Stanford @ Washington preview
Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion
Last Meeting ( Jan 7, 2021 ) Washington 75, Stanford 91
Stanford and Washington will attempt to build on impressive wins when they meet in a Pac-12 matchup in Seattle on Thursday night.
The game is a rematch of a 91-75 Stanford victory in January at a point when the Cardinal (13-8, 9-6) were playing their home games at a neutral site in Santa Cruz, Calif.
Freshman standout Ziaire Williams had his first collegiate triple-double in that win with 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. However, the former Los Angeles-area prep star played just three more times before missing almost an entire month for COVID-19 reasons.
He hasn't been much of a factor since his return, scoring only seven points in a home loss to Colorado last Thursday and six in a win over Utah two days later.
Oscar da Silva has been Stanford's driving force as the club waits for Williams to regain his top form. The senior had 24, 23 and 22 points in consecutive games before going for 13 in the Utah win.
The Cardinal can assure themselves of a second consecutive .500 or better season in the Pac-12 with a win over the Huskies. Stanford still has potential standings-changing conference games remaining against Southern California and Oregon next week.
"We understand this last stretch run is going to be very, very challenging," Stanford coach Jerod Haase said, "but we're excited to give it a try."
Washington (4-16, 3-12) has lost five of six, but that one win came in its most recent outing, a 65-63 triumph at Washington State on Monday.
Marcus Tsohonis hit a short-range floater with 2.4 seconds remaining to provide the margin of victory and cap his 29-point scoring performance.
Washington has played two impressive games in a row. The Huskies took UCLA to the final horn before coming up just short, 64-61 at home last Saturday.
Tsohonis had 22 points and Quade Green 14 in the narrow miss against the Bruins. They went for 24 and 15 points, respectively, in the earlier loss to Stanford.
"Marcus is a heckuva player," Washington coach Mike Hopkins said. "He's scoring at a very good rate. He has the ability to get a lot of assists, too."
--Field Level Media