Washington Basketball: Huskies’ zone defense too much for Utah State
By Neil Adler
The Washington Basketball squad relied on its stifling defense to advance in the NCAA Tournament, defeating Utah State by 17 points.
The Washington basketball team, in the Big Dance for the first time since 2011, came into its duel against Utah State as a slight underdog, despite the fact that the Huskies captured the Pac-12 Conference regular-season crown. Washington, which slumped down the stretch prior to March Madness commencing, also faced a high-flying Aggies unit that manufactures approximately 80 points per contest.
None of that seemed to matter. The Huskies (27-8), buoyed by a suffocating zone defense implemented by its second-year head coach, Mike Hopkins, withstood a flurry of rallies by Utah State (28-7) and pulled away late in the second half for a 78-61 victory on Friday night in the NCAA tourney’s round of 64 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Washington, the No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region, forced the eighth-seeded Aggies into a whopping 21 turnovers, with Utah State shooting merely 35 percent from the field, as well as 35 percent from beyond the arc. The Aggies’ loss snapped their 10-affair success streak, and Utah State had won 17 of its past 18 encounters, including the recent Mountain West Conference Tournament.
One of the main keys for the Huskies to prevail centered on them containing Aggies junior guard Sam Merrill, who produces about 21 points every 40 minutes. Versus Washington, Merrill didn’t connect on a field goal until roughly 14 minutes remained in the game. He finished with 10 points on just 2-of-9 shooting.
After intermission, the Huskies created a bit of separation, jumping out to a 13-point lead. But Utah State roared back, cutting the deficit to a single point with fewer than 10 minutes left. Washington then answered with consecutive 3-pointers to regain momentum, and the Huskies didn’t get seriously threatened again, with Hopkins notching his inaugural Big Dance triumph at Washington.
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The defensive-minded Huskies, throughout this campaign, have often struggled to score, and I previously opined that Washington would need to generate a minimum of 75 points to conquer the Aggies. The Huskies, though, fared even better, hitting on 49 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from long-range, while also grabbing 10 steals and holding Utah State to nearly 19 points below its 2018-19 average. In summation, this proved a tremendous effort that propels Washington into the round of 32.