Arizona vs. Washington: Game preview, TV schedule, prediction
Washington defeated Arizona State to get themselves back in the bubble picture. Can they defeat Arizona now to really have a chance?
TV schedule: Saturday, February 3, 10:30 p.m. ET. PAC-12 Network
Arena: Alaska Airlines Airline in Seattle, Washington
Recently, Pac-12 basketball has been struggling to get a similar number of bids to the NCAA tournament like the Big 12 and the ACC have. This season is no different, with Busting Brackets’ latest Bracketology projections giving the league just three bids.
One of them isn’t Washington, but the team seems intent on changing that. The Huskies are riding a three-game winning streak, with the latest win coming at home over No. 25 Arizona State. Noah Dickerson had his best performance maybe in his career in that game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Jaylen Nowell had 12 points and nine boards as well while Matisse Thybulle continues to make his case for conference Defensive Player of the Year with six steals and a pair of blocks.
Their next matchup is against No. 9 Arizona, who, after the disastrous Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, has rebounded nicely to possibly get a protected seed.
The offense for the Wildcats is playing at their best, coming off a 100-72 drubbing at Washington State. DeAndre Ayton had 25 points and 11 rebounds and Allonzo Trier had 24 points on 8/9 shooting. Rawle Atkins had 16 points off the bench on 6/8 shooting. As a team, Arizona shot 61% for the game.
The Huskies don’t have many chances left to get a signature win and could use Arizona on the program’s resume to go along with the huge non-conference win over Kansas.
Next: Three potential fatal flaws for Arizona basketball
When it comes to the perimeter players, Washington has the players to deal with Arizona’s. The problem will come in the post, as Dickerson and Sam Timmins have no shot at guarding Ayton by themselves. This is where the athletic, yet small Huskies will get exposed.
Prediction: Arizona 88 -Washington 73