Washington (6-3) vs. Seattle University (9-2)
Sunday, December 9th @ 6:00 PM PST
Alaska Airlines Arena (Seattle, Washington)
Line: Washington –13.0
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 16.8 points and 7.3 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 18.9 points and 3.4 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: SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
Guard – Morgan Means
Morgan Means is a junior who is currently rankled fifth in the WAC Conference in scoring average and has recorded 3 games of 20+ points so far. He is currently averaging 15.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this season.
Guard – Matej Kavas
Matej Kavas is a redshirt junior who is a Ljubljana, Slovenia native, who was named a preseason All-WAC First Team selection by both the league’s nine head coaches and the WAC media. He is currently averaging 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game this season.
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. This past week, the Huskies travelled on the road and lost a nail biter against Gonzaga 81-79. Sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell was spectacular during the game as he finished with a game 26 points. “There’s no consolation! I don’t care who it is. That’s not our standard. The most important thing is your guys play your hearts out and the other team has to be better than you. We played our hearts out.” Washington head coach Mike Hopkins said. The Huskies will return home and look to get back on the winning side of the ledger, against their cross-city counterparts.
On the other side, Seattle University is off to a great start to their season so far. The Redhawks currently own a 9-2 record. Recently, Seattle University won at home against Omaha 90-71, after a second half surge where they outscored the Mavericks 51-36. I’m really pleased with how we played tonight,” said Head Coach Jim Hayford. “Omaha is a very, very good team and the score was not indicative of how close these two teams were. I’m really proud of our guys for a solid win over a good team.” Seattle University will use this game against the Huskies, as a true gauge to assess where they are at this season.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• Washington currently has 994 wins in Alaska Airlines Arena … it is the most wins by any Division I team at its current home arena … UW started playing at AAA on Dec. 27, 1927.
• At No. 1 Gonzaga, sophomore Jaylen Nowell recorded his third 20+ scoring effort of the season and 13th of his career with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the field.
• Nowell has upped his assists average this season to 3.4 from 2.7 a year ago … additionally, he is averaging six assists over the last three outings.
• Over UW’s last three games, the Huskies have four averaging double figures in Nowell (17.0), Dickerson (14.0), Thybulle(13.0) and Green (11.3).
• The Huskies are one of 12 teams nationally to have two 1,000 point scorers on its current roster and is one of four to potentially have three this season as Matisse Thybulle is 13 points away from joining Noah Dickerson (1,316) and David Crisp (1,149).
• Senior Matisse Thybulle is averaging 2.2 blocks over the first nine games … that’s up from 1.4 as a junior, 0.7 as a sophomore and 0.9 as a freshman … his career total of 124 blocks is fifth all-time at UW.
• Thybulle is the only player in Division I averaging at least 2.2 blocks and 2.7 steals per game … his 2.7 steals per game also rank eighth nationally.
• Joining Thybulle in the block party is sophomore Hameir Wright who already has 18 this year in nine outings … as a freshman Wright knocked away 36 blocks in 33 games.
• The Huskies as a team are also ranked fourth in the NCAA in total blocks (59) and blocks per game (6.6) while Thybulle is ranked 34th nationally (2.2) and Wright is ranked 54th (2.0).
• Dickerson posted his sixth career 20/10 double-double against Texas A&M leading the team with 24 points and 17 rebounds … his 11 offensive rebounds were a career high and most by a Husky since Jon Brockman had 12 on Jan. 8, 2009 against Stanford.
• Nowell is shooting 57.3 percent from the field this season up from 45.1 a year ago … out of the 20 candidates for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year award, Nowell’s shooting percentage is the best by just over five percent.
• Nowell has shot over 50 percent from the field in 20 of his 43 career games (46.5 percent) … Nowell is 63-of-110 (57.3%) this season and for his career is at 47.5% (266-of-560).
• Nowell once again leads the Huskies in scoring as he has only scored below 14 points in one game this season … he’s averaging 18.9 ppg over the first nine games after leading the team with 16.0 ppg a year ago.
• Thybulle is the first player in Pac-12 history since 1992-93 with the career stat line of at least 100 blocks (124), 200 assists (216), 200 steals (229) and 300 rebounds (330), via SportsReference.
• Thybulle, UW’s career steals leader at 229, has now recorded at least one steal in 55-straight games.
• Additionally, Thybulle has posted five career games with 6 or more assists, which is the most by a player in UW history, Tony Wroten had three in his career which is second to Thybulle.
• With his 106 assists a year ago, Crisp became the 40th player in UW history to record 100 assists in a single season … he is 30 away from entering UW’s career top 10 list as he has 287 total assists.
REDHAWKS NOTES
– Matej Kavas drained six triples on Dec. 6 against Omaha as part of a 26-point performance. The six threes was one short of his single-game record of seven, set on Nov. 18, 2017 against Detroit Mercy. After hitting just one three in each of the first three games of this season, Kavas has begun to catch fire in recent outings. He has three or more triples in five of the last six games and has shot .500 or better from deep in four of those games. His 2.6 threes per game ranks fourth in the WAC while his 29 total threes ranks first in the conference.
– Morgan Means continues to dazzle during his junior campaign. The Compton, Calif., native leads the Redhawks in scoring at 15.5 ppg, which also ranks fifth best in the WAC. Through 11 games this season, he has three 20+ point games while shooting 44.2% from the field and 46.4% from three. As a sophomore, Means averaged 8.6 ppg while shooting 39.6% from the field and 28.2% from three. His free-throw percentage and rebounding average have also increased this season.
– Junior guard Terrell Brown has flirted with a triple-double twice in recent outings. On Nov. 23 versus Denver, the Seattle native finished with eight points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. On Nov. 28, he collected 26 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. He averages 11.1 points per game, leads the team with 5.6 assists per game, which also ranks second in the WAC, and, at just 6-1, is second on the team with 7.1 rebounds per game.
– Myles Carter has 34 blocks through 11 games, the second most among all DI players in games played through Dec. 7. The redshirt junior also ranks ninth nationally at 3.1 blocks per game. He is well on his way to breaking the Seattle U program record for single-season blocks (79), set just last year by Aaron Menzies.
– The Redhawks’ six-game win streak is the first of such a length since a stretch of five wins from Jan. 23, 2016-Feb. 6, 2016.
– Seattle U ranks first in the WAC in scoring (83.5 ppg), scoring margin (+13.7), FG percentage (48.5), FG percentage defense (38.4), 3-pt FG percentage (39.4) and blocks per game (4.9).
– With five players averaging double-figures, all five rank in the WAC’s top-20 for scoring. Morgan Means ranks third (15.5 ppg), Matej Kavas (15.5 pgg) Myles Carter is eighth (14.0 ppg), Delante Jones is 11th (13.0 ppg) and Terrell Brown is tied for 20th (11.1 ppg).
– Brown ranks also second in assists (5.6 per game) and fifth in rebounds (7.1 per game). Carter ranks third in rebounds (8.0), third in FG% (60.6%) and first in blocks (3.1).
– The Redhawks play a 19-game home schedule in 2018-19, and host 22 total contests as the schedule includes a three-team, six-game tournament. The Redhawk Center, located on the Seattle U campus, will serve as the primary venue for the 2018-19 season due to the renovation and shutdown of KeyArena, scheduled to take place in 2019 and 2020. Seattle U is excited to partner with the Oak View Group and return to the newly-renovated $700 million Seattle Center Arena in 2020-21.
– Seattle U has compiled a 228-145 (.611) record in North Court, including a 15-game winning streak that began Nov. 5, 2008 with a perfect 10-0 mark during the 2008-09 season. In 2017-18, the Redhawks went 9-1 at the Redhawk Center and so far in 2018-19, the Redhawks are 6-1.
