#25 Washington vs. Seattle Pacific (Exhibition Game)
Thursday, November 1st @ 7:00 p.m. PST
Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, Washington)
Line: None
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: None
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Forward – Noah Dickerson
Noah Dickerson returns for his senior season after averaging 15.5 points and 8.4 rebounds per game last 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 after averaging 11.2 points and garnering 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 after averaging 16.0 points and 2.7 assists per game last 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: SEATTLE PACIFIC
Forward – Coleman Wooten
Coleman Wooten returns for his junior season after averaging 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game last season. Wooten was recently named to the 15-man Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team.
Guard – Gavin Long
Gavin Long returns for his sophomore season after averaging 11.9 points per game and 53 assists total last season. Long was recently named to the 15-man Preseason All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team.
PREVIEW
The Huskies return all five starters from last season and that experience will prove to be the driving force to their success this season. Recently the Huskies played the Nevada Wolf Pack on the road in an exhibition game and won 91-73. Tonight’s game will conclude their exhibition schedule and Washington head coach Mike Hopkins said the mindset is to win first and foremost. He said these games are opportunities for the coaches to tinker with lineups and experiment with different things.
Similarly, the Falcons are returning all of their starters from a season ago when the team finished with an overall record of 17-12. Recently, Seattle Pacific was picked to finish second in their conference this season in the GNAC Coaches Poll. Head Coach Grant Leep will be facing off against his former team tonight as he played his collegiate ball for the Huskies.
HUSKY NOTES
• Washington enters the season with two 1,000 point scorers on the team with the potential to add a third as Matisse Thybulle is 85 points away. Only three 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 1,165 career points which ranks 29thwhile David Crisp has 1,067 career points which ranks 34th.
• Washington 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.
• The Huskies boast the highest percentage of returning minutes and scoring (95.9%) among Power 5 programs. UW returns all five starters and better than 95 percent of its rebounding, assists, threes, blocks and steals as well. Amongst active career leaders in the Pac-12 Conference, UW leads in rebounds (Noah Dickerson – 709), three-point field goals (David Crisp – 182), steals (Matisse Thybulle – 205) and blocks (Matisse Thybulle – 103).
• With 291 boards in his senior season, Noah Dickerson can become only the 15th member of the Pac-12’s 1,000 career rebounds club. Dickerson, who enters 2018-19 with 709 caroms, 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 205 career thefts following 101 as a junior in 2017-18, would join OSU’s Gary Payton (321) as the lone members.
• Washington’s 2018-19 schedule features two non-conference road tests against teams ranked in the AP preseason top 25 (at Auburn, at Gonzaga). Additionally, Washington will face eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
• Washington’s senior class of Dominic Green, David Crisp, Noah Dickerson and Matisse Thybulle have combined to play in 388 career games including 251 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 58 away from entering UW’s career top 10 list as he has 259 total assists during his career.
• Washington posted its first 20-win season since 2011-12 with its 21-13 record last season … it was the biggest jump win jump between seasons since 1936-37 to 1937-38 after UW went 9-22 the season prior (2016-17) … it was also the biggest jump (eight wins more) in conference play in UW history as UW went from 2-16 to 10-8 a year ago.
• UW’s 20 wins in the regular season were its most since 2011-12 when UW won 21 games prior to postseason … it’s the 28th 20-win season in UW history.
• Thybulle has had at least one steal in 46-straight games.
• Out of his 205 career steals, which rank first all-time at UW, Matisse Thybulle is creating scoring on 55.1 percent of the direct next possessions … last season that number was 57.4 (58 of 101).
• Junior Matisse Thybulle set the UW single-season steals record last year with 101 … the previous record was held by Bryan Boston (67-1994-95, 27 games) … his 101 steals last season are the most by a returning player in the NCAA for the 2018-19 season … his 205 career steals are ranked third amongst active Division players for 2018-19.
• Junior Noah Dickerson has five 20/10 double-doubles on his career.
• Thybulle became the first Husky in program history to rank in the career top 10 in both categories … Thybulle has 205 career steals (1st) and 103 career blocks (6th).
