University of Arizona Review

Final Score: UW-85 UA-68

What a battle. That was a great game, a ton of fun to be at and it has big implications for the remainder of the season. The Huskies did a terrific job of shutting down Derrick Williams in the first half with a combination of defensive efforts from Aziz, MBA, and a zone. Even Gant posted up on him a few times. Williams, being the great player he is, came out storming the second half. Williams eventually picked up 4 fouls and Sean Miller subbed him in and out on offense/defense. Williams finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Like I said he can have his 20 and 10, we got the win. We also had 2-20+ point scorers ourselves.

Isaiah Thomas led the way again with his second straight double, scoring 22 and dishing out 10 assists. He had a rough night at the free throw line, but limited his turnovers and was a floor general once more. Justin Holiday also added 22 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals, a huge block, and one turnover. MBA added 18 points and 7 boards, 4 offensive.

Aziz led the team in rebounding tonight with 8, 6 defensive. He played great on defense and did not pick up a single foul until the second half. He only scored 2 points, but did exactly what we needed him to. He clogged the lane, forced Williams to look elsewhere, shut him down in the first half, and rebounded well.

Darnell Gant showed up huge off the bench once more, grabbing 6 boards. He had a bad turnover, but blocked the shot, IT recovered it and brought it up the floor. Darnell was waiting in the corner where he nailed a 3 pointer. Beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, two of IT's assists led to monstrous alley oops. The first was to...Venoy Overton. Sweet Jesus it was absurd. 5-9 to 6-0. Boom. The second was a little floater on a drive to MBA who came flying in from the side to jam it home. BOOM!

Terrence Ross was fairly solid off the bench, scoring 8 on 1-4 shooting and 5-6 from them line. He also had 3 rebounds.

What Needed Improvement

Free Throw Shooting

After several great games, Isaiah started off 1-4. He finished 6-10. MBA was 4-8. Ross was 5-6 and Holiday was 4-5, those are good numbers.

Turnovers

MBA had 5. Bleh. Other than him, no one had more than 2. Isaiah finished with 1 turnover. That gives him a 10/1 assist to turnover ratio. 23/6 over the last two game, approximately 4/1. Damn that's sexy.  

What Was Good

The Big Trio

IT, Holiday, and MBA. In today's game they combined for 62 points. In the Cal game they combined for 72. That's 134 points in 2 game. Also, a good stat, IT was a part of 57 points in the Cal game, not sure how many tonight. It is close to 45 or 50 I would imagine. Absurd.

Rebounding

After being down 21-18 in the first, the Dawgs finished strong and won the battle 41-35. Aziz, MBA, and Gant were great and with the help of the rest of the team they pulled off a tough task. I.T. even pulled out 6.

Defense

UW shut Williams down the first half and also kept UA well below their FG average. They also limited their fouling and for the first time in quite a number of games the Huskies shot more free throws than their opponent.

Player by Player Reviews

Venoy Overton

Damn solid night for Venoy Overton. He caught an alley oop for a dunk, dished out 3 assists, and finished with 7 points  including a pair of tricky lay-ins, one that was a granny shot. He did pick up 4 fouls as well as 4 boards. His 2 turnovers somewhat dampen his performance, but he was key in picking up the game tempo.
Grade: B+

Justin Holiday

Another solid stat line. 22 points, 3 assists, 2 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 turnover. He found MBA a few times down low and had a great AND1 basket with about 13 left to quell an Arizona run. He played well on defense and his block was tremendous. It prevented a great scoring opportunity for UA. His second straight 20+ point game.
Grade: A

Matthew Bryan-Amaning

MBA continues to impress. Another night with high scoring a solid rebounding numbers, only a few boards short of a double double. His 5 turnovers were unusual, but its his horrid free throw shooting that concerns me more. He really needs to take a step up in that department. Other than that he had a fantastic night. Several emphatic dunks, most dumped to him by I.T. The alley oop was ridiculous and the reverse was brilliant. Great offense tonight and tight defense.
Grade: A-

Brendan Sherrer

Did not play
Grade: N/A

Scott Suggs

Suggs is a fairly good starter, but he still makes too many mistakes as a point guard. He is too timid and often turns it over under pressure defense. 3 points in 14 minutes. Not too exciting
Grade: C+

Darnell Gant

In my opinion, the 6th Man of the game once again. 6 boards and only 3 points. Those 3 came off of a beautiful 3 pointer given to him by Isaiah. His defensive effort was much needed and his boards even more.
Grade: B+

Isaiah Thomas

MVP of the game. 22 points, 10 assists, 6 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover. He is playing out of his mind as of late. To say the least, he wants that POY award. If he keeps averaging near 10 assists per game on top of 18+ points he will get it. He drove, he scored, he passed, he hustled. What a player. Minus his poor free throw shooting it was a brilliant night.
Grade: A+

Aziz N'Diaye

A great game for the big man. 8 boards in 27 minutes as well as a block or two. Only a pair of points, but that's not what he is there for. His points came off a nice put back. His defense was the best aspect of his game and was crucial in shutting down Williams. He finished with only 2 fouls and showed a lot more body control and poise to avoid those silly fouls.
Grade: B+

Antoine Hosley

Did not play.
Grade: N/A

C.J. Wilcox

Something just isn't clicking how it was. Wilcox was again scoreless and just can't seem to get the rhythm he had. Something needs to change. Someone needs to get his shot back and get him some confidence. Only 8 minutes.
Grade: C-

Terrence Ross

A pretty good night for Ross. He forced fouls, took shots, and rebounded a bit. He got beat a few times on D getting back and was forced to foul himself.  He is still improving, but like a stick off dynamite can go off any time for huge numbers.
Grade: B

Final Thoughts

It was close for a bit, but Arizona is a tad too one dimensional to hang with UW. We played great D, shot fairly well, and did the things we needed to win. A 17 point win is fairly decisive, especially when you consider we missed 11 free throws. That's a possible 28 point blowout. The game was physical and the refs let it play out for the most part which was nice to see. This win will go a long ways toward winning the title.

Ernie Kent was not doing color commentary today, Kim Grinolds lied. He is here on Saturday and it is his birthday. Romar requested we not bring up any "ghosts". No promises. Sorry, coach.

UW now has a 1.5 game lead on second place. A nice cushion we need to build on.

Links

Highlights : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMriDGDNaWU&feature=feedu
More Highlights : http://www.athletixnation.com/video/757168437001
Percy Allen : http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskymensbasketballblog/2013992868_sean_miller_on.html
Montlake : http://www.montlakemadness.com/dawgs-make-it-rain-on-cats/