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Washington Basketball: 3 keys to beating Baylor in 2019-20

By Jason Burgess

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Head coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies reacts as they take on the Utah State Aggies during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Head coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies reacts as they take on the Utah State Aggies during the first half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 24: Head coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies speaks with Nahziah Carter #11 after a play against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OHIO – MARCH 24: Head coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies speaks with Nahziah Carter #11 after a play against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game in the Second Round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Washington Basketball heads to Alaska to take on the nationally-ranked Baylor Bears. Here are three keys to victory for the defending Pac-12 champs.

One of the better games during the first week of the season takes place on Friday when reigning Pac-12 champ Washington Basketball (0-0) takes on what could be the best Baylor (1-0) Bear team head coach Scott Drew has had since he arrived in Waco and is coming off a season-opening, 105-61 win over Central Arkansas, as a part of the Armed Forces Classic. Both teams have eyes on an NCAA Tournament run, and what is better than an early-season test for both teams?

Mike Hopkins enters his third season as the head man at Washington, last year his team won the Pac-12 regular-season title by three games, and after losing to Oregon in the conference tournament final, they were awarded a No. 9 seed in the Big Dance. They would go on to knock off upstart Utah State before falling to North Carolina in the second round.

This edition of the Huskies will be a bit different than the one that left the floor after that loss, as only one of their top six scorers return, with the lone wolf being junior Nahziah Carter averaged eight points per game last season. As a result, the Huskies roster has five redshirt freshmen and four true freshmen, led by forwards Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart.

With the game against Baylor being one of only two games against power-five schools before conference play (they do have a matchup with Gonzaga as well), doing well against the Bears will be important as the Huskies move forward. In order to come away with a neutral site win over Baylor, here are some keys for Washington.

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