Arizona @ Washington preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 7, 2019 ) Washington 67, Arizona 60

Arizona looks to bounce back from a crushing loss to in-state rival Arizona State when it starts a weekend trip to the Pacific Northwest at Washington on Thursday. The Wildcats, who blew a 22-point first-half lead in the 66-65 loss to the Sun Devils on Saturday, are still searching for their first road win of the season.

The loss in Tempe, Ariz., dropped Arizona to 0-4 on the road heading into the game in Seattle where the Huskies, who are tied with Oregon State for last place in the Pac-12, are 9-3 this season with a late Saturday afternoon contest at eighth-place Washington State, which is 10-2 at home, on deck. "You can paint a bad picture," Arizona coach Sean Miller told tucson.com. "We're going to the Pacific Northwest. We haven't won on the road, and we've got two more. I don't have anything positive to say to that." The Wildcats have struggled offensively in their road losses at No. 1 Baylor, Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State, averaging 13 fewer points per game along with declines in shooting, rebounding and assists/turnover stats. Next up is defending regular-season champion Washington which faces a make-it-or-break-it weekend to its season after dropping three straight games and five of its last six including a 76-62 loss at Colorado last Saturday.

TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN2.

ABOUT ARIZONA (13-6, 3-3 Pac-12): The Wildcats led 37-15 with 5:35 left in the first half at Arizona State after a Dylan Smith 3-pointer but went in the tank after that, shooting just 28 percent (7-of-25) from the field in the second half, including 0-for-8 from 3-point range, as the Sun Devils pulled it out on a Alonzo Verge Jr. layup with 10.9 seconds remaining. The blown 22-point lead was the largest by the Wildcats in a loss since at least the 2001-02 season which according to tucson.com is as far back as the blown-lead records go back. Freshman forward Zeke Nnaji, who leads the team in scoring (16.9 points per game) and rebounding (8.7), had 21 points and 10 boards in Saturday's loss but second-leading scorer Nico Mannion (14.1), who also leads the team in assists (5.8), finished with three turnovers and no assists while scoring 16 points.

ABOUT WASHINGTON (12-9, 2-6): The Huskies looked like legitimate conference contenders after blowing out USC, 72-40, on Jan. 5 but then lost starting point guard Quade Green (11.6 points, 5.3 assists, 44.7 3-point shooting), a transfer from Kentucky, to academics and have won just once in six games since. Isaiah Stewart, a 6-9, 250-pound freshman, leads the team in scoring (18.9), rebounding (8.9) and blocks (2.2) while showing why he's considered a high NBA lottery pick next summer, but 6-9 freshman forward Jaden McDaniels, a McDonald's All-American who is second in scoring (12.6) and rebounding (6.1), was demoted to the bench at Colorado and had just two points and one rebound in nine minutes of action. "Emotions are all over the place," freshman guard RaeQuan Battle told the Seattle Times afterward.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Stewart recorded his eighth 20-point game of the season in the loss at Colorado, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go with eight rebounds and four blocks.

2. Washington, which led the nation in blocks last season, is third this season with an average of 6.6 per game.

3. Arizona leads the Pac-12 in scoring offense (80.74), assists (16.47) and scoring margin (plus-15.0).

PREDICTION: Arizona 65, Washington 61