Final Score: UW-89 WSU-87
Fantastic Rivalry game and a great way to get our momentum and shooting back. It looked scary early on as MBA picked up his second foul with 16 minutes to go in the first half and WSU rushed out to a 12 point lead. UW went into half down 8 and came out storming only to be answered by Klay Thompson and friends. Klay Thompson set the Pac-10 record for points in a tournament game with 43 and also set the 3 point record going 8 for 14 from range, 15-29 on the night. The dude was unstoppable, hitting NBA range shots all night. The game ended on a fairly dramatic note. With the Huskies up 1, UW inbounded to Matthew Bryan-Amaning near the half court line. He caught the pass mid air, landed on one foot and passed to Scott Suggs who drove towards the hoop with DeAngelo Casto trailing only to cut back out to the wing. Suggs then made a sweet pass to Isaiah Thomas who laid it in to put the Dawgs up 3 with 9 seconds to go. Klay Thompson ended up laying the ball in after a foul on Reggie Moore with 2.4 to go led to an initial miss and an intentional second miss. With .4 on the clock Ken Bones called a timeout and had 0 left and was hit with a technical. C.J. missed the first and hit the second free throw. Holiday passed the ball down the court where it was tapped and time expired.
Thompson played a solid 39 minute game. His missed free throw in the final minute was killer and the missed 3 with 30 seconds to go sunk the ship. I give him props for remaining aggressive even with 4 fouls in the final minutes.
As good as Thompson was, the Huskies were better as a whole. Terrence Ross had a hot first half, scoring 13 on 5-7 shooting and helped the Huskies fight back to single digits at the end of the half. Ross finished with 17 on the night. C.J. Wilcox was the man of the second half as he hit back to back three to give UW a 6 point lead and also hit another 3 immediately after Klay Thompson had tied the game with his own 3 pointer. C.J. finished with 16 points. Every starter had 12 or more points and the bench combined for a measly 7 points. I.T. led UW in scoring with 21 and had a double double by dishing out 11 assists. Justin Holiday also put up a double double with 12 points and 10 boards. MBA was close to a double double with 16 and 7 boards.
Interesting, but smart, lineup from the Dawgs today. C.J. Wilcox remained in the starting 5, but Terrence Ross replaced Aziz N'Diaye, a move that proved to be critical in keeping our bigs involved as Aziz finished with 4 fouls in 12 minutes and MBA picked up 4 of his own during his 28 minutes. I.T. played all 40 tonight and didn't look tired at all out there. He was diving on the court, raising the roof, pumping his team up, pounding the court on defense like an animal. It was the I.T. we saw earlier this year, the one we love and admire, the one we needed.
The biggest key to UW's success tonight was getting inside to the paint where MBA and others were having their way. At one point UW had 38 paint points to WSU's 20. Terrence Ross had an INSANE lay-in off an I.T. dish and nearly had another ridiculous lay-in after a behind the back dribble, but sadly he was fouled and missed.
The Dawgs showed something they have missed the past few games. Emotion. They were raw, loud, tough, they played with grit and intensity. They dove on the court, they played tough hustle defense all night. They extended their pressure full court on free throws and made shots here and there. They even dropped into a zone once in a while to throw a wrench at WSU's offense.
Our shooting returned to us after some miscues in the first. UW finished 11-28 from outside (39%, very respectable) and overall UW hit 34 of 57 to finish just over 50%. MBA got his shot back in order and went 7-11. He also had a ridiculous tip in after a missed 3 by C.J. Wilcox. He one handed it back into the rim as he fell away.
The rebounding was so-so. UW 33 boards WSU had 36 and WSU had 13 offensive boards to UW's 11. Casto led the Cougs with 9 and Holiday led the Dawgs with his 10.
The free throw shooting was decent enough. Every one of the starters missed one of their attempts and Suggs was the only person perfect at the line, though it was only 1-1.
UW handled the ball extremely well, committing only 10 turnovers while dishing out 20 assists. UW also defended pretty well, forcing WSU into 13 turnovers as well as nabbing 8 steals and a block.
What Needed Work
Rebounding
Justin Holiday did his job tonight and some. MBA put up some decent numbers himself and kept Casto from being a dominate force in the paint for the most part. It wasn't a terrible rebounding night, there were a lot of long balls from misses behind the arc, it just wasn't the dominate performance on the glass UW had the past two games.
Free Throw Shooting
I almost put this in the good category, but MBA missing the front end of a 1 and 1 when we were only up 3 in the draining seconds killed it for me. Overall 71% isn't bad, but we can do better. This team should be hitting around 75 to 80%. In close game situations that kind of mistake has hurt us before and could hurt us again. Our team needs to find some clutch shooting from someone as it is March and there are no do overs.
What was Good
Outside Shooting
39% is good enough for me. I didn't expect us to return to our 45% from earlier in the year, but 40% is about right. C.J. Wilcox led the Dawgs going 5-9 form outside. I.T. was 3-5 and Ross was 3-7. Holiday missed all 5 of his outside shots. Hopefully he can get his stroke back tomorrow against Oregon. UW did a great job of taking good, open, outside shots and not forcing with hands in the face. I.T. drained one from the Pac Life logo a solid 30 feet out.
Passing/Ball Handling
I.T. was excellent once more with an 11 to 3 A/T ratio tonight. Holiday added 3 assists of his own. Overall the Dawgs were back to their old selves despite the tough pressure thrown at them by the Cougars. The passed and moved the ball well. After the initial sloppy 5 minutes there weren't a lot of turnovers to speak of. On the other hand, UW's pressure D forced WSU into 5 straight turnovers out of halftime.
Inside Game
UW had so many open shots outside because their inside game was so strong. MBA didn't have to put up 20 points because Isaiah was able to drive so well and get to the hoop. Ross and Suggs also flashed to rim a time or two and this cause the defense to collapse, opening our wings for great shots.
Toughness/Emotion/Grit
They dove. They screamed. They flexed. They worked hard tonight. The hustle they lacked against USC came out tonight and payed off in dividends. This was the first game of the season that UW has won by less than 5 points. Finally we pulled out a close one.
Player by Player Reviews
Venoy Overton
Did not play. Suspended through the Pac-10 tournament.
Grade: N/A
Matthew Bryan-Amaning
A much better and satisfying night from the senior big man. He only played 28 minutes due to early foul trouble, but every minute he played was strong and effective. Casto didn't have an answer for him and both Abe Lodwick and Brock Motum could do nothing to assist in the matter. His one handed put back was extremely athletic and impressive. If only he used the glass like that more often it wouldn't have to be such a pleasant surprise. His 7 boards were a little lower than I was expecting, but I won't complain about it too much, especially when Holiday picks up 10.
Grade: A-, hit your free throws, dammit.
Justin Holiday
12 points, 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 1 turnover. Beautiful stat line. Too bad his outside shot couldn't fall in. 5-13 on the night, 0-5 outside. He hustle and defended as best he could, but Thompson could not miss. Thompson would step back and drain a 28 footer like he was chilling in the post. Holiday couldn't extend anymore without giving up the lane or fouling and in the end he made the right move. Holiday had a very solid 2 hand, baseline jam that seemed to energize the team a bit.
Grade: B+
Brendan Sherrer
Did not play.
Grade: N/A
Darnell Gant
Gant surprisingly played a team low 10 minutes on a night when our big men were getting fouls everywhere. UW used the zone and substitutions well to protect MBA and Aziz from getting hit with their 5th and final. Gant was 1-3 shooting with 3 rebounds and 1 turnover. For 10 minutes those aren't bad stats. The starters were simply doing a fantastic job in the game, no need to disrupt the chemistry that was working.
Grade: B
Scott Suggs
Much like the rest of the bench, Suggs did not have a shot tonight. His lone make was a brilliant slash and drive that featured some fancy spin moves, a great pump fake, and an AND1 basket at the rim. Suggs had 3 rebounds and picked up 4 fouls playing 20 minutes. Suggs also had 2 assists and a turnover. I said we would need 2 of the 3 headed beast to win this one and sadly Suggs had to be left out of the range game. I'd love to see all 3 get hot at once.
Grade: B-
Isaiah Thomas
MVP of the game for the Dawgs. He nearly tied the tournament record of 12 assists tonight. He gave the team energy by diving on the ball, fighting into the lane, pounding his chest, hitting the ground, and just all around playing like a Boss. He was 8-13 from the field and hit 2-3 free throws. Great shooting, great passing, great defense on Moore. He did it all and played one of the toughest 40 minutes of his career, no doubt. He didn't look tired after the game. What an athlete. I.T.'s last minute was just ridiculous. He drove to the rim for back to back scores through multiple defenders and somehow banked um both in.
Grade: A+
Aziz N'Diaye
The refs had a vendetta against the big man tonight. Aziz got hit with two bad foul calls, including one which was a clearly blocked shot and if there was a foul it should have been on C.J. Wilcox. This limited his minutes and ability to affect the game. He had 3 boards, 2 assists, and 1 turnover during his limited stint on the court. He made a great hook shot over a defender that flashed the offensive prowess we hope to see from him next year.
Grade: B+
Antoine Hosley
Did not play
Grade: N/A
Terrence Ross
Ross had a great first half and Wilcox complemented him nicely with a great second half. Ross got his first collegiate start tonight and did not disappoint in the slightest. His 5-7 shooting in the first kept the game reasonable. Sadly, he finished 6-11 from the field and did not have much success in the second. Ross added 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 turnover on top of his 17 points. His defense is still improving, but its a problem that can be fixed easier in the off season than a tweaked shot. He made a strong argument for remaining in the starting 5 tomorrow against the undersized Oregon Ducks.
Grade: A-
C.J. Wilcox
If Ross was the first half star, Wilcox owned the second. Wilcox and Thompson had a shoot off in the second half and while Thompson may have left with the higher score, Wilcox left with the W. C.J. was huge in getting the Dawgs over the hump and getting momentum on our side for once. He scored 13 of his 16 in the second half. He put the team on his back with the help of I.T. Great shooting once more. We need him to continue to shoot this well. If we can extend Oregon's pressure tomorrow, MBA will have a field day.
Grade: A
Final Thoughts
This was a fantastic game for the Huskies. This was the kind of performance they needed to get their confidence back in not only their ability to win, but their ability to win close ones and score once more. Next up their face Oregon who played a fantastic game against UCLA to pull off the upset. By the way, Isaiah Thomas facing the camera, sticking out his tongue, while yelling and flexing was hilarious and awesome to see. Let's defend that title boys! Go Dawgs!
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