Washington Basketball: 2018-19 keys to success on the road against Arizona

2. Washington must clean up the defensive glass

A second key to a Washington road win will be winning the battle on the defensive boards and limiting Arizona’s second-chance opportunities. The reason the defensive glass isn’t important because Arizona has a big edge over the Huskies, they don’t. On the season, Arizona out rebounds the Huskies by less than two per game, 35.23 to 33.41 and on the defensive glass, that number shrinks to just over a rebound per game. T

he Wildcats aren’t an elite offensive rebounding team, their ten per game makes them average, nationally, but limiting their second-chance opportunities is important because the Wildcats are one of the poorest shooting teams in the country, and their 43% from the field is last in the Pac-12.

Winning the battle of the boards may be a tough task for Washington as both teams are so close when it comes to the numbers. Both teams each have one player that grabs more than six rebounds per game. Dickerson grabs 6.8 per game for Washington and Duke transfer Chase Jeter leads Arizona in rebounding at 7.3 per game.

Even though Arizona is a mid-pack rebounding team nationally, they do grab over 12 offensive rebounds per game in league play, which is the best in the conference, so for Washington, giving a poor shooting team one shot per possession will be key to keeping Arizona at arm’s length.