Washington Huskies (6-3)--84
Portland St. Vikings (7-2)--83
The Huskies looked solid tonight. A big hiccup at the end, but the Dawgs showed that they know what it takes to win a game. The absence of Jon Brockman did not make a difference as several players stepped into their respective roles to give the Huskies another win.
The storyline of the game is going to be Matthew Bryan-Amaning, but one player that I thought played a bigger impact was Quincy Pondexter. He dominated in the post and was scoring at will throughout this game. Pondexter scored 21 points and was an impressive 10-18 from the field. He also pulled down 6 offensive boards.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning stepped up in the absence of Brockman and had the best game of his young Husky career. He scored a game high 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. He also had 2 steals and 1 blocked shot. It's also important not to forget Justin Dentmon who quietly collected 20 points.
On the Portland St. side, they had a few offensive spurts in the 1st half, but Washington's defense forced a lot of turnovers (13 total). Phil Nelson played like complete crap, air balling a lot of his shots, but then rallied his team back within 3 with 2 minutes left in the game, scoring 13 points.
I've just come to the realization that the Husky forward depth is scary. Armed with the top rebounder in the country in Brockman, the Huskies also have Darnell Gant, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Joe Wolfinger, and Artem Wallace.
As a complete unit, it finally seems that every Husky knows what their role is. This is a change from the past couple years where players often seemed confused on what their contributions would be to the team. The offense is looking like it will be based on the play of Isaiah Thomas and Justin Dentmon. This is important, because now Brockman won't have to carry the whole offensive load on his shoulders.
On the defensive end, Bryan-Amaning is a tall and strong body that has the capability to block a lot of shots. Along with Amaning and Brockman in the front-court, the quickness of Overton, Dentmon, and Thomas all have helped the Huskies force a lot of steals and create havoc for opposing backcourts.
The fact that Portland St. almost came back to tie the game is a huge concern for the Huskies. The coaching staff did not do an adequete enough job of keeping the team concentrated after they reached their 17 point lead. The Huskies will need to be able to dominate games throughout and keep a high level of play until the buzzer sounds at the end of the second half if they want to compete in the Pac-10.
Some other concerns still include free throws, in which the Huskies converted only 57%. The Huskies turned the ball over 16 times, which isn't bad, but that number still needs to drop.
Box Score
Just enter your email below:
