Washington vs Arizona State: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Joey Loose
Washington and Arizona State meet on Sunday night perhaps as the two teams most capable of winning the Pac-12; will the Huskies stay perfect in league play or can the Sun Devils win this big game at home?
TV schedule: Saturday, February 9, 10:00 pm ET. ESPN
Arena: Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe, Arizona
When Mike Hopkins left Syracuse to take the head coaching job at Washington (19-4), few expected he’d have such a quick effect on the program. The Huskies are perfect in Pac-12 play and have won 12 straight games overall. On Thursday, they went to Arizona and beat the team that seems to win this league every year; perhaps a changing of the guard taking place.
There are a number of players responsible for the Huskies’ success, but we’ll focus on just a couple of them. Sophomore guard Jaylen Nowell (16.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) paces the team in scoring and can hit shots from outside on a consistent basis. He’s been this team’s top scorer and/or rebounder in half of their Pac-12 games. Senior forward Noah Dickerson (12.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) can be a force on the glass while senior guard David Crisp (12.2 ppg) led the Huskies with 17 points in that win at Arizona.
Washington sits at 32nd in KenPom, the only Pac-12 team in this rating’s top 50. Even though it’s been an awful year for the league, the Huskies aren’t apologizing, taking complete control and a four game lead in the conference. They forced turnovers and play solid interior defense, but defensive rebounding has been a major struggle for this team; ranked as one of the worst teams in the nation. That being said, they’re still consistently winning, unlike the rest of the Pac-12.
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Across the court, this Arizona State (15-7) team has been considerably inconsistent this season. They built a Tournament resume with wins over Kansas and Mississippi State, but have been awful at times. Dropping games to Vanderbilt, Princeton and Washington State on Thursday were all bad losses. Bobby Hurley’s team has already proven that they can play with just about anybody; they just have a hard time actually doing it, and find themselves well behind Washington in the Pac-12 race.
The Sun Devils offense comes from a number of sources, though freshman guard Luguentz Dort (16.2 ppg) leads the way, having just scored 22 in that bad loss to WSU. In a win over rival Arizona last week, sophomore guard Remy Martin (13.1 ppg) put up 31 points and he’s certainly someone who can catch fire. Down low, senior forward Zylan Cheatham (11.6 ppg, 11.1 rpg) racks up the rebounds while struggling with turnovers at times.
Arizona State has fallen to 71st in KenPom and the metrics show that an at-large bid is much farther from their grasp than expected a few months earlier. That being said, this is a top 40 rebounding team that makes their free throws (11th in free throw efficiency). There’s still hope for their season even after their WSU clunker.
For the Huskies, playing smart, clean basketball will put them in a great position to pull off another road win. Their last seven opponents have been under 70 points and they’ll be in a great position to win if they can make that eight games. For the Sun Devils, they need the defense to show up, because it clearly didn’t against the Cougars. They need a big game from Dort or Martin as well as winning the rebounding battle.
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Picking against this Huskies team seems foolish after what they’ve done in conference play. That being said, Hurley should have this team motivated and this game is the best chance for Washington to drop one in league play. Expect improved defense from both teams, and the Sun Devils to make just enough shots to win at home.