Initial (Over)Reactions

It is games like these that make me wonder “why is Hec Ed so special?” Games like this also make me think, “Wow, the Pac-12 is really bad. How is ASU not in last place?” The Dawgs ran Arizona State out of the building tonight, lead by the three-headed monster of C.J. Wilcox, Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten. The dynamic trio is at full force with a healthy Wilcox, as they combined for 45 points on just 35 shots.

The Huskies left ASU with no hope after the first twenty minutes, finishing the half on a 17-4 run to go up 44-26. The Sun Devils did themselves no favors in the first half, as UW outscored them on points off turnovers 18-4 as ASU had 12 turnovers.

We should all forget the last eleven minutes of the second half, as it was a joke. The Huskies inexcusably took their foot off the gas and allowed Arizona State to continuously chip away at the lead and only lose by single digits. The defense in the second half was lazy enough to allow an ASU team that averages barely over 60 points a game, to put up 43 in a single half.

MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

The Dawgs return to the friendly confines of Alaska Airlines Arena to face the Arizona schools this week. First up, Arizona State. The Sun Devils are essentially the same team that the Huskies faced two and a half weeks ago, with one exception: Trent Lockett is back. UW is looking to stay tied with California at the top of the standings, as the Bears take on a strong Oregon team tonight.

The Basics: 

8:00 p.m. PST. Alaska Airlines Arena. ROOT.

Washington Huskies (17-8; 10-3)       Arizona State Sun Devils (8-17; 4-9)

MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

                                                                                      Photo Credit: Don Ryan/AP



Initial (Over)Reactions

That was quite possibly the strangest forty minutes of basketball I have ever seen. Basketball fans should know that there is a given “flow” in just about every game. There was zero flow in Corvallis today. From the 42 fouls called, a combined 61 free throws, a six-minute break in the action because someone spilled their Dippin’ Dots and Oregon State not calling a timeout but still going to the bench for a huddle. There is no way to craft a general summary of this game, so I’ll say this: UW picked up a huge road win against Oregon State, 75-72.

The Dawgs continued their sloppy offense from Thursday night, and essentially the entire season, having zero structure with their ball movement in the first half. The offense consisted of one off the ball screen at a time and minimal movement otherwise. This was evidenced by UW shooting just 12-45 from the field in the first half. Washington resorted to Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross breaking down defenders as a result of the offensive incapability. Wroten and Ross combined to shoot 6-25 in the opening twenty minutes. It was a minor miracle that it was a tie game at halftime.

The second half consisted of UW crashing the boards (and by UW I mean Terrence Ross) and getting fouled. The Dawgs shot 28 free throws in the second half, going 20-28. Washington had multiple moments in the second half where they seemed ready to put the game out of reach, but allowed Oregon State to stay in it. UW went up 51-46 following a tip-in by Terrence Ross and three by C.J. Wilcox, however Oregon State answered. Ross’ squad also built a 56-50 lead before the Beavers answered with a 6-0 run. That’s the kind of game it was, completely erratic and unpredictable.

Initial (Over)Reactions

USC is bad. Really bad. The entire season I have been trying to process the fact that the Pac-12 sucks. I did not truly come to that conclusion until last night. The Trojans are easily the worst team in the big six conferences this season and that is no longer debatable.

As for the game itself, Washington played average, inconsistent basketball and won by 28. Tony Wroten “led” the way for the Dawgs with 13 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds. Except nobody actually led Washington. The game as a whole was a cluster of talent against a cluster of slower moving, less competent basketball players.

The Huskies did not play a good game, quite frankly they played how they did against UCLA, except UW destroyed USC on the boards. That was the only difference besides the presence of Brendan Sherrer. The Dawgpack superstar picked up the offensive burdens and finished with an assist and a rebound in three minutes of play.

WOOFS AND WHIMPERS AFTER THE JUMP!

The Huskies try to hold on to their first-place status tonight as they face the struggling Trojans of USC. The Trojans fought hard to sneak past Utah for the “worst team in the conference” title, coming into this game having lost 10 of 11 and sitting at 1-9 in conference play. Washington has won seven of eight and look to cap off their second-to-last home stand of the year with a win.

The Basics:

8 p.m. PST. ROOT. Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington Huskies (15-7; 8-2)               USC Trojans (6-17; 1-9)

*Gametime decision--if Wroten can't go, expect C.J. Wilcox

MORE AFTER THE JUMP! no comments

Darnell Gant puts the Dawgs on top//Elaine Thompson, Associated Press

Initial (Over)Reactions

First place! The Washington Huskies, who all NCAA analysts have decided to ignore, are in first place! Let us all give a large “THANKS!” to Arizona for knocking off Cal 78-74. UW now sits alone atop the Pac-12 standings at 8-2.

On another note, UCLA simply does not like to win in Seattle, as that makes eight in a row for the Dawgs against the Bruins in the Emerald City. UCLA went up 10 with seven minutes remaining in the second half before ESPN flashed a stat that said, “UCLA has lost previous seven games in Seattle”. Quite the jinx from ESPN.

UW answered by taking out an injured Tony Wroten and force-feeding the ball to Terrence Ross. T-Raw put the Huskies on his back, scoring 10 of UW’s final 12 points and playing up to his potential that everyone in Husky Nation has been waiting for.  He needs the ball more. Him not being aggressive should not be an excuse. Romar, make Ross shoot the ball.

Sadly, the last seven minutes were the lone bright spot for the Huskies. UCLA outplayed Washington for the first 33 minutes before Ross’ explosion. Josh Smith continued to only play good basketball against the Dawgs and manhandled any body UW through at him. Smith finished with 24 points (a career high) and nine rebounds. UCLA’s inability to feed their 300-pound center late cost them the game, as Smith finished with just three points in the last 12 minutes. WOOFS AND WHIMPERS AFTER THE JUMP! no comments

The Huskies receive another chance to prove to the nation that they are an NCAA Tournament caliber team as ESPN covers tonight's game against UCLA. The Dawgs are coming off of two huge road wins in Arizona to vault them into a first place tie with California atop the Pac-12 standings. UCLA attempted to salvage a lost season by beating up on both Utah and Colorado at home last week.

The Basics:

6 p.m. PST. ESPN. Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington Huskies (14-7; 7-2)          UCLA Bruins (12-9; 5-4)

Breaking Down The Bruins

If you are reading this post, I will go ahead and assume you’ve heard of the Bruins struggles this season. In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s the gist: Reeves Nelson was on the cover of Sports Illustrated this year to showcase the highly touted Bruins (ranked in the top 20 by SI, ha!). Fast-forward to today. Reeves Nelson has been dismissed from the Bruins (and also from the Lithuanian team he joined after UCLA dumped him) and the Bruins are a measly 12-9 and in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference. MORE AFTER THE JUMP! no comments

You might remember the last nationally televised meeting between these teams.

Ah, ESPN College Gameday.

As you read this, hundreds of twenty-somethings are in line outside the McKale Center, waiting for a chance to get their “Hi Mom! Look, I’m Standing Behind Jay Bilas And Acting Ridiculous!” moment on national television. (Maybe not hundreds, but there are probably at least like 15. Swear.)

Bilas, Rece Davis, Digger Phelps and Hubert Davis will be in central Tucson to drool over Austin Seferian-Jenkins’ versatility, caution about Tony Wroten’s potential, discuss Terrence Ross’ Jekyll-and-Hyde second-half splits and share a laugh about Aziz N’Diaye’s Twitter account. (Which you should be following, by the way.) THERE’S A WHOLE BUNCH MORE AFTER THE JUMP.

Initial (Over)Reactions

The Huskies won a conference game on the road! Reading that sentence probably had your heart beating faster than watching the game tonight. UW played its most mundane game of the season en route to a disappointing 60-54 win against the host Sun Devils. The Dawgs were able to pull away by opening the second half on a 13-1 run that gave them a 10-point lead. As boring as the game was, there are multiple things that can be taken away from tonight’s victory that moved the Dawgs into a first place tie in Pac-12 play.

Tony Wroten is the most important player on the Huskies. There is no longer any debate. Wroten led the way for the Dawgs tonight with 22 points on 9-12 shooting. All of the freshman phenom’s buckets came in the paint, including a posterizing dunk that will surely land him on SportsCenter.

UW was aided by an Arizona State team that truly has no offense without Trent Lockett. ASU was consistently unable to create any offense against the Dawgs’ pressure defense and showed why they rank third-to-last in the conference in scoring.

WOOFS and WIMPERS after the jump!

Coming off a feel-good win over Stanford, the Washington Huskies go on the road tonight to face a 6-13 Arizona State squad reeling from losses and roster attrition. The Sun Devils will likely be without their top two scorers: sophomore guard Keala King was dismissed from the team two weeks ago and junior guard Trent Lockett is doubtful for tonight’s game with a lingering ankle injury.

With a win tonight, the Huskies move themselves into a first-place tie with California and Oregon. Their momentum from last Saturday and the quality of tonight’s opponent provide an ideal circumstance to improve their 1-5 road record—in other words, if they can’t get it done tonight, well… it’ll be an ominous predictor of the rest of the season. The Huskies play at Alaska Airlines Arena only four more times this year.

The Basics:

5:30 p.m. PST. Wells Fargo Arena. ROOT Sports. 950 KJR.

Washington Huskies (12-7; 5-2)     Arizona State Sun Devils (6-13; 2-5)

ANALYSIS AND A PICK AFTER THE JUMP!