Washington @ Washington St. preview
Friel Court at Beasley Coliseum
Last Meeting ( Feb 16, 2019 ) Washington 72, Washington St. 70
More than bragging rights are on the line Sunday night in the first installment of the basketball Apple Cup. Reeling Washington desperately needs a win as it lugs a five-game losing streak across the state to visit rival Washington State.
Picked to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason poll, the Huskies find themselves all alone in the basement just past the midway mark of the conference season. Things started well enough with a split of its opening Pac-12 homestand in early January, but starting point guard Quade Green, averaging 11.6 points and 5.3 assists per game, was then hit with an academic suspension immediately after. Seven losses in its ensuing eight games have followed, and Washington now finds itself looking up at the rest of the conference with February in full swing. Washington State is only a couple games ahead in a tie for ninth place in the Pac-12 entering the weekend, but the Cougars can take confidence in playing on their home floor, where they’re 11-3 this season, including a 72-61 win over No. 14 Oregon three weeks ago.
TIME: 6 p.m. ET. TV: ESPNU
ABOUT WASHINGTON (12-11, 2-8 Pac-12): Green’s absence is evident on the stat sheet as the Huskies rank last in the Pac-12 in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.71) and ninth in scoring offense (65.7 points per game) during conference play. Six of Washington’s eight Pac-12 losses have come by four or fewer points, but that’s done little to ease the frustration following the Huskies’ first-place Pac-12 regular-season finish (15-3) a season ago. Freshman standout Isaiah Stewart, a 6-9, 250-pound forward, is averaging a team-best 17.7 points and 8.8 rebounds and is joined in double figures by guards Nahziah Carter (12.5 points) and Jaden McDaniels (12.2).
ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (13-10, 4-6): Sophomore forward CJ Elleby leads the team in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (7.2), with his points-per-game average ranking fourth in the conference. Guard Isaac Bonton (14.5 points, team-leading 4.0 assists) is the only other player averaging double figures for the Cougars, who are averaging an even 66 points per conference contest. Defense and rebounding, though, have been problem areas for Washington State, which ranks last in conference-play field-goal percentage defense (48.6) and rebounding margin (minus-6.0).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Washington has won four straight in the 289-game series following 85-67 (home) and 72-70 (road) victories a season ago.
2. Over the last two games, Stewart is 6-of-20 from the field.
3. Bonton has scored in double figures in 12 straight games, a streak that started two games before the Cougars entered Pac-12 play.
PREDICTION: Washington State 70, Washington 68