quite arrived yet, the good news is that head coach Mike Hopkins now has the blueprint for what the Huskies need to improve upon to get to that elite level this season. “And the only way to learn is to feel it and experience it. The big word that we use is poise. We got to show better poise. So what was the good? It was a great learning experience.” Hopkins said.
On the other side, the Toreros bring back four returning starters to their lineup and that kind of veteran experience has paid off so far, as San Diego State is 2-0 on the season. This will be the first real test for the Toreros as they will be playing a Pac-12 team in the Huskies, who started out the season ranked in the top-25. Making adjustments at halftime is essential for any team to be successful and San Diego is currently outscoring their opponents 97-59 in second halves this season. The Toreros are shooting 57 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point range during those second halves as well. Head Coach Sam Scholl is a native from the Gig Harbor, Washington area and grew up being very familiar with the Husky Basketball program.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• Washington is holding opponents to 36.2 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent from 3-point range in the second half while shooting 58.7 percent from FG range and 50 percent from long distance in the same half …the Huskies are also holding opponents to an average of just 29.5 points in the second 20 minutes of the first two games compared to 42.0 in the first half.
• With his five assists at No. 11 Auburn, Matisse Thybulle moved to 204 career assists making him the first player in Pac-12 history since 1992-93 with the career stat line of at least 100 blocks (111), 200 assists (204), 200 steals (208) and 300 rebounds (312), via SportsReference.
• Matisse Thybulle, UW’s career steals leader at 208, has now recorded at least one steal in 48-straight games.
• Thybulle’s six blocks against WKU tied his career high and were the most by a Husky since he had six in the season opener against Yale on Nov. 13, 2016.
• Sophomore Jaylen Nowell has shot over 50 percent from the field in 15 of his 35 career games (42.8 percent) including his most recent outing at Auburn where he went 7-of-9 from the field for 16 points counting a perfect 2-of-2 from 3-point range … Nowell is 14-of-24 (58.3%) this season and for his career is at 45.1% (217-of-474).
• Washington currently has two 1,000 point scorers on the team with the potential to add a third as Matisse Thybulle is 69 points away. Only two rosters in UW history have had three 1,000 point scorers at the same time, 2008-09 (NCAA Round of 32) and 1998-99 (NCAA Round of 64). Noah Dickerson currently has 1,183 career points which ranks 27th while David Crisp has 1,080 career points which ranks 33rd.
• Three Huskies are in the 100 games club now as seniors Matisse Thybulle and David Crisp are at 101 career games while senior Noah Dickerson played in his 100th game at Auburn … additionally Thybulle has started in all 101 career games.
• UW has representatives on three of the Naismith Starting Five National Award Watch Lists in sophomore Jaylen Nowell (Jerry West Shooting Guard Award), senior Matisse Thybulle (Julius Erving Small Forward Award) and senior Noah Dickerson (Karl Malone Power Forward Award). UW is one of 11 schools nationally to have representatives on three of the 11 awards joining Kentucky, Duke, Tennessee, Virginia, Kansas, Nevada, Auburn, Oregon and Gonzaga.
• With 280 more this year, Noah Dickerson can become only the 15th member of the Pac-12’s 1,000 career rebounds club. Dickerson, who has 720 boards in his career, grabbed 284 boards as a junior in 2017-18.
• With another 100-steal season, Matisse Thybulle could become only the second member of the Pac-12’s 300 career steals club. Thybulle, who has 208 career thefts following 101 as a junior in 2017-18, would join OSU’s Gary Payton (321) as the lone members.
• UW’s senior class of Dominic Green, David Crisp, Noah Dickerson and Matisse Thybulle have combined to play in 396 career games including 257 career starts which is the most by any four seniors at a Power 5 school.
• With his 106 assists a year ago, junior David Crisp became the 40th player in UW history to record 100 assists in a single season … he is 50 away from entering UW’s career top 10 list as he has 267 total assists.
TOREROS NOTES
• The Toreros are 1-1 all-time against the Huskies, with their lone win coming in Seattle. USD defeated the Huskies during their first contest in program history, 72-54, on Dec. 30, 2000. The Toreros were edged, 98-94, in the following year’s meeting in San Diego on Dec. 1, 2001.
• Head coach, Sam Scholl, is from nearby Gig Harbor, Washington. He grew up a Seattle sports fan and is a big fan of the Seattle Seahawks. Scholl still has many family and friends who live in the Seattle area and there will be roughly 50-60 family members and friends in attendance at the game.
• Director of Operations, Lance LaVetter, joined USD after serving three years as an assistant coach at Seattle U. He spent 12 years as the director of basketball operations under Lorenzo Romar at Washington.
• USD has outscored opponents 97-59 during the second half this season. The Toreros are shooting 57 percent from the field and 48 percent from 3-point range during second halves this season.
• The Toreros will be led by four returning senior starters, Isaiah Pineiro, Isaiah Wright, Olin Carter III and Tyler Williams. Pineiro, Wright and Carter III played in all 34 games last year, while Williams appeared in 29 contests.
• USD returns 81 percent of its scoring from last year’s team that won 20 games, including four senior starters. Pineiro led the Toreros at 15.7 points per game, followed by Wright (13.4), Carter III (12.4) and Williams (8.8).
• USD added true freshman, Finn Sullivan, from nearby Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California. Sullivan led the Torrey Pines Falcons to a 28-4 record (10-0 conference), averaging 18.7 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game and 5.5 assists per game his senior year.
• Among the returners who logged regular minutes last year, Yauhen Massalski was seventh on the team with 4.2 points per game and Alex Floresca recorded 2.6 points per game.
• Pineiro was an All-WCC first team selection a year ago, averaging 15.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. He hit double-digits in scoring in 30 games and shot 49.1 percent from the field.
• Pineiro led the Toreros in scoring and was No. 6 in the WCC at 15.7 points per game. He was 10th in the conference with 6.2 rebounds per game.
• USD traveled to Costa Rica in early August as part of a foreign trip. While the team won all three of its games against Laurentian University (Canada), Costa Rica’s U-21 National Team and the University of Calgary, the most important moments happened off the court.
• The Toreros will take on a challenging non-conference schedule that includes matchups against four Pac-12 opponents, a trip to Ole Miss and multiple quality mid-major programs.
