Washington (10-4) vs. Utah (7-7)
Thursday, January 10th @ 7:00 PM PST
Jon M. Huntsman Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Line: Washington –2.0
TV: FS1
Radio: 1000AM KOMO/97.7 FM
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Forward – Noah Dickerson
14.5 PPG
6.6 RPG
Guard – Matisse Thybulle
9.7 PPG
3.0 RPG
Guard – Jaylen Nowell
17.3 PPG
4.8 RPG
KEY PLAYERS: UTAH
Guard – Sedrick Barefield
16.4 PPG
3.5 APG
PREVIEW
The Washington Huskies Basketball team enters this contest with some momentum after a convincing 85-67 win over the Washington State Cougars to start off conference play. The Utah Utes opened Pac-12 play splitting games in the desert, picking up a 96-86 win at Arizona State this past Thursday, but then falling 84-81 in overtime to Arizona on Saturday. This game will be a true measuring stick for the Huskies as this will be their first conference road test of the season.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• Washington had its best offensive showing against Washington State shooting 56.6 percent from the field (30-53) and dishing out a season-high 17 assists on 30 made baskets.
• The Huskies had two 20+ scorers against the Cougs, marking the second time this season UW has had two players reach at least 20 points (Dickerson and Nowell v. Minnesota) … David Crisp also became the fourth player to record 20 points in a game this season.
• With his 12 rebounds against Cal State Fullerton, senior Noah Dickerson became the ninth member of UW’s 1,000 career points/800 career rebounds club and first since Jon Brockman, UW’s all-time leading rebounder, did so during his career … Dickerson now has 1,348 points and 802 rebounds.
• It’s fair to say if either Jaylen Nowell or Noah Dickerson reaches double figure scoring in a game, the other one is does well … since Nowell joined the Huskies last year there has only been two games in 48 outings whether neither reached double-figure scoring.
• Sophomore Nowell has really seen an uptick in not just his scoring production (17.3 ppg) but in his assists as well as he currently leads the team with 46 (3.3 per game) which is up from an average of 2.7 a year ago.
• Washington is holding its first 14 opponents to just 66.5 points per game, 10 teams have been held under 70 points and UW has won nine of those games when teams are under 70 points scoring.
• Washington is perfect at home with an 8-0 record, it’s best home record through eight games since 2010-11.
• Thybulle is averaging 13.6 points, 3.6 steals, 3,0 rebounds, 1.6 blocks and is 18-of-20 from the FT line in the last seven outings.
• Thybulle is 24-of-26 from the FT line this season, shooting at a 92.3 percent clip, up from 71.4 percent as a junior, 84.1 percent as a sophomore and 71.4 percent as a freshman.
• Thybulle has reached double-figure scoring in six of his last seven outings and has made 17 from long distance in those outings … he had only made five 3-pointers in the first seven games of the season.
• Thybulle, UW’s career steals leader at 246, has now recorded at least one steal in 60-straight games … he is 75 away from first place all time in Pac-12 history (321, Gary Payton, 120 games, 1986-90) and is currently tied for fourth all-time with Stevin Smith (ASU), who achieved 246 in 115 career games from 1990-94.
• Crisp is on the verge to becoming the first player in UW history to record 1,000 career points (1,214), 300 assists (has 299), 200 made 3-point FGs (202) and 100 steals (101).
• Six of sophomore Naz Carter’s career 13 10+scoring efforts have come in the last 13 games.
• Washington is one of four schools nationally to boast three 1,000 point scorers with Dickerson (1,368), Crisp (1,214) and Thybulle (1,051) as current players to have scored 1K, joining Lipscomb, BYU and Nevada – all of Nevada’s players with 1K are transfers.
• Thybulle is averaging 2.1 blocks over the first 14 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 133 blocks is fifth all-time at UW.
• Thybulle is the only player in Division I averaging at least 2.0 blocks and 2.9 steals per game … his 2.9 steals per game also rank tied for fifth nationally and lead the Pac-12.
• Nowell has shot at least 50 percent from the field in 23 of his 48 career games (47.9 percent).
• Nowell once again leads the Huskies in scoring as he has only scored below 14 points in three games averaging 17.3 ppg over the first 14 games after leading the team with 16.0 ppg a year ago.
UTES NOTES
• Utah will return home for its first Pac-12 games of the season, hosting Washington on Thursday, Jan. 10, and then taking on Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 12.
• Utah opened Pac-12 play last weekend, splitting games in the desert, with a win over Arizona State and a loss to Arizona.
• The Utes are 66-62 all-time in Pac-12 play, which includes a 9-3 record against Washington and a 10-2 mark against Washington State. The Utes have gone 11-7 in league play the previous two seasons and have finished among the top four over the past four years.
• Senior Sedrick Barefield is coming off a pair of 20-point efforts, having scored 26 points against Arizona State and 24 points against Arizona, respectively.
• Sophomore Donnie Tillman tallied a pair of 20-point performances, as well, scoring a career-high 22 points at Arizona State and then following with a 21-point effort at Arizona.
