Washington (19-5, 10-1) vs. Washington State (10-14, 3-8)
Saturday, February 16th @ 5:00 PM PST
Beasley Coliseum (Pullman, Washington)
Line: Washington -8.0
TV: ESPNU
Radio: 1000AM KOMO/97.7 FM
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON
Guard – David Crisp
12.4 PPG
2.6 APG
Guard – Matisse Thybulle
9.7 PPG
3.2 RPG
Guard – Jaylen Nowell
16.4 PPG
5.3 RPG
KEY PLAYERS: WASHINGTON STATE
Forward – Robert Franks
22.6 PPG
7.7 RPG
PREVIEW
The Washington Huskies Basketball team enters this contest trying to regain some momentum after a tough 75-63 road loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils. The Washington State Cougars are coming off a 69-55 road win over the Arizona Wildcats. The Huskies will be looking for an 11-1 conference start and remain in first place in the Pac-12 standings. With a win over the Cougars tonight, the Huskies would sweep their season matchup with their cross state rivals. The Huskies will have to get back on track and send a message that they are the cream of the crop in the Pac-12 Conference.
ESPN MATCHUP PREDICTOR
HUSKY NOTES
• Thybulle is the only active player in Division I to be in the top 25 career rankings in both steals (1st – 284) and blocks (25th – 156).
• In 18 minutes at Arizona State, Dickerson scored a team-high 18 points, going 5-of-7 from the field and hitting 8-of-12 from the FT line … he also added a team-high eight rebounds.
• UW has reached 10 conference wins for the second-straight year, marking the first time since the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons that the team has won at least 10 games in league action in back-to-back years.
• UW’s 10-0 start in Pac-12 play was its best since the 1952-53 season when it started 14-0 … additionally, UW was perfect in January for just the eighth time in the last 100 years (2018-19, 1952-53, 1935-36, 1933-34, 1928-29, 1923-24, 1922-23, 1921-22).
• In UW’s 12-game winning streak, the Huskies did not allow a team to score more than 70 points … additionally opponents in that span shot 28.0 from 3 and were held to 60.4 points.
• Seven of UW’s 10 Pac-12 wins have been by 10 points or more, its most double-digit wins in league action since the 2010-11 season.
• Crisp is now second all-time in made 3-point FGs in UW history with 233 … the record of 301 is held by C.J. Wilcox (2011-14) … meanwhile Thybulle is two blocks away from tying for second all-time in blocks at UW, currently has 156.
• UW has forced double-digit turnovers in 15-straight games, including a season high 24 forced at Arizona State, which was the most by an opponent since 24 against Dec. 19, 2017 against Bethune Cookman.
• Washington is second in the nation in blocked shots, averaging 6.0 per game as a team and are 12th in steals per game … only UW and Duke rank in the top 15 nationally in both categories.
• Thybulle, a candidate for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, has a career total of 440 takeaways (blocks and steals combined), which is the most by any of the previous Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year winners, which has been awarded 14 times in conference history.
• Nowell was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Naismith Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award.
• Nowell is shooting 51.6 percent from the field in 24 games, its up from his 45.1 percentage a year ago … he is also shooting 44.9 percent from 3, up from 35.1 a year ago.
• Nowell is the first player since Isaiah Thomas (2010-11) to earn three Pac-12 Player of the Week Awards in the same season.
• Crisp has scored in double figures in 12-straight and is shooting 45.0 percent from 3 during that span (36-80).
• Thybulle’s 79 steals this season rank second at UW in single-season history … Thybulle holds the UW single-season record already at 101 set a year ago … his 3.3 steals per game also lead the nation.
• UW has shot 50 percent or better from the field in 6 of its 11 Pac-12 games including 5 of the last 9 and is shooting 48.4 percent from the field overall in those 11 outings, which is first in the Pac-12.
• UW is holding its opponents to just 64.5 points per game, which leads the Pac-12 and is 28th nationally … 19 teams have been held to 70 points or less and UW has won 18 of those games.
• Dickerson recorded his seventh career 20 point/10 rebound game against USC with 21 and 14 … the last player to have that many 20/10 games in their career was Matthew Bryan-Amaning who had eight (2007-11).
• UW’s scoring margin in league action of +10.3 leads the conference by almost seven points as Oregon is next at 3.4.
• In the last 20 seasons, Thybulle is one of just four players to average 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals in a season, joining Shane Battier – Duke (1999-2000, 2000-01), Nerlens Noel – Kentucky (2012-13) and Zion Williamson – Duke (2018-19).
• Nowell has shot at least 50 percent from the field in 29 of his 58 career games (50.0 percent) … in those 29 games, UW has a 24-5 record.
• UW has had six different players lead the team in scoring through 24 games in David Crisp (3), Noah Dickerson (7), Jaylen Nowell (10), Dominic Green (2), Naz Carter (3) and Matisse Thybulle (2).
COUGARS NOTES
• Saturday marks the 289th meeting between Washington and Washington State, as the Huskies hold a 184-104 advantage in the all-time series.
• WSU trails the all-time series at home, 77-64, including a 1-0 WSU mark in Spokane.
• Washington won the first meeting, 85-67, Jan. 5 at Seattle in both teams’ Pac-12 openers.
• The Cougars are 2-3 in the last five meetings with the Huskies at home.
• UW won the last meeting at WSU last season, but the Cougars defeated the Huskies the previous meeting, Feb. 26, 2017, by a score of 79-71.
• Freshman CJ Elleby had a career-high 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field.
• He added 10 rebounds for this third double-double of the season at the time.
• Senior and Pac-12 leading scorer, Robert Franks, did not play due to a hip injury.
• The Huskies swept the season series last year with a 70-65 victory over the Cougars at Pullman, Jan. 6, followed by an 80-62 win at Seattle, Jan. 28.
• The Cougars swept the season series in 2017 with 79-74 and 79-71 wins at Seattle and Pullman, respectively.
• Just three of the last 154 games in the series have been decided by more than 8 points, as each of the last 15 meetings between the Cougars and Huskies have been decided by an average of 7.7 points.
• If the only three lopsided wins of that span (UW, 72-49, Feb. 28, 2014; UW, 80-62, Jan. 28, 2018 and UW, 85-67, Jan. 5, 2019) are thrown out, the average shrinks to 4.7 points; a two-possession difference.
• Ten of the last 15 meetings have been decided by five points or less.
• UW won seven of those 10 games decided by 5 points or less, claiming the latest five-point win, Jan. 6, 2018 (70-65).
• Third-year WSU head coach Ernie Kent is 13-23 all-time against UW as head coach at WSU and Oregon.
• NATIONAL RANKINGS:
• Scoring: Robert Franks, 15th (22.6).
• Double-Doubles: Robert Franks, 93rd (6); CJ Elleby 172nd (4).
• Rebounding: Robert Franks, 129th (7.7 rpg); CJ Elleby, 225th (6.8 rpg).
• Free Throw Pct: Marvin Cannon, 12th (.896); Robert Franks, 47th (.807).
• Assist/TO Ratio: Ahmed Ali, 33rd (2.70).
• Field Goal Pct: Robert Franks, 70th (.527); CJ Elleby, 172nd (.455)
• Assists: Team, 63rd (15.3 apg).
• Scoring: Team, 64th (77.5 ppg).
• 3-Ptrs Per Game: Team, 37th (9.5 3fgpg).
