Terrence Ross Declares for NBA Draft

This is not unexpected news, nor is the timing unexpected. Ross ended the season on a tear and proved himself to be a top 20 pick in the draft. Most sites have Ross anywhere between 18 and 20 on the board, making him a solid first round pick. Ross had a stellar career at UW, though he often left fans wanting more due to somewhat sub-par first halves followed by explosive second halves. Much like I.T.'s departure I am left saddened by the fact I won't get to see Ross in a Husky uniform again, but I wish him the best of luck in the league. If Ross has any type of rookie season like I.T., I think we can all be certain he made the right choice. Now we await to hear what Tony Wroten decides.

University of Oregon Game Review 3

Final Score: UW-90 UO-86

Oregon made it a 4 point defeat with a last second tip-in following a series of made free throws by C.J. Wilcox. The Dawgs and Ducks battled back and forth all night with 10 points being the greatest differential achieved during the match.

The night started out rough for the Huskies who saw Oregon take another early lead. Slowly, but surely the Dawgs started connecting on their shots and played a little tougher defense, allowing the Huskies to go into half down only 4 points. The second half brought more energy and the crowd, who was already the loudest I have heard all season outside of the WSU and Cal games, got louder and more excited. The players fed off this and highlights plays started accruing. Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten were aggressive all night leading to a combined 46 points from the duo, while Wilcox came off the bench to provide 17 critical points including a stellar 6 of 6 performance from the free throw line, all of which came in the final 30 seconds of the game.

The two teams provided one of the most even match-ups of the season with neither team dominating any one particular category. The Dawgs out rebounded the Ducks 37-34 with a 14-12 advantage on the offensive glass. Both teams made 7 3-pointers, though it took the Ducks an additional 6 attempts to achieve the same results. The Ducks made 3 more field goals than the Dawgs, but the Huskies attempted 13 more free throws than the Ducks and made 10 more overall. Both teams dished out 17 assists and had their steals and blocks combine for 6 each. The Ducks had 7 turnovers and the Dawgs had 8. As I said, an even game.

What makes games like this so exciting and fun to be at is not only the rivalry, but the pace at which the game is played. Teams like Utah, USC, and ASU drive me nuts due to their slow down, mind numbingly boring type of basketball. The Ducks play at a high rate, they love the transition, and can really push this Husky squad to be their best.

This Husky squad played one of their best games of the season and no surprise, a large part of this had to do with the aggressiveness of our guards. Abdul Gaddy had one of his best nights as a Dawg, tallying a double-double with 11 points, 10 assists, and an impressive 7 rebounds. Gaddy helped the Dawgs execute their half-court offense with supreme efficiency. The team as a whole used the shot clock well, but Gaddy excelled in finding the open man after driving into the lane late in the clock. Gaddy also converted 4 shots at the line during 6 attempts. What changed in Gaddy's mind during the last 2 weeks is beyond me, but this aggressiveness and desire to not only play, but to win, has been missing most of the year and, in my mind, is a big reason this team is now winning games they would have struggled through early this season.

Aziz N'Diaye had a quiet night due to foul trouble. He attempted only 2 shots and made 1. N'Diaye was a solid 3 of 4 from the line and collected 7 rebounds during his limited 20 minutes. Tony Woods was next to impossible for N'Diaye to shut down, especially once the fouls started racking up. Thankfully, Austin Sefarian-Jenkins was able to play 15 minutes of relief during which ASJ picked up 4 hard fouls of his own. The man loves to foul and I'm OK with this. ASJ is a back-up player whose fate ultimately lies on the gridiron. Any foul he picks up is one less for N'Diaye. Desmond Simmons played only 5 minutes in the first half and that was all the game time he saw.

Darnell Gant was excellent on the offensive glass tonight picking up 7 total boards and 5 on the offensive side. Gant shot reasonably well hitting 3 of his 5 attempts and finishing with 6 points on the night. After picking up 15 points in the first half, E.J. Singler was held to just 4 points in the second and fouled out, due in large part to the handcuffs put on him by Gant and the Huskies.

C.J. Wilcox saved the game with his clutch free throw shooting, but he should also be recognized for his aggressiveness in the paint and his sharp shooting performance. Wilcox was only 4 of 10 from the field, but was 3 of 6 from deep. Wilcox's shooting allowed his teammates to get open looks by spreading the floor and threatening to shoot. Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten saw many great looks inside the paint due to Wilcox sitting on the perimeter, forcing the Duck defense to stay honest and defend the outside shot.

Terrence Ross had another career night finishing with 24 points on 9 of 18 shooting. Ross' outside shot was a tad below average with only 3 makes on 8 attempts, but his inside drive was as dangerous as ever. It seemed as though any set where the clock was running out, Ross or Wroten had the ball in their hand, looking to drive inside for the basket. Ross finished 3 of 3 from the foul line and also picked up 3 rebounds. With 4 other Huskies grabbing 7 boards, Ross did not need to be as aggressive on the glass. Thus far in the tournament, Ross had averaged just under 27 points per game, 11 points above his season average. This shows just how talented Ross can be when he plays hard during both halves. If Ross stays another season, he may very well be one of the nation's leading scorers.

Tony Wroten now hold the freshman scoring record for UW, surpassing Isaiah Thomas. Wroten now holds a 9 point advantage and will certainly add more as the NIT continues. After a 5 shot game against Northwestern, it was almost a certainty that Wroten would be aggressive once more. Sure enough, Wroten attacked the Ducks early and often leading to 22 points on 6 of 15 shooting. The best part of Wroten's night? 10 of 14 at the foul line, an impressive stat for a player who has struggled throughout the season. If Wroten can come back next season and be a 75% free throw shooter, he will battle Ross for the leading scorer title. Wroten's speed and agility causes supreme difficulty for his opponents and often leads to foul calls. Being able to convert his foul shots is just one more step in becoming a true superstar.

What Needed Improvement:

First Half Defense:

It is really hard for my to criticize much from the game. I thought the Dawgs performed pretty well throughout the night. My only complaint going into half time was about a few lapses in defensive rotation that led to wide open shots by the Ducks. Overall I felt the execution by the Dawgs went well through the nights. The Ducks were often forced to take contested shots and ultimately that is the best you can ask of a team. Good shooters will make shots over their defenders.

What was Good:

Offensive Execution:

The Dawgs were unusually patient in the half-court and found success. The team moved the ball well and Gaddy led the way by finding the open shooter time and time again. The Huskies limited their turnovers, they made smart plays, and took smart shots. There were very few times I found myself asking why a particular shot was attempted. This patience is something the team has lacked all most of the year and again, a big reason why the Dawgs are now winning games that would have been chalked up as losses earlier this year.

Attitude and Aggressiveness:

This team wanted to win. They wanted to play. The first game of the NIT was tough for both fans and players, but after the win I think everybody decided to let bygones be bygones and celebrate the fact that we get to see our team play a few more games, at home none the less. The players came out with smiles on their faces, they pumped their fists, and raised the roof. Just about everyone aggressively attacked the rim and found ways to make their mark on the game. The Huskies need to carry this momentum and attitude to New York.

Final Thoughts:

I know this may be looking a bit too far ahead, but I can't help but get excited for a potentially exhilarating match-up between UW and the University of Massachusetts in the NIT finals. For those who don't know, UW and UMass play one another in the NCAA championship during the movie "The Sixth Man." This movie is about the Husky basketball team winning a national title. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's awesome and a Husky fan must. The Dawgs have been playing the type of basketball fans have been expecting to see all season and now look to win a championship, though not of the caliber they initially set eyes upon. Regardless, this team now gets another week to play and practice together, a huge asset for a team so filled with youth and inexperience. I am excited to see how this team does in New York and am hopeful that they will bring home the banner.

Go Dawgs!

University of Oregon Game Preview 3

The Huskies get one more shot at Oregon this season in an attempt to avenge the humiliating defeat suffered in Eugene earlier this year. Oregon is coming off the highest scoring D1 game this season, beating Iowa 108-97 in a defense optional game. The Ducks have been playing some of their best basketball as of late and look to be an extremely dangerous opponent for the Dawgs as they can compete both in the half court and in transition.

Thankfully for the Huskies, Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox seems to be getting into shooting rhythm at last and may certainly be the deciding factor in tomorrow's match-up. Tony Wroten will be called upon to attack the middle and open up the perimeter for Ross and Wilcox.

In their game against Iowa, Oregon had 5 players with 15 points or more, 3 with 19 or more. E.J. Singler was an incredible 9 of 10 form the field, missing only a single deep shot. Singler was also a perfect 4 of 4 from the foul stripe. Singler finished with a team high 25 points and 6 rebounds as well as 4 assists and only 1 turnover in 35 minutes.

Devoe Joseph created offense across the board dishing out a game high 8 assists on top of his 15 points on 5 of 10 shooting. While Singler may be the most explosive threat on the Duck's roster, Joseph has been the most consistent averaging team highs in both points (16.9) and assists (3.2) this year. Joseph's seniority has given him the experience necessary to compete and succeed in all sorts of situations this year and to me is the X-factor tomorrow night.

As a team, the Ducks shot out of their minds on Sunday, hitting 59% of their shots from the field (43% outside the arc) as well as making a tremendous 88% from the free throw line. The Ducks accomplished this by moving the ball with skill and precision, connecting with 26 assists on 35 made field goals. The only category in which the Ducks "struggled" was offensive rebounding where they managed only 8 rebounds out of 32 total.

Olu Ashaolu has really stepped it up for the Ducks during the past few weeks. Despite his season scoring averaging sitting at 9 points per game, Ashaolu has show without a doubt that he is a force to be reckoned with in the paint. Against Iowa, Ashaolu put up 22 points on 7 of 10 shooting and made 8 of his 11 free throw attempts. Ashaolu is not necessarily a big guy at 6-7 220lb, but he is exceedingly strong and has great footwork that allows Ashaolu to push his man back or maneuver around the defender.

Where the Ducks find their greatest success is their depth of frontcourt. The Ducks feature 7 forwards and centers, all of whom are strong and capable players in their own rights. This is difficult for the Dawgs where the frontcourt is clearly our weakest section due to our lack of depth. Our bigs will have their work cut out once more trying to avoid foul trouble, while also contributing on both ends of the court. The one plus is that the Ducks' best players are on their wings, much like our own team, our advantage comes in taller, stronger, and more skilled guards.

Overall, these two teams balance out quite well. The battle tomorrow will come down to who can execute better over the entire 40 minutes and exploit their opponent's weaknesses, while capitalizing on their own strengths.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

Oregon:

Garrett Sim 6-2 185lb
Devoe Joseph 6-4 180lb
E.J. Singler 6-6 215lb
Jeremy Jacobs 6-8 230lb
Tony Woods 6-11 250lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

Cleaning the glass is always a big step in shutting down the opposition's offense. Rebounds prevent second chance opportunities and open 3's, while also limiting transition plays and fast breaks that lead to open, easy points. The Dawgs find themselves matched up against a similarly sized team in the Ducks, but overall the Dawgs have shown themselves to be much more capable on the glass than the majority of teams across the nation.

Free Throws:

Put simply, the Ducks tend to make their freebies and the Dawgs do not. Against Northwestern, the Dawgs finally showed some competency. The Ducks, on the other hand, have shown consistency throughout the season, which is a much more dangerous formula for success. The Huskies must capitalize on whatever few opportunities they may get.

Defense:

The Huskies couldn't lock down the Ducks in the last match-up, leading to a complete blow out. The Dawgs have been playing much better defense this week in the NIT and this is promising for tomorrow evening. The Huskies must play tight defense from the baseline to the half-court line as the Ducks have an array of capable 3-point shooters. Our guys need to lock it down from tip off to the final buzzer if they want to get through to the next round.

Final Thoughts:

This will be a huge match-up. A tough match-up. One that our guys will need to be prepared for. While waiting for the last game, I saw several players show up just a few hours before the game. The majority of the players arriving late were freshmen and bench players, but it was somewhat concerning that our team wasn't preparing the way I expected them to. Tomorrow I expect the players to be at the game before myself taking shots, getting warmed up, watching tape, etc. If the Dawgs truly want to scrape something out of this season, they will need to get past Oregon on their way to Madison Square Garden. Unlike the two games thus far, I suspect this will be a close one throughout with both sides throwing punches and going on little runs here and there. I see a potential buzzer beater type scenario heading our way and hopefully the Dawgs are on the right side of it.

Final Score Prediction: UW-80 UO-77

Northwestern Game Review

Final Score: UW-76 Northwestern-55

This was the type of game we have been looking for from the Huskies all season. Our scorers got hot, our defense played tough, and our team showed how 40 minutes of solid basketball leads to a solid, decisive victory over an inferior opponent.

Sure, John Shurna racked up 24 points (by the way, he has the ugliest shooting form I have ever seen. I have no clue how he scores), but our defense contested nearly every shot he took. Shurna is simply a great scorer and guys like that will make shots with a hand in the face or not. Look at Terrence Ross for proof of that.

The Dawgs dominated just about every category you can think of. The only disappointing stat was the turnover category. After holding an 11 to 4 advantage in forced turnovers in the first half, the Dawgs finished with 17 turnovers, while forcing Northwestern in only 15 total. Whether the Dawgs got sloppy or Northwestern adjusted properly is somewhat up for debate. In my opinion, the fact that the Dawgs scored only 2 less points in the second half compared to the first indicates that Northwestern didn't really adjust well, the Huskies simply tried to showboat too often leading to silly turnovers.

The Huskies rebounded in force tonight, holding a 42 to 26 advantage at games end. The Huskies pulled in 20 offensive boards and 3 players, Aziz N'Diaye, Terrence Ross, and Tony Wroten, pulled in 7 or 8 rebounds a piece using their superior size and athleticism to extend above the opposition to pull in the board. After the poor rebounding performance against UT-A it was quite refreshing to see our rebounding prowess return.

The 3-point shooting by the Dawgs was a tale of 2 halves. The Huskies started a very poor 5 of 21 outside the arc, but C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross turned it on in the second half to light up the court. The Huskies were a much better 6 of 11 in the second half as Ross and Wilcox found open looks and took advantage of it. Wilcox was 1 of 6 in the first half, while Ross was 1 of 7 (I believe, not 100%). Wilcox finished 4 of 9 and Ross went 6 of 14 on his way to a career high 32 points.

Here is a stat I thought I would never seen this season, 8-8. That was the Huskies stat for free throw shooting in the first half. No big surprise, the guys shooting those free throws were the ones who have shied away from the line all year: Wilcox and Ross. The Dawgs finished the night 11 of 14 from the line. Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten each missed their lone opportunity at the stripe and N'Diaye split a pair. Outside of those players, the Dawgs were perfect. Man, it was nice to see that.

My favorite stat of the night? 18 assists. That has been the missing ingredient all season long. Both Gaddy and Wroten racked up 7 assists as the Huskies moved the ball well around the court, battling and demolishing the ineffective Wildcat zone defense. Our point guards did exactly what we have needed them to do, distribute the ball. Our top two shooters took the majority of our shots and look how that turned out, amazing.

Aziz N'Diaye could have had a career night, but he struggled to finish at the rim at times. N'Diaye was only 5 of 11 on the night, a lower percentage than his usual. N'Diaye was surprisingly good at defending the small Northwestern guards and did not pick up a single foul. You read that right, not one single foul. Impressive. N'Diaye had 2 steals offsetting 1 turnover and was a solid force down in the block, preventing the dribble drive. N'Diaye played 30 minutes tonight, something that really surprised me as I thought Romar would put a 4-guard line-up on for most of the night with Darnell Gant providing mobile post support.

Tony Wroten and Abdul Gaddy did not have great shooting night, but they had great point guard nights. They moved the ball, the drove and dished, and generally did everything you could ask of a point guard. Both had 5 turnovers, which marred otherwise great nights, but that happens when you try to be too fancy with the ball. Our guards realized our shooters were hot and got them the ball.

Desmond Simmons was quietly effective after getting pulled early in the first half following poor defensive rotations. He finished with 4 points and 2 boards. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins, Shawn Kemp, and Hikeem Stewart provided great relief efforts for the Dawgs with Stewart picking up a high of 5 minutes. Martin Breunig came in and flushed a monster dunk in the lane over a Wildcat defender.

C.J. Wilcox had a stellar performance and finished with 20 points and 6 rebounds. He also had 1 assists to offset his lone turnover. Alongside Ross, Wilcox helped stretch the Wildcat defense thin leading to wide open shots. In the first half, our shooters struggled to finish these open opportunities, but capitalized in the second. Wilcox found his shot and drilled home several great deep balls, while also finding success inside the lane with some nice pull-up jumpers. Loved his play tonight and his continuing improvement as his health improved. Wilcox should be a very dangerous player again next season with his body healed up.

Terrence Ross exploded last night. He found his stroke and kept backing up further and further until the Wildcat defenders were guarding him at half-court at which point Ross would dribble past his man, finishing in the paint. Ross was 10 for 21 from the field and a perfect 6 of 6 from the free throw line. His 8 rebounds were excellent and Ross finished stuffing the stat sheet with an assist, 2 steals, a block, and just 1 turnover. It was a career performance, the type of which exemplifies why he is considered a potential lottery pick in the coming draft. This is how we expected Ross to play all season, but it has taken the last 2 or 3 weeks for Ross to have success in both halves of the game. Hopefully Ross can continue this trend of playing the full 40 through the NIT championship game and throughout next season. I love that Romar kept Ross in late in the game so he could break his career high of 30 points. As soon as Ross got to the line for the final time and sunk 2 free throws to give him a career best 32, Romar subbed Ross out to a standing ovation and chants of "One more year!"

What Needed Improvement:

Turnovers:

I thought the Dawgs were going to finish with under 10 turnovers on the night, but things out sloppy and out of hand at times in the second. A better team would have capitalized on our mistakes, but Northwestern was unable to do so, thankfully. 17 turnovers is way too high and needs to be minimized, especially with a potential quarterfinal match-up against Oregon on the horizon.

What was Good:

Rebounding:

As I talked about before, the Dawgs dominated a clearly inferior rebounding team. Three players racking up at least 7 rebounds a piece is a recipe for success. The guarded well on defense and snatched up their own missed shots to garner 16 second chance points. Great effort on the glass.

Team Effort:

Our point guards passed, our shooting guards shot, and our bigs kept Northwestern out of the paint. There was hustle and effort across the board. Even Romar got involved with a spontaneous post game speech to the crowd, thanking everyone for coming out and supporting them despite the "inconsistent" efforts they displayed this season. It was an emotional game followed with an emotional speech. While it is a little late, this emotion is refreshing to see and hopefully the Huskies can continue to dominate their opposition to send a message to the NCAA that they should have been one of the 68 teams sent to the big dance.

Ross and Wilcox:

The duo combined for 52 of the Huskies 76 points. Damn. That is huge.

Final Thoughts:

The Dawgs will likely face Oregon on Tuesday for the final home game of the season. There is a small chance of an upset, but count on Oregon coming to Hec-Ed one more time. The Dawgs owe Oregon an embarrassment following the dismantling they faced earlier this season in Eugene. The Dawgs can turn a "snub" into at least something by taking home the NIT title, but there are still 3 games left and they cannot ease up on the gas. Hopefully this team saw how well things go when they apply themselves hard on both ends of the court and continue to do so.

Go Dawgs!

University fo Southern California Game 2 Review

Final Score: UW-80 USC-58

This game went pretty much how it should have. UW came to Galen Center and stomped around a decimated USC team. Just like that, the Dawgs secure at least a share of the conference title for the second time in 4 seasons and some sort of conference title for the fourth straight season.

The Huskies started with a nice run, quickly jumping the lead up to 8 points before going into half with a 17 point lead. The Dawgs were a tad sloppy in the start of the second half, allowing USC to pull within 9 before going on another huge run to put the Trojans away for good.

Production came from different sources today. Tony Wroten had one of his coldest shooting nights of the season, hitting only 2 of his 13 attempts. He did manage to find success elsewhere by playing shut down defense and cleaning up on the glass. Wroten finished with 7 points, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, and 4 turnovers. Not his best night, but I would not categorize it as a bad one either. Wroten successfully shut down Maurice Jones and found his teammates for better shots. The only bad part about his night is that it certainly complicated the Pac-12 Player of the Year award a little more. Hopefully the coaches don't split their votes between Wroten and Ross thus allowing an outside candidate to take home an undeserved award.

Darnell Gant had one of his better performances throughout his career. Gant drilled some nice 3-point shots throughout the night and finished just under a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds. Gant was 6 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 from deep. Hopefully his inspiration and motivation continues through the weekend to give us an additional weapon against UCLA. Loved the fire he brought and the intensity he rubbed off onto his teammates.

Abdul Gaddy continued to play aggressive basketball and boy do I wonder what has taken him so long to get this attitude back. He is so effective when driving the lanes. Gaddy either opens himself up for the easy basket or finds an open teammate on the perimeter for a solid jumper. Gaddy was 4 of 6 from the field and hit the only 3-pointer he attempted. Gaddy finished with 12 points, 2 boards, 5 assists, and 2 turnovers. Nice night, great performance, needs to continue this type of play.

C.J. Wilcox cooled off after his fiery performance against WSU. Wilcox was a measly 3 of 10 from the field, 0 of 4 outside the arc. Maybe his hip was acting up again because Wilcox certainly didn't seem to be himself. Wilcox bobbled two easy buckets at the hoop, one of which would have been a highlight worthy alley-oop from Wroten. The good part about the game was the lead allowed Romar to rest Wilcox, giving him only 24 minutes on the night. We certainly need his shooting skills against UCLA a lot more than we did against USC.

Aziz N'Diaye battled in the paint and came out the overall victor, in my opinion. While Blasczyk did finished with 10 points, he received 4 of those at the line and only managed to grab 3 rebounds. N'Diaye, on the other hand, had 8 points and 7 boards on top of one nice dunk. N'Diaye continues to be a force in the middle. He will need his A-game tomorrow against Josh Smith who was very successful against the Dawgs last time out. Speaking of N'Diaye, my friend Ted Copeland just posted this video from the UA game. Check Ted out on Facebook here. He does good work.

Desmond Simmons returned to better form against the smaller USC line-up. His shot selection was smarter and his aggressiveness in the paint was back to its old ways. Simmons finished with 5 points on a couple of nice put-backs and nabbed 7 rebounds. Simmons also had 2 steals to offset his 1 turnover. Love this type of production from Simmons, it is exactly what we need from him.

The bench got some decent play time tonight with everyone but Alex Wegner getting into the game. Not sure why Romar didn't put him in as well, but too late to worry about it. Martin Breunig had 4 points coming off of a last second, fade away 3-point jumper that drained somehow and also finished an alley-oop pass from Wroten to cap the night off in spectacular fashion.

Terrence Ross was the star of the night for the Dawgs. After foul trouble crushed Ross' ability to contribute against WSU, Ross returned in mighty fashion playing a full 40 minutes of basketball once more. Ross had 11 points at half time and finished with 18 after only 27 minutes of play. That puts him on pace for nearly 30 points in 40 minutes with that type of production. Ross was 8 of 13 from the field and hit 2 of his 3 from deep. Ross also put up 7 rebounds and 1 steal against 2 turnovers.Ross' crossover is really turning into a deadly weapon that opponents simply cannot defend against. He looks a lot like BRoy on the court. 17 different NBA teams had scouts at the game and one can only imagine that Ross was the focus of their trip.

What Needed Improvement:

Free Throws:

What saved the Dawgs in Pullman had a chance to bite them against USC. The Huskies were a miserable 12 of 23 from the line and this allows the Trojans to close the lead at times. Tony Wroten looked ugly at the line, consistently shooting wide and rattling the ball around. Wroten went 3-7 from the line. Not one person was perfect from the charity stripe and even infallible Wilcox was only 2 of 4 from the line.

Defense:

This may seem odd at first, but hear me out. The Dawgs didn't really shut down the Trojan offense. The Trojans average 54 points per game and finished with 58 because the Huskies like to push the tempo, allowing more shots for USC. The Trojans shot a very respectable 45% from the field and 30% outside. The Dawgs only forced 8 turnovers of which 5 were steals. The Dawgs didn't pressure USC into uncomfortable situations where the players would throw the ball away. The Huskies were able to score so much more because they had nearly as many offensive rebounds (18) as USC had total rebounds (20). When you attempt 16 more shots than the oppositions, chances are you will win. As I said in the pre-game write up, the Dawgs average somewhere around 1.2 points per possession, so 16 times 1.2 gives just under 20 extra points. That 20 points is almost exactly the amount we won by. This is a concerning stat when one considers how much better UCLA is than USC. We cannot afford to let UCLA shoot 45% from the field because they will rebound unlike USC and will certainly score more. We have to play better defense tomorrow.

What Was Good:

Rebounding:

Domination on the glass once again. The Trojans do not have the size or talent to compete in the paint with the Dawgs and this was reflected mightily in the stat line. The Huskies outrebounded USC 47-20 and allowed only 3 offensive boards for the Trojans. That is killer.

Ball Control:

The Husky guards got it done pretty well and the team as a whole dished out 13 assists on 31 shots. Not bad. The 12 turnovers are respectable, but I'd prefer if we could keep that number at 10 or lower. The ball control and passing led to many open shots outside the arc and the Huskies capitalized with a 6 of 13 performance from deep. If you exclude Wilcox from the stat line, the Huskies were 6 of 9 from outside. Solid.

Final Thoughts:

The Dawgs did what they needed to to win this game. They weren't incredibly spectacular and had few standout plays. They play consistent, solid basketball and got the win they wanted and needed. After the game their heads were in the right place. USC offered to do a post game celebration for the title if they wanted, but the Dawgs declined and instead kept their emotions in check, realizing the game on Saturday is just as important, if not more so. I suspect the defensive issues will be addressed and kept in check tomorrow. The bigger issue, no pun intended, is how to shut down Josh Smith. Smith killed us last game and will certainly try to do one better this time around. The Dawgs need to get a good game plan going, maybe run some zone to prevent entry passes. If the Dawgs win tomorrow, I believe they will have secured an at-large bid to the NCAA. Down year or not, the Pac-12 has always performed well in the NCAA, unlike the Big East, and a 15-3 major conference record is nothing to snuff at. I would much rather the team goes into the Pac-12 tournament and grabs that title as well to guarantee a bid. It will be a tough run, but this team is figuring things out and I am confident they can pull it off.

Go Dawgs!

Arizona State Game 2 Review

Final Score: UW-77 ASU-69

This game was not nearly as close as it looks. UW had a 22 point lead in the final 3 minutes before letting ASU chip away as Romar an team let up on the gas. I have a bone to pick about this. First off, I love it when our walk-ons and reserves get playtime, it is a fun and rewarding experience for them. That being said, we are in a critical stretch of play right now and the bubble is not on our side. We need to make statement games, not win by 8 at home to an atrocious ASU team. We need to finish. We should have dropped 30+ on them and said "Hey! We are here! We want to win! We want to compete!" Nope, didn't happen. To be fair, the Dawgs were really hot the first half, despite committing 10 first half turnovers. In the second half, the Dawgs committed an additional 5 turnovers, but only managed 33 points on sub par shooting. The Dawgs were a blistering 61% in the first half, but the second half zone of ASU caused problems leading to another sub 35% outing.

What we saw today was a true team effort on the court. For the first time in god knows how long, the Dawgs had 18 assists! Its amazing how passing and sharing the ball can lead to good things. Abdul Gaddy led the way with 8 assists to 3 turnovers, while Tony Wroten had 4 and 4.

The passes led to our team getting early production from everyone. Terrence Ross, C.J. Wilcox, and Darnell Gant were all hovering around 8 points at halftime. Ross finished with a team high 18, Wilcox added 14, Wroten had 13, Aziz N'Diaye put up a respectable 12, and Gant finished with 9. Those are the types of numbers we should be seeing every night from our guys. Four and five guys with double digit scoring on top of their rebounding, steals, etc. Getting production is easy if you pass the ball and that is exactly what we did tonight.

Overall, I loved the energy of the first half. The team played like it was taking on Arizona versus ASU. That is what I wanted to see. They treated the first half like a real game and went into halftime up 18. Then the second half rolled around and the Dawgs got lazy. UW had held ASU to 2 of 9 outside shooting in the first half by playing pressure d, extending to the sidelines, and preventing open looks. ASU went 6-11 in the second half, allowing them to chew their way back into the game to save face. This happened because our guys got lazy, stayed in the paint, and generally just did not try to put a hand in their face. I put that on Romar for not hyping them up at half, demanding more of the same.

Desmond Simmons and Shawn Kemp had decent nights, combining for 8 points and 7 boards. Simmons got most of the boards will Kemp got most of the points. They played a total of 26 minutes, allowing Gant and N'Diaye to rest after battling ASU's 7-footers in the paint. Respectable numbers for the time they played. They did their jobs tonight.

Abdul Gaddy was not aggressive in the normal fashion, but he attacked none the less. Gaddy took only two shots on the night and drilled a 3-pointer, his only points of the night. What he did do is attack the hoop and dish out to our open shooters and wouldn't you know it, they were open. Man, I feel like I iterated this exact thing multiple times throughout the season. Drive and dish, kick it out, get in the lanes. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. 8 assists is amazing and the 3 turnovers are reasonable, though many were unforced errors that could well have been avoided. Gaddy also pulled in a rebound and picked off a steal. Productive night over all. We don't need him to score, we need him to create scores.

Darnell Gant looked a lot better tonight than he has in a while. His second half shooting definitely cooled off, but his first half put-back jam was sensational. He reared back hard and jammed it home. Loved it. On the night, Gant was 3-6, missing only outside the arc. Gant made both his foul shots, nabbed 5 boards, and dished out 2 assists with 0 turnovers.

Aziz N'Diaye wanted the ball in the first half. He wanted it bad. He got the ball and he scored. Didn't matter who was on him. The second half he battled some cramps or a dead-leg. Not sure what happened, but he went down twice before getting pulled out and N'Diaye required some treatment from the PT staff. A few minutes later he came back in and looked good as new. N'Diaye was 5-9 from the field, 2-3 from the line, and had 4 rebounds.

Tony Wroten was a defensive machine tonight. At times he played too fast and turned the ball over, but the fact that he also handed out 4 assists and a ridiculous 6 steals is impressive and says a lot about his effort on the court. Wroten finished the night 4-8 from the field and a 5-8 performance at the line. He missed both free throws on one set, the first time that has happened in a while. Wroten also managed 4 boards during his 29 minutes of play.

C.J. Wilcox is evolving his game and it's a good thing. With his stress injury limiting his practice participation, Wilcox's shot has been suffering lately as anyone would suspect. Instead of focusing all of his efforts outside the arc, Wilcox has been utilizing a pump shot to draw defenders in the air then dribbling a bit closer and draining the jumper. He is also attacking the lanes and getting nice looks inside. He was 6-11 from the field, 2-6 outside the arc, but I liked his approach to tonight. Wilcox did a little bit of everything tonight with 2 rebounds, 3 assists, a turnover, block, and steal.

Terrence Ross. My man. Where has this game been all year. Finally, production in both halves and a great looking shot throughout. Ross was on fire outside, hitting 4 of 8 from deep and converting 7 of 13 overall. Several times, Ross would step outside the arc on purpose, seemingly insisting he was too close before. His 5 rebounds were lower than normal, but spending so much time outside the paint tends to cause that. The only mar on his performance were the 3 turnovers that were quite out of character. He needs to bring this early fire again Saturday when the Wildcats roll into town.

What Needed Improvement:

Rebounds:

UW and ASU went back and forth on the glass with a final tally of 32-32. 11 offensive for UW, 10 for ASU. That is about as close as it gets. While I understand that ASU possess two 7-footers, the Dawgs were getting beat on the glass by the guards and often times losing out on rebounds they didn't secure properly. Normally this is not an issue so I won't worry too much about it, but we cannot afford to give up so many second chance opportunities against a team like Arizona who will capitalize on them in a big way.

Turnovers:

15 is way too high. 10 in a half is absurd and unacceptable. The Dawgs were playing at too high of a tempo and needed to get things under control a tad more. Wroten was bouncing balls off the opposition's head, Wilcox was forgetting to bring the ball with him, and so on. You get the picture. Not sure why the ASU defense caused so many problems, but it needs to get fixed in less than 36 hours.

What Was Good:

First Half:

Have I been able to write that yet this year? For the first time in ages, the Dawgs put up more than 40 points in the first half and scored less in the second than the first. The Dawgs came out with the kind of intensity that has been lacking throughout the season and I am hopeful it will carry on. This team needs to remember how it felt to get it going early, instead of having to battle back before halftime.

Passing:

The Huskies really played well in the set offense today. They moved the ball quickly around the perimeter, attacked the lanes and kicked out, found open guys, and passed up mediocre shots for better shots. Got to give it to Gaddy for really running the show tonight and making things happen in a good way. Gold Star.

Final Thoughts:

Big time match-up is on its way to Hec-Ed. Arizona is chomping at the bit to get vengence for I.T.'s cold-blooded shot and Wroten's last second upset during their white-out, sell-out crowd at home. Arizona took down WSU in a close game and their moral is high. The Dawgs closed tonight on a bit of a sour note, but I hope it does not damper or affect their mood. A win is a win, even if it ends ugly. Let's finish strong boys.

Go Dawgs!

Arizona State University Game 2 Preview

Here it is. The last home-stand of the season and the Huskies find themselves in a very precarious situation. The Dawgs are in a first place tie with California and are followed by a 3-way tie for second place, only a game back. The Huskies have a very small window in which they may claim an at large bid and the only way they will hold onto it is by winning at least 4 of the next 5 games and having moderate success in the Pac-12 Tournament. This all starts by taking care of business at home and thankfully, the Dawgs first face off against ASU.

The Sun Devils have had a rough season with an overall record of 8-17, 4-9 in conference. ASU has managed only 2 road wins, 1 in conference. The biggest reason ASU has struggled to win has been their lack of scoring. The Sun Devils had many close non-conference games where they were able to hold their opponents under 70 points, but ASU themselves could only muster up 60 or 65.

The Sun Devils have been demolished by just about every team in the top Half of the conference. The 6 point loss to UW was the only loss to a team in the top 6 that wasn't a double digit loss. Cal and Stanford each beat ASU by at least 21 points. ASU's 62 points in a win over USC has been their highest scoring output on the road in conference. Their road high was a 67 point night when ASU beat the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes. Their road woes include 4 games where ASU was held to 51 points and under.

The Sun Devils are led by 6-4 185lb guard, Trent Lockett, who is averaging 13.6 points per game (Keala King was the leading scorer with 13.7 points per game before his departure). Lockett has had to do it all for ASU and is not only their leading scorer, but also their leading rebounder with 6.3 per night. Lockett is also second in assists with 2.2, first in steals with 1.5, and second in turnovers with 3.2 per night. Lockett has been battling a nagging ankle injury that has forced him to miss several games this season as well as limiting him in others. If the Huskies can get their defense rolling right and are able to shut down Lockett, the Sun Devils will be lucky to put up 50 points.

ASU's big men have been terrible this season. Despite standing 7-0 and 7-2, Ruslan Pateev and Jordan Bachynski are averaging only 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 block each. Their size is a good thing for Aziz N'Diaye who traditionally performs better against taller centers. Not too much else to say about them as their impact on the game tends to be minimal. The two centers will likely be dropped into a zone to guard the middle. If this is the case the Dawgs should not be afraid to drive the lanes as neither are athletic enough to be real threats to a lay-in or short floater.

The other scoring options for ASU come in the form of two forwards, 6-6 196lb Carrick Felix and 6-7 210lb Kyle Cain. The pair score 10 and 8 points respectively on top of 5 and 6 rebounds each. Felix has been of the better 3-point options for the Sun Devils, while Cain missed his lone attempt of the season. Both are capable free throw shooters who are making 75% on the season.

The main point guard option for ASU is 6-2 200lb Chris Colvin who is averaging a team best 3.5 assists per game. Colvin manages 6 points and 2 rebounds per game, while also leading the team in turnovers with 3.5 per night. He is a decent 3-point threat with a 33% average on the season, but is averaging less than 1 make per game, so our defense shouldn't worry too much about playing super tight against him.

Predicted Starting Line-Up:

Arizona State:
Trent Lockett 6-4210lb
Carrick Felix 6-6 196lb
Jonathan Gillings 6-7 200lb
Kyle Cain 6-7 210lb
Jordan Bachynski 7-2 243lb

Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 225lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to Success:

Rebounding:

UW's shot has been off. OK, that may be an understatement following two straight games of 36% and 34% shooting. The Huskies tend to be better at home, but regardless, a low scoring game is in complete favor of ASU. The Dawgs can still capitalize on poor shooting by rebounding and getting the second chance points and putbacks. The Dawgs are one of the top in the nation in not only rebounding, but rebounding percentage as well. If the Dawgs finds themselves struggling to hit their shots again, it is imperative they recover the ball.

Free Throws:

I suspect ASU will try to slow this game down a lot. This means that our free throws represent a larger portion of our offense's production. Our team needs to develop their foul shots and have the type of production they showed against OSU in the final minutes. The Dawgs achieved this by getting their best shooters to the hoop, namely Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox. The easiest way to put a low scoring team away is by making the freebies. N'Diaye needs to get on the Tony Wroten plan to improve on his miserable 35% FT shooting.

Pressure Defense:

The Sun Devils average 17 turnovers a game. 17. That is a big and brutal number. The Dawgs can exploit this to play the type of transition basketball they love and thrive off of. The ASU guards are very poor ball handlers and they big men bobble the ball around just as much. Look forward to some highlight reel plays if the Huskies can get into the open court.

Final Thoughts:

The road to a 4th straight NCAA tournament starts on Thursday. Any loss is crushing to our at-large bid hopes and a loss to a team as miserable as ASU is an even more brutal knock to our record and resume. Percy Allen did a nice article on how many wins people believe it will take to earn an at-large bid for the Dawgs. Many people believe 5 more wins is necessary and normally I would not argue with that type of logic as it puts us at 22 wins. This season is very different. I think we not only need to win, or at least share, the regular season title, but we will also need to win one or two games in the tournament to feel confident in a bid. Another factor that is tough to account for and impossible to change is smaller conferences having different regular season and tournament champions. Take for example Murray State. They are clearly top of their league and will earn a bid no matter what, but if a different team takes the league title then the conference will send 2 teams to the NCAA instead of 1, which leaves one less spot on the roster for UW. ASU should be a nice warm up for a big time game against Arizona, but the Dawgs cannot afford to treat the game as such. This team has played down to far too many teams this season due to inexperience and it must change now. Get the Sun Devils down early and don't let up. Make a statement, win by 40, do something that says we are ready, we are willing, and we want this.

Final Score Prediction: UW-80 ASU-60

Go Dawgs!

Oregon State University Game 2 Review

Final Score: UW-75 OSU-72

The Huskies struggled through another poor shooting night both from the field and at the line, but the Dawgs got it done down the stretch making shots, converting free throws, and playing tough defense. Foul calls put both teams at the line a lot and, thankfully, OSU was just as terrible at the line as the Huskies were. The Huskies did miss 11 free throws, which really would have allowed them to separate themselves from the Beavers,, the big difference from past games was how often C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross got to the line. Ross went 6 for 7 and Wilcox was 7 of 9. Desmond Simmons stepped back up and converted all 4 of his shots, including a clutch pair with a minute on the clock. The majority of the misses came from the usual suspects, Tony Wroten and Aziz N'Diaye who were a combined 6 of 13 at the stripe.

Abdul Gaddy made his presence felt down the stretch with a pair of 3-pointers. Outside of those shots, Gaddy was unable to really score as seen by his 3 of 10 field goal stat. Gaddy had 4 assists tonight and only 1 turnover, a performance much more characteristic of him. Gaddy also picked up a pair of steals, which helped the Dawgs pick up their 9 fast break points. I think Gaddy played with a much better attitude tonight and it showed.

Aziz N'Diaye found himself in an interesting position tonight. After picking up his 4th foul (CBS Sports says 3, which is what I had thought) with 13 minutes remaining, Romar left him in the game for several more minutes and remained in even when Darnell Gant picked up his 4th and immediately came out. Not sure Romar's reasoning behind it as Shawn Kemp had been playing pretty good basketball tonight. N'Diaye was doing a pretty good job closing down the middle, but had a few lapses throughout the night. N'Diaye had a decent night in terms of production with 6 points, but his 3 rebounds were far below his 8 per game average. Thankfully the team was able to find rebounds elsewhere. N'Diaye had a monstrous dunk that nearly pull the whole hoop down. That type of throw down is what he needs to do all the time. Lay-ins are nice, but huge dunks send a message.

Desmond Simmons returned to his early season form. Simmons was 0 of 1 from the field, but made all of his foul shots and raked in an impressive 9 rebounds, second only to Ross. Simmons had a rough night in terms of ball control, committing 4 turnovers with only 1 assist. Not sure how they all racked up, I didn't recall him throwing the ball away that many times.

Darnell Gant played a very quiet, but foul filled 10 minutes. Gant fouled out with only 2 points on 1 of 4 shooting. He pulled in 3 rebounds and committed one very ugly and silly turnover. Gant was stuck in the corner and rather than calling a timeout or throwing the ball off the defenders, he opted to throw a wild pass across the court to a teammate, which then sailed high and out of bounds. Not a smart play, made worse when one remembers he is a fifth year senior who should know better.

C.J. Wilcox had another poor shooting night with a 4-11 finish, but picked up 17 on the night by being aggressive and attacking the hoop. He finally started getting foul calls and hitting the freebies. I liked his attitude and game play despite his outside shot not falling (2 of 7). Wilcox grabbed one rebound and one steal. His work at the stripe helped the Dawgs secure a much needed win tonight.

Tony Wroten was a solid contributor in all aspects of the game tonight. He made only 12 points on 4 of 12 shooting. His 4 of 7 free throw shooting was more of the early season, but I firmly belief he has made huge strides in his foul shooting and will continue to improve his percentage. Wroten was big under the basket with 5 of his 7 rebounds coming on the offensive end. As a team, the Dawgs picked up 16 offensive boards leading to 14 second chance points. Wroten had 3 assists and turnovers on top of 2 steals.

Shawn Kemp played a semi efficient 9 minutes, going 2 for 2 from the court with his own big jam after an OSU turnover. He also split a pair of free throws. Austin Sefarian-Jenkins played 6 scoreless minutes, but had some nice looks and also nabbed 2 boards.

Terrence Ross was pretty good tonight. His 7 of 21 shooting left much to be desired, but his work at the line is what I really liked. Ross also pulled in a game high 13 rebounds, 5 offensive, which did more for the Dawgs than his scoring, in my opinion. Ross filled the stat line with an assist, 2 turnovers, a steal, and 2 authoritative blocks. Finally, Ross played a game where he contributed in both halves and it paid off in a big way.

What Needed Improvement:

Free Throws:

Wroten needs to get back to shooting 75% and N'Diaye needs to salvage this season and pick up his miserable 35% average at the line.

Team Play:

The Dawgs only managed 9 assists on 23 shots. Last season we were averaging an assist every other shot and I'd like to see this team get closer to that type of production. Our team excels when the ball is moving and players aren't having to create their own shots. Give OSU credit for throwing a variety of defenses at the Dawgs, which included a 2-3 and 1-3-1 zone as well as man-to-man on occasion.

What Was Good:

Rebounding:

The Dawgs won the battle on the glass 47-41 while grabbing 16 offensive boards to OSU's 10. The second chance points were just as important as our bench points (24). The Huskies used their guards well to clean house. Ross and Simmons were all over the place getting the loose balls and their efforts payed off.

Finishing Power:

The Dawgs went on a few runs down the stretch and held off a resilient Beaver team. They made big shots in the final minutes and made the majority of their free throws. The score should have been 75-70, but Cunningham hit a last second shot to make the game look closer than it actually was. The Dawgs showed their guts and didn't let the crowd or the Beaver's own runs get to their heads. They didn't panic when Ahmad Starks got hot from deep and tried to shoot his team back in the game. Credit this to Romar who was finally coaching the team throughout the game and not just in timeouts.

Final Thoughts:

UW did what they needed to and got the win. They remain in a tie for first with California, though 3 other teams are close behind, only 1 game back. The Dawgs come home for their last two home games of the season taking on the Arizona schools, while Cal has their last home stand against the Oregon schools. Oregon looks prime to upset the Bears and OSU has the potential to pull off a win with their prolific offense. The Dawgs cannot overlook ASU on Thursday with a huge, exciting game coming on Saturday against rival Arizona.

Go Dawgs!

University of California: Los Angeles Game Review

Final Score: UW-71 UCLA-69

Just like that, the Huskies control first place in the Pac-12 and their destiny lies in their hands and not the success (or failures) of others. This game represented some impressive milestones. UW has now won 4 straight against UCLA, something that hasn't ever happened in Husky History, and the Dawgs have now won 8 straight at home against UCLA. Two hours after UW escaped with an emotional win, Arizona knocked off Cal with an early 33-10 run that put Arizona ahead for good.

The Huskies played a a sloppy game that didn't polish up until the final 10 minutes. This was highlighted early with UW up 6-4. UCLA picked up two offensive boards and finally got the put-back to fall in, despite several Huskies near the hoop. Often times, the Dawgs were getting beat on easy boards and gave up far too many turnovers (16 total, 10 in the first half). The first half turnovers were just plain ugly. It wasn't so much that the Bruins were playing tough defense, the Husky guards were just throwing the ball away to players who weren't looking for passes. Regardless, the Dawgs somehow went into halftime with a 1-point game.

Things got worse after half when the Dawg defense shut down and allowed three straight 3-pointers, all by Lazeric Jones who had been silent all game. Suddenly, the Huskies found themselves down 10 with time running off the clock. Something awakened in the team and the crowd, which translated into Terrence Ross taking things to the next level.

The Huskies struggled to contain Josh Smith who scored a career high 24 points. Smith did damage the whole game with 14 points during the first half. While Aziz N'Diaye tried his best to contain Smith, the two early fouls limited his minutes resulting in Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Shawn Kemp rotating through to try and prevent Smith from scoring. The Huskies experienced their best success by playing a zone defense to prevent entry passes to the post and allowed the Dawgs to double team Smith, forcing turnovers. Smith did not score in the final minute of the game (well, technically he scored with 56 seconds on the clock, but I'll excuse it), which was integral in deciding the outcome of the game. N'Diaye was also able to secure the final rebound over Smith as the clock ran out.

The two biggest possessions of the game came in the final minutes when the Bruins committed offensive fouls and allowed UW to extend their small lead to a two possession difference. The Bruins kept fighting back and the missed free throws by UW allowed the Bruins to get back within 2 points during the final 20 seconds. UW played solid defense and forced a young, in experienced Bruin to take a contested shot, which ended up rattling out and tipped around until N'Diaye could finally corral the ball.

The crowd played a big part of UW's success in the final 10 minutes of the game. Once the Dawg Pack started going and Ross starting being a superstar, the rest of the stadium really perked up, stood up, and got into UCLA's collective head. The offense wasn't able to execute properly as no one could hear what was going on. After the game, Coach Chillious raised the roof at the Dawg Pack, Darnell Gant beat his chest, pointed, and yelled, and Romar came over, pointed at the score board, pointed at us, and said that was your win, you helped us do that. I invest a lot of my time, energy, and emotion into this team and into leading the Dawg Pack and it felt really good to see everyone finally getting involved in the game and having the type of effect on the game that we had between '04 and '09. It felt even better to see our efforts get recognized and appreciated by the coach and team.

N'Diaye played a pretty good game, despite the defensive struggles against Smith. No one could defend Smith, who pushed people around with his gut, so it is hard to discredit N'Diaye for failing the same as everyone else who tried to match-up with Smith. N'Diaye was a solid 3-4 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds. N'Diaye could have had a double-double, but finished with 7 after hitting only 1 of his 4 free throw attempts. N'Diaye needs to get some better coaching about his foul shot because he is shooting under 40% on the year, which is not only miserable, it hurts our team. N'Diaye gets to the line 2 to 4 times a night and generally misses at least half those shots. That is a lot of points and opportunities being squandered away. "Hack the Shaq" is a very viable option for teams in close games and that scares me more than anything. N'Diaye delivered a nice pass and assist to tony Wroten who was cutting across the baseline. It was almost a perfect reverse of the usual Wroten to N'Diaye plays. The only big negative for me, outside of the usual free throw issues, was the accidental tip-in by N'Diaye on our own hoop. Rather than getting up and putting two hands on the ball, N'Diaye tried to tip the ball out to a teammate, but it went rogue and N'Diaye scored against us.



Speaking of Wroten, Tony had himself a wild game. Wroten took a knee to the thigh that caused him pain throughout the game and may cause Wroten to play limited, if any, minutes during the USC game tomorrow. Wroten was only 4 of 11 from the field. Wroten grabbed up 5 rebounds, 2 offensive, and dished out 2 assists. His 5 turnovers were very reminiscent of his earlier games, but the 5-5 free throw shooting shows the type of improvement Wroten has made to his game. The other "improvement" I saw from Wroten was an attempt at a right-handed lay-in, something I don't think he had done yet. Sadly, the ball rolled out of the rim, but it was good to see Wroten finally use that second hand of his to take a shot.

Darnell Gant became a true senior tonight. He scored 10 points in the first half, including a very much needed 3-pointer early in the game, deep into the shot clock. Gant finished with only 14 points, but his defense on the Wear twins and other perimeter players was just as valuable as his emotional play and the leadership he displayed. Tonight I saw Gant beating his chest, coaching his teammates, yelling at the crowd to get up and get loud. The passion was evident and Gant was quoted after the game saying he nearly cried following the win. He wanted this game badly and it showed. Let's hope he can continue to be the type of leader this team has been sorely missing.

Abdul Gaddy played another silent game, but did a much better job of attacking the hoop than in previous weeks. Gaddy was 2-5 from the field, 3-4 from the line, and delivered 5 assists. His 4 turnovers marred an otherwise solid outing. I don't know what it is going to take to get Gaddy to go back to the level of play he displayed in the first half of conference lasts season. Maybe he'll never quite get back to that after his ACL tear. Either way, he needs to adjust his game by either getting back in the lane or starting to develop a reliable outside shot that will force defenders to step out, opening the lanes for his teammates.

Desmond Simmons seems to have hit the freshman wall as of late. He played only 11 minutes despite starting, grabbed only 2 rebounds, and missed both shot attempts including an ugly airball. Not much to say about his game due to his limited play time.

C.J. Wilcox looked rusty tonight. Maybe the lack of practices are finally catching up a bit. Wilcox was only 1 of 4 from the field, but drilled all 4 of his free throws, which were immensely important to the Husky win. While I understand and appreciate the need for Wilcox to rest during the week for the games, the fact Wilcox is limited to only 50 jump shots per practice seems a bit absurd to me. Let him take 75 or 100, I highly doubt that will have a huge effect on his injury. Hopefully the Huskies can get things done in a big way against USC (who lost to WSU by only 3, mildly concerning) and both him and Wroten can get their rest and let others gain some valuable play time.

Shawn Kemp played some very strong minutes and had one of his better games. All 4 points came off of dunks, including a very impressive trail play leading to a powerful jam, a small reminder of his father who is one of the best dunkers in the history of the game. ASJ played only 5 minutes and picked up 2 fouls.

Terrence Ross. My man. Please play all 40 minutes like you do the final 10. If you do, you will score 30 points a game, each and every night. Heck, I'll settle for Ross playing two solid halves of basketball versus one half of pure athleticism and skill. Ross played another amazing second half to rally the Dawgs. He caught alley-oops for sweet jams, he drained shots from 25 feet, checking his heat and finding himself on fire, he even pulled off a Top 10 worthy (though he was snubbed somehow) lay-in that shouldn't even be physically possible. After spinning off his defender, Ross was fouled and knocked to the ground, but still managed to get a shot off and it banked home for the AND-1, which put the Dawgs on top. Speaking of banks, Ross drained a ridiculous bank shot at the end of the first half to give the Huskies the 1 point lead. Ross also pulled off a crazy double cross over move that was worthy of some recognition. Ross had 4 rebounds on top of 22 points, 1 steal, two nice blocks, and 3 turnovers. If Ross can put together another impressive game against USC, he will likely win Player of the Week.

What Needed Improvement:

Terrence Ross-First Half:

I would like to see a game where Ross scores 8-10 in the first half. I'm not sure how many games this season Ross has had 4 or less points going into the break, but it is far too many. It needs to change. Not sure what the difference is for Ross, but I guarantee the heart of it is mental.

Ball Control:

The Huskies committed 10 turnovers in the first half and finished the game with 16. Not good by any stretch of the imagination. Too many times the Dawgs would throw the ball out of bounds. UCLA was credited with 10 steals, but I don't recall that many occurring. The Husky guards have been really sloppy as of late and that won't win us any games. The Dawgs also managed only 10 assists, far below the goals and abilities of this team. Got to get this righted for the final half of the year.

What was Good:

Terrence Ross-Second Half:

He is a true closer and is everything in the second half that LeBron James isn't. The kid has a will to win and once the shots start dropping, he can't be stopped. Ross went 9-12 from the field and a perfect 2-2 from deep and dominated the second half. Ross didn't miss in the second half until there were only 25 seconds on the clock.

Gant's Leadership:

His words helped organize the team, his fire pumped up the crowd, and his first half helped the Dawgs take an early lead despite their short comings. Loved the game Gant played today. If Wroten is hurt on Saturday and does not start, I would like to see the Dawgs bust out a 3 forward line-up with Gant back in the starting 5 along side N'Diaye and Simmons.

The Crowd:

The crowd is finally getting into this team again and it is showing up on the home court. The turning point was the WSU come back game. It got loud and people had fun. Now that they have tasted what a truly great college atmosphere is like, they want more and are getting it by creating it themselves. This team is young, and young players thrive on the emotion of the crowd.

Final Thoughts:

This game could have been a blow out if the Dawgs didn't try to throw it away in the first half. The Huskies pulled off another impressive come back and fought off an improving UCLA team. Terrence Ross was a catalyst once more and Gant continued to improve his game and attitude. Thank you, Arizona, for knocking off Cal on their home court and giving us sole possession of first place. With an injured USC team on the horizon, the Huskies can maintain their lead and should ASU pull off a surprising come back, the Dawgs can increase their lead. The Dawgs have one last home-stand after this weekend against the Arizona schools as well as road trips to Oregon, WSU, and the LA schools. The toughest games will likely come against UCLA, WSU, and Oregon as all 3 tend to be superb on their home courts. The Huskies can ill afford more than 2 losses the remainder of the regular season, but with the way this team has been performing, I am confident they can pull out some more grinding, dirty wins away from Hec-Ed. Let's get it done boys and bring home that banner.

Go Dawgs!

Washington State University Game Review

Final Score: UW-75 WSU-65

This was a tale of two halves and one fueled by emotion and excitement that has been long absent this season, both on the road and at home. After an extremely sluggish first half, the Huskies rallied following a technical foul assessed to Lorenzo Romar who was livid after a very questionable charge call against Terrence Ross. The crowd was upset and the emotion showed. The House started rocking and the Huskies ate it up like a Thanksgiving dinner. The Huskies went on a 28-5 run after the technical and never looked back, turning a 10 point deficit into a 10 point lead. Darnell Gant and Terrence Ross went ballistic and were the driving force on the court in this huge turnaround.

Ross played a career night and woke up on fire after another icy start. Shooting just 1 of 9 in the first half, it looked as though Terrence Ross was bound for another mediocre, disappointing night. The second half showed that thought to be foolishness as Ross went on to tally an absurd 26 points in the second half to set a career high with 30 points as well as a career high 14 rebounds. Talk about second half productivity, Ross would not be denied and after back-to-back 3-pointers it was clear that Ross was on a mission and no one was going to get in his way. Ross was 8-12 in the second half and 5-7 from deep, one of his 3-pointers came in the last 5 seconds of the shot clock after driving out from the low post and turning around for a fade-away that exemplified what sort of player Ross can be.

Darnell Gant finally showed a little leadership and pizazz, rallying the team after Romar's technical and finally taking (and making) shots. Gant scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, which included a pair of monster jams to take the lead and add on to the total in back-to-back possessions. Gant followed with a set of 3-pointers putting him at 5-7 on the night, 3-5 outside. The outside shooting from Ross and Gant was of the utmost importance as C.J. Wilcox was absent from tonight's game and will likely miss all of next week against Stanford and California as he is currently suffering from a stress fracture high on his femur that needs rest and relaxation or risk further damage. Gant showed the rebounding skills we have been begging him to put in play all season, picking up 8 on the night, 5 of which were offensive. During a time when the Huskies are forced to rely on what is essentially a 6 man rotation, not one player can afford to be lazy or slow. Could this be a bit of a turn around game for Gant? Possibly. I am not sold on it yet, but solid performances against Stanford and Cal would certainly convince me that Gant is heading in the right direction once more.

With everything Ross and Gant were doing on the court it was easy to miss out on the excellent performance Aziz N'Diaye had against the Cougars and their zone defense. N'Diaye was 4-5 from the field, with a couple of nice put backs. He was a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line, including a pair with 20 seconds to go, which allowed the Huskies to maintain their 10 point lead and really lock-up the win without fear of a major meltdown. N'Diaye put on some nice post moves and provided a solid core in the paint that helped slow down Brock Motum in the second half.

Desmond Simmons certainly gave his all last night. Assigned to the best Cougar on the court, Motum, Simmons had his work cut out for him. Shooting only 1-6 from the field, Simmons struggled to find himself offensively. His 7 rebounds, 4 offensive, were critical on a night where the Dawgs outscored the Cougars 16-9 on second chance points. Fouls and Gant's reemergence seemed to limit Simmons' minutes, who only played 19 tonight despite starting.

Abdul Gaddy looked rigid on the court tonight, but found success play making for others including a pair of alley-oop lobs to Gant and Ross. Gassy went 2-10 from the field, 1-6 from deep, but picked up 6 assists and committing 3 turnovers. Gaddy played 35 minutes on the night. What confounded me the most was how the one time Gaddy drove the lane, he made his shot and made it look easy. Why does he do that more often? It is obvious that it works for him and it is not as if he is continually rejected. Gaddy will need to be aggressive this next week as the loss of Wilcox for the next two games will certainly affect our offensive production.

Tony Wroten also struggled with his shot tonight. Wroten was a miserable 3-14 from the field, but did manage to get to the line for 13 shots. He only made 7, but drilled 4 in a row during a critical stretch of game play. Wroten had 4 assists, but also committed 4 turnovers that proved costly in the first half. Wroten only collected 3 rebounds, but they were all offensive and helped the Dawgs maintain some semblance of an offense during the first half. What Wroten did best was keep pushing the tempo in the Dawgs favor and disrupting the Cougar offense.

What Needed Improvement:

Free Throws:

The Dawgs were a terrible 17 of 28 from the strip tonight, 4-10 in the first half. The Huskies could have controlled this game a lot sooner with respectable free throw shooting, but as per tradition, the Dawgs stunk up the line until crunch time.

Shooting:

I don't understand why Dawgs struggle so much against the zone defense, but without Wilcox on the court the Huskies found it difficult to score until the second half. The Huskies need to utilize a high post option against the zone to collapse the defense and open lanes for our shooters to drive and score or drive and dish. Romar finally started posting Ross and Wroten up high, allowing the play-makers to get off decent opportunities that ended being game changers.

What Was Good:

The Second Half:

The Huskies finally showed some life and played like the energized and exciting team they should have been all year. It should not take the home crowd going crazy to feel that kind of drive, but this is definitely a team that thrives on the emotion of the crowd. Blame on the coaching, blame it on the youth. Whatever it is, it is both a blessing and a curse. At home, this team can relish in the emotion of the game and perform as such. On the road, they often look demoralized and collapse without a fight.

Rebounding:

The Huskies out rebounded the Cougars 46-24. That is ridiculous. In fact it is so ridiculous that the Huskies had 22 offensive boards, nearly totaling that of the entire Cougar production. Rebounds most certainly won the game for the Dawgs and kept the score manageable despite the atrocious shooting of the first half.

Romar:

He may not get a gold star for play making still, but Romar still made two great coaching decisions during the game that allowed the Huskies to pull out a much needed won over rival WSU. The first was picking up the technical foul defending his team and his court. The second was leaving the same 5 on the court the final 13 minutes as their chemistry and fire were not to be trifled with. Often times, Romar is seen pulling players out after going on a run to rest their legs and whatnot only to have the game get out of hand once more. By leaving the same 5 on the court, the players were able to build bonds, predict movements, and operate as an offense truly should. Their confidence rose and as such so did the team's offensive output.

Final Thoughts:

This was a huge win for the Dawgs who looked sleepy in the first half. With what is arguably the toughest week coming up against conference favorites Cal and Stanford, the Dawgs lie half a game back from each and can take the lead with a pair of wins. The emotion and momentum garnered from this game will certainly aid the Dawgs in the efforts next week and hopefully the team has learned how to score without one of their best sharpshooters on the court. Ross and Wroten need to maintain their aggressiveness and Gant will need to keep that fire going himself.

Go Dawgs!

University of Oregon Game Preview

After a pretty successful conference opener, the Huskies take on the Oregon Ducks who are fresh off a similar win over Washington State. The Ducks were led by their forward, 6-7 220lb Olu Ashaolu, who scored 26 points and 10 rebounds. That is almost a mirror of the 26 point, 9 rebound, 4 assist, 2 turnover game by Tony Wroten (he made 5-7 from the free throw line and the team went 17-20, fantastic) against OSU. Speaking of Wroten, the new leading scorer in the Pac-12 with 16.8 ppg is the aforementioned. Jared Cunningham is close behind with 16.6.

The Ducks look dangerous this season even after losing a possible star in freshman Jabari Brown who defected after two games. The Ducks also lost Bruce Bannon, younger brother of former Husky Justin Dentmon, to a similar defection.

E.J. Singler, younger brother of Kyle Singler of Duke, is a less talented than his older sibling, but proves to be a similar star for his own team. Singler can be a tough match-up. At 6-6 210lb he has both the speed and strength to power through defenses. He has a reasonably solid shot, hitting 15 of his 44 3-point attempts. Singler is third in scoring with 12.2 points per game and leads the team with 5 rebounds per game. Where Singler really excels is at the free throw line where he is shooting 90% with 40 makes on 44 attempts.

Devoe Joseph has stepped up big time and despite playing in only 7 of Oregon's 13 games leads the team with 14.7 points per game. Joseph is second in assists with 3.3 per game and first in steals with 1.6. He does commit a few turnovers, averaging over 2 per game. He has a solid outside shot and has 16 makes on 37 attempts. Joseph is also solid at the free throw line where he is 17 of 21 on the year.  Joseph is very similar in build to Abdul Gaddy, but plays more of a shooting guard than a point guard.

Jonathan Loyd is a 5-8 160lb guard who drives the Oregon offense. Loyd leads the team in assists with 3.6 per game. He is a dangerous defense who uses his speed and athleticism, rather than size, to take on his man. He is second on the team in steals with 1.5 per game. Loyd is not a big time scorer, averaging only 5.7 points per game, but can be deadly when left open. He is 10 of 27 from deep. Loyd's free throw shooting leaves much to be desired, hitting only 62% of his attempts.

Garrett Sim is the third starting guard for the Ducks and is a damage dealer in himself. Sim does a bit of everything scoring 13 points, grabbing 3 boards, dealing out 3 assists, and picking up a steal every game. Sim is a smaller, more mobile guard coming in at 6-1 and 181lb. He leads the team in 3-point percentage with 49% on the season, making 23 of his 47 attempts. Sim is also an excellent free throw shooter, hitting 86% on the season and is 37 of 43 thus far.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

Oregon:

Jonathan Loyd 5-8 160lb
Garrett Sim 6-1 181lb
Devoe Joseph 6-4 180lb
E.J. Singler 6-6 210lb
Tony Woods 6-11 250lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

The Ducks don't have a bunch of size on their team, nor do they have a dominate rebounder. Their approach is definitely rebound by committee. The Huskies can utilize this by boxing out and using their superior rebounding skill set to contain the glass. Getting N'Diaye and Simmons active on the glass is the first step in controlling the offensive boards the Ducks can grab.

Free Throw Shooting:

The Ducks are a great free throw shooting team and keeping them off the line will help the Dawgs put the game in their favor. Last game against OSU, the Huskies finally looked solid at the FT line themselves, hitting 17 of 20 attempts. Tony Wroten was 5-7 and Wilcox was 6-6. Ross was 2-3. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple.

Backcourt Pressure:

While Ashaolu's performance against WSU was exceptional, it was not the norm for the Ducks who primarily rely on their guard play to win ball games. UW has great guards of its own and when they are on their game they are tough to beat. With a significant size advantage in the backcourt one could expect to see the Ducks try to force the ball into the paint, but I think we'll see Singler with the ball in his hands more often than not.

Final Thoughts:

The Huskies need to keep the momentum rolling as they take the road for matches against newcomers Colorado and Utah next week. The Ducks have been playing pretty well this season and look to be one of the better, more consistent teams in the Pac-12 and not one to be overlooked in the slightest. That being said, our team has been players and the chemistry is starting to develop as it should have from the start of the year. The great part about the win over OSU is that we did it while shooting 4-18 from deep. Our team has relied on outside shooting these past few season and have often lost when the shots weren't dropping. It's nice to see the Dawgs win one with superior inside game.

UW-92 UO-84

Oregon State University Game Preview

Sorry for the lack of coverage lately. Winter break is in full force meaning a lot of family time and going out with friends I don't see most of the year. Unfortunately, I really won't have a post game review for this game. Somehow the UW athletic department allowed themselves to schedule this game at the EXACT same time as the Alamo Bowl. My priority normally goes to basketball, but in this case I gotta watch the Bowl game. Hopefully I can link a few game reviews and get reader feedback from anyone who watches the game.

The Beavers are looking pretty solid this season after several disappointing finishes the past few seasons.  OSU comes into the conference opener with a 10-2 record and a streak of 4 straight wins, their latest coming against the Chicago State Cougars. The Beavers played a tight one against then #22 Vanderbilt, losing 64-62. Their other loss came against Idaho with a 74-60 score.

OSU is led by Jared Cunningham, without a doubt. Cunningham is a leading Pac-12 POY candidate and has had some monstrous games this season. In one week he had a 35 and 37 point game. He has been held to single digit scoring only twice this season, both games were OSU losses. The key to beating Oregon State? Shutting down Cunningham. He leads the team in scoring with 16.8 per game. Cunningham also snatches up around 4 rebounds per game, dishing out 3 assist and 2.4 turnovers per game. He also is one of the top defenders in the conference averaging a staggering 3 steals per game. The trick to shutting down Cunningham is forcing him to play outside the key. Cunningham is 11-46 on year outside the arc, while his inside presence can be absolutely vicious. He is a moderate free throw shooter, hitting a bit over 75% on the season.

OSU is a very balanced and seemingly talented team. Their youth last year has been turning into experience this season and is paying off in dividends. The Beavers receive significant contributions from 6 players outside of Cunningham, with each of those 6 scoring at least 5 points per game.

Cunningham is supported in the backcourt by "5-9" Ahmad Starks (I put it in quotations because he makes I.T. look tall and I.T. was measured by the NBA at 5-9) and 6-3 Roberto Nelson. Starks is third in scoring with 12.5 points per game and is shooting an impressive 39% from deep (18-28). Starks is also a perfect 18-18 from the charity stripe. Maybe he can give our guys a few pointers during the pregame warmups. Starks is ineffective inside, but give him room on the outside and his high arcing shot can do some serious damage. Starks has had three games with at least four 3-point makes.

Nelson comes in with a bit over 11 points per outing on top of 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2.5 turnovers a night. Nelson is another dangerous 3-point shooter who thrives on receiving the outlet pass after a drive by Cunningham. Nelson is shooting 44% behind the arc and has made 20 of his 46 attempts. Nelson is a scrappy guard who started the season slow with five straight games of 5 points or less. Since then, Nelson has scored at least 11 in every game and has two 20+ point games thus far. Nelson's higher scoring games follow solid outside shooting nights. Nelson tends to be the first man off the bench and receivers starter minutes.

The OSU frontcourt is decent in its own right. Devon Collier stands at 6-7 and is second in scoring for the Beavers. Collier brings in 14 points and 5 rebounds a game. He is a very solid shooter from short to mid-range, but struggles at the line. Collier is averaging around 7 FT attempts per game and knows how to draw a foul. This is not necessarily a bad thing due to the fact he has made only 58% of his attempts. In crunch time this could prove to be a huge factor.

Angus Brandt is a 6-10 237lb F-C who likes to play quite mobile, taking shots inside the paint and outside the arc. Brandt is a very respectable 9-18 from deep and is a definite threat when given space and time. The key to preventing Brandt from taking deep shots is tight, pressure defense. Brandt tends to be more comfortable from longer distances as shown by his sub-par rebounding stats that do not make sense give his size. Brandt is only averaging 2.8 rebounds per game. The majority of the Beaver rebounding comes from 6-7 280lb Joe Burton and  6-10 201lb Eric Moreland.

Joe Burton is a big, big body that uses size rather than speed to make his move. Burton averages about 6.4 rebounds per game and has only attempted 6 outside shots, making 3. He is a better player in the paint, making around 50% of his shots and hitting 70% at the line. As much as I like the 4 guard line-up, Burton's size combined with Brandt's height demand Aziz N'Diaye to reenter the starting 5. Expect Darnell Gant to cover Brandt, while N'Diaye bodies up against Burton.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

Oregon State:

Ahmad Starks 5-9 165lb
Jared Cunningham 6-4 194lb
Devon Collier 6-7 206lb
Joe Burton 6-8 280lb
Angus Brandt 6-10 237lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb (Don't be surprised if Tony Wroten replaces Gaddy in the starting 5)
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Aziz N'Diaye 7-0 260lb

Keys to the Game:

Rebounding:

OSU averages around 36 boards per game, while UW has been picking up around 41. With several strong 3-point shooters, OSU presents a challenge to the Husky team to collect every board they can. If the Dawgs allow OSU to gather up 10 or more offensive boards, the Huskies could very well find themselves looking at a big deficit due to outside shots raining in.

Defense:

This may seem broad and pretty obvious, but it is something the Huskies have struggled with, especially against teams with tough backcourts. OSU is in the top 10 for both points per game with 84 and assists with nearly 19 per night. The Beavers thrive on play making through passing rather than creating opportunities for themselves. If the Huskies can press early and hard, while preventing easy passes and wide open looks, their athleticism should help them prevail.

Ball Control:

This is another category that the Huskies have been on a roller coaster with, either dishing out a bunch of assists or turning it over every other possession. OSU averages 10 steals per game and force 20 turnovers per game. That is an extreme amount and is a testament to the brutal defense the Beavers put out on the court. Wroten will need to be very mindful of this and keep his risky passes to a minimum. To avoid turnovers the Huskies will need to run a fast offense with a lot of screens to lose their defender.

Final Thought:

This is a dangerous match-up for the Huskies. Hec-Ed has been kind to the Dawgs, but with a large majority of Husky fans opting to watch the Alamo Bowl, the home game feel likely won't be there. The Dawgs cannot let this get to them and need to bring the type of game that nearly beat Marquette and stayed half competitive with Duke. If the Dawgs can execute and run an efficient offense I see no reason why they cannot win this game. That being said, this will likely be a close and stressful game.

Final Score Prediction:

UW-84 OSU-80

South Dakota State Game Preview

South Dakota State comes in with a 9-4 record, 2-0 in conference. They lost to the University of North Dakota 89-70 on the road in their last outing. SDST played UND 5 days earlier and won 92-54. Not sure the last time I've heard of a team playing two games against a team in less than a week. Not sure I've seen a team win by 40 then lose by 20 to the same team a week later either. Not sure what to think of that...

The Jackrabbits of SDST are a high scoring bunch. Their season average is 77 points, but they have 4 games of 92 or more points, including a 97 point game in OT. The Jackrabbits held their opposition to 60 points or less in two of those games. This is a team capable on both ends of the court and average nearly 38 rebounds a game. Second chance points are huge and SDST averages a bit under 12 offensive boards per game. The Huskies need to be more consistent in allowing 10 or less offensive boards. Many 3-point shots come after grabbing an offensive board and against a high scoring team like SDST that is a very real and very dangerous possibility. 6 players have over 10 3-point makes on the year and Griffan Callahan leads the team with 38 makes on 73 attempts.

One of the most dangerous aspects of the SDST team is their ability to get to the line. The Jackrabbits average nearly 24 free throw attempts per game and make around 16 per game. UW will need to play tough defense by sealing the lanes to prevent the type of penetration that often leads to free throws. With the Dawgs possibly rolling out the four guard line-up this could be a lot easier as our guards are much more mobile than some of our big men. Desmond Simmons and Darnell Gant move pretty well, but Martin Breunig and Shawn Kemp are not very quick on defense at times.

Nate Wolters leads the team in scoring with 20.2 points per game, while also adding 5 rebounds and nearly 6 assists. Wolters is also picking up almost 2 steals per game and a bit over 2 turnovers per game. He is also a preseason pick for the Summit Player of the Year. Wolters is a 6-4 190lb guard who is extremely dangerous and I fully expect Terrence Ross or C.J. Wilcox to take on this duty after controlling UCSB's star pretty well in the second half. Wolters is an prolific scorer who had a career high of 36 and already a 32 point game on the year. Containing and controlling Wolters is a huge key to winning this game.

Griffan Callahan is another tough body who is averaging over 11 points per game as well as a team high 6.2 boards per game. His 39% 3-point shooting is also a team high and he looks to be a very dangerous player as well. Callahan has three 20+ point games this season, but is on a streak of five games of 11 or less. His season high of 25 included 7 of 11 from deep. Callahan is a streaking shooter who is definitely looking to break out of a resent slump. Callahan clocks in at 6-4 200lb, meaning C.J. Wilcox, or even Tony Wroten, will likely draw this assignment as he is a superb shot blocker on the perimeter and knows how to read a 3-point specialist like himself.

Brayden Carlson rounds out their starting guards and also stands at 6-4 and 186lb. Unlike Wolters and Callahan, Carlson is not a high scoring guard, averaging only 6 points and 3 boards per game. Carlson also dishes out 3 assists and 2 turnovers per game. He has a season high of 11 points, but is on a streak of two straight 3 point outings.

Chad White comes off the bench as a 6-6 198lb guard and is third in scoring at 9 points per game, grabbing around 4 boards as well.

Jordan Dykstra and Tony Fiegen start in the frontcourt for the Jackrabbits. They stand at 6-8 222lb and 6-7 215lb respectively and combine for 15 points and 8 boards. The tallest player on the roster stands at 6-9, which is great for UW who will be without 7-0 Aziz N'Diaye until conference play. The Jackrabbit offense starts with the backcourt and is filled out by the frontcourt, similar to how UW itself operates.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:

South Dakota:

Brayden Carlson 6-4 186lb
Nate Wolters 6-4 190lb
Griffan Callahan 6-4 200lb
Tony Fiegen 6-7 215lb
Jordan Dykstra 6-8 222lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Tony Wroten 6-5 205lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 225lb

Keys to the Game:

Free Throws:

Wolters is a fantastic free throw shooter and went 7-7 in his last game. He gets to the line and usually makes about 3/4 of them. The Huskies can be a great free throw shooting team depending on who gets to the line. I give Wroten a ton of credit for working hard to the rack to get foul shots, but he needs to convert them at a higher rate. Wilcox and Ross need to take a page out of our point guards' books and get to the line. Drive hard, create space with a cross over, fake pass, something...It's easy enough to pump fake a shot and then jump into contact. UW could have pulled away from UCSB in the final minutes, but four straight free throws misses by UW made it a 3 point game rather than a 7 point game.

Rebounding:

The biggest difference between SDST's two games against UND was the rebounding. In the win the Jackrabbits pulled down 42 boards, in the loss only 27. Limiting the 3-point shooting starts by preventing second chance opportunities. UW did a fairly solid job last game without N'Diaye on the court, getting three players with 7 or more boards, but they allowed 14 offensive boards and 40 total boards. The Huskies need to do a bit better screen their guys and boxing out to grab the defensive boards.

Ball Movement:

While it's pretty impressive that we scored 87 points with only 8 assists, I don't like how much our players are having to create on their own. This comes down to Romar and staff not drawing up solid plays. The movement and press options have improved, but are still a work in progress. Our players also need to understand how to give their shooters more opportunities. I love that Wroten is taking 20 shots and scoring 27 points, but when our two best shooters have less shots combined than Wroten, that is a bit strange and unacceptable. Drive and dish is a fantastic way to get some open looks on the perimeter as it collapses the defense.

Final Score Prediction:

UW-88 SDST-75

I think this is a good match-up for the Huskies. The Jackrabbits play an uptempo game with similarly sized players. I think our line-up is more well rounded and we have a bit better post players in Gant and Simmons. Our guard play should be superior as well, but the Jackrabbits are not exactly scrubs themselves. Controlling Wolters will be a big priority and in turn the Dawgs need to keep on eye on sharpshooters like Callahan. If the Huskies can come out quick and put some pressure on SDST, they will be doing themselves a huge favor. I'd like to see some aggressiveness from Ross and Wilcox to compliment Wroten and Gaddy. If all four can show they are legitimate threats in the paint, our outside shots will open up and we could have ourselves quite a show.
 

Go Dawgs!

University of California: Santa Barbara Game Preview

UCSB comes in with a 5-2 record, both losses coming in overtime. Their most recent game was a 65-61 win over USD. This game had a chance to turn into a loss when a few Santa Barbara fans threw tortillas on the court with .6 seconds remaining. Rather than assess the Gauchos with a technical, the refs opted to give the fans a formal warning and let play continue. A technical would have meant two free throws and possession of the ball. Making both free throws and sinking a quick shot could have given USD a 1 point win instead of a 4 point loss.

The Gauchos are a pretty solid offensive team averaging nearly 80 points and over 40 rebounds per game. They are also dishing out 16 assists per game and hitting around 46% from the field. Their defense is fairly proficient as well, allowing only 66 points and 33 boards per game. Santa Barbara is only forcing 12 turnovers per game, but are committing only 11 per game themselves. They have very solid point guards who know how to handle pressure situations and make the smart decision nearly every time. The Husky defense will need to bring the pressure hard to force the UCSB guards into uncomfortable situations.

Orlando Johnson is a superstar for the Gauchos. He leads the team in every major statistical category. He is averaging over 22 points, almost 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and over a steal per game. Johnson has been absolutely stellar thus far and the Huskies will need to work their defensive magic to control his impact on the game. At 6-5 205lb, Johnson is a bit of a mismatch for both guards and forwards. I suspect C.J. Wilcox or Terrence Ross will draw this assignment as they have the length and athleticism to stay in his face and play more preventative defense.

James Nunnally is another strong player for Santa Barbara. At 6-7 205lb, Nunnally is a bit small for a forward, but taller than your average guard. He is averaging 18 points and nearly 6 boards per game. He is a fantastic free throw shooter with 31 makes on 38 attempts. He also has decent range with 11 makes on 33 attempts from deep. I suspect Desmond Simmons will draw this assignment should he take Aziz N'Diaye's starting position. Simmons has the speed, mobility, and tenacity to play tight D on Nunnally anywhere on the court.

Jamie Serna rounds out the tough UCSB back court. He is listed at 6-9 and 235lb. He is the only other double digit scorer with 11.6 points per game. He is also third in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. Serna is not an outside shooter, but he does do a solid job of drawing fouls and has attempted 30 free throws on the year.

Santa Barbara also features 7-2 245lb Greg Somogyi from Hungary. Somogyi averages only 12 minutes, 3 points, and a bit under 4 rebounds per game.

Predicted Starting Line-Ups:


Santa Barbara:

Nate Garth 6-2 180lb
Christian Peterson 6-3 219lb
Orlando Johnson 6-5 205lb
James Nunnally 6-7 205lb
Jamie Serna 6-9 235lb

Washington:

Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 220lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb

Keys to the Game:

Defensive Pressure:

With a strong UCSB frontcourt and the absence of N'Diaye for the next few games, the Huskies will have their work cutout when it comes to containing the oppositions scoring in the paint. Simmons and Gant will need to step up their games and the Husky bench will need to rise to the occasion. This means Shawn Kemp and Marin Breunig need to shake off the freshman jitters and establish themselves as contributing members of the team on a consistent basis.

Rebounding:

The Gauchos know how to rebound and so do the Dawgs. After watching Duke take apart the Huskies on long rebounds, it'll be interesting to see how UW bounces back and if they can bang down low with Nunnally and Johnson. The Husky backcourt needs to go back to what they were doing to start the year by collapsing on the boards and picking up the mid range stuff outside the grasp of our frontcourt.

Free Throws:

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple. Ross and Wilcox are simply not doing enough to get to the line. So much so that Wilcox has not attempted a free throw in something like 5 games. Tony Wroten has more makes than anyone else on the team has attempted and his free throw shooting, while seemingly improving (thank god), is still terrible on the season. The UW backcourt, and even the frontcourt, can and need to do much more to draw shooting fouls. Play through the contact, go strong to the hoop, pull of some dribble moves to get the defender off balance and make it happen. Duke could have put us away if they had shot their free throws well and UW could have won at Nevada and Marquette if they had made their free throws. Maybe it's just me, but I feel as though this has been a problem throughout Romar's tenure. The Huskies have not been good free throw shooting teams, which to me reveals that Romar does not see the value of the free throw and does not devote nearly enough time to them in practice. The best drill a coach can implement to really enforce free throw ability is called "55-55" or some variation thereof. Simply put, this drill takes place at the end of practice. The team is split into two equal squads who then take turns attempted 1-and-1's until each player has shot. The losing team is the one with the lower score at the end and has to run a set of lines for each point they lost by. It simulates end game scenarios where players are exhausted, while also giving the players a bit of pressure and reason to perform extremely well. I'm glad to hear Wroten has been doing his part to improve his game, hopefully this will start to rub off on others and inspire them to put in a few extra hours dedicated to free throws and getting to the hoop.

Final Score Prediction:

UW-86 UCSB-76

This is the first of 5 straight home games for the Huskies who have sorely missed the confines of Hec-Ed. The terrible road woes continue to be an issue, but something that must be corrected immediately if they want to get back the NCAA. I think this is a winnable game for the Dawgs as they have a better backcourt and a decent enough frontcourt to content with the Gaucho big men. The key is playing a solid 40 minute rather than the 25 or 30 they have been the past few games. 4-4 is a bad place to be, especially considering they have lost the last 4 of 5. These guys know how to win, they just need to execute and not give up early. Wroten has been tough these past few games and is really proving how valuable he is to this team. Yes, the turnovers are maddening and against Duke he went from a point guard to a shooting guard since no one else was attacking the rim. He may very well continue to develop this role if Wilcox and Ross refuse to draw fouls. While I appreciate the nice inside shots Wilcox took and made against Duke, he stopped well short of contact that could have had minimal effect on his shot and drawn a foul as well. UW needs to do everything it can to get Johnson into foul trouble early. This means a fast, motion offense with plenty of screens and players running hard and tight off of those screens.