Busting Brackets
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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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TUCSON, AZ – JANUARY 29: Kadeem Allen #5 of the Arizona Wildcats collides into Noah Dickerson #15 of the Washington Huskies as he drives to the basket during the first half of the college basketball game at McKale Center on January 29, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ – JANUARY 29: Kadeem Allen #5 of the Arizona Wildcats collides into Noah Dickerson #15 of the Washington Huskies as he drives to the basket during the first half of the college basketball game at McKale Center on January 29, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

1. Washington must keep Baylor out of the lane and off the glass

The first key to a Huskies’ victory, and perhaps the biggest one comes at the defensive end, and more specifically in the paint. Washington must be competent on the defensive glass and use their length to alter and reject shots at the rim. Being a Jim Boeheim disciple at Syracuse, Hopkins deploys a zone defense almost exclusively, and because of that, his team ranked near the bottom (341st) in defensive rebounds per game last season with 21.94.

Now a large reason why is because of that zone, more often than not it puts a player in a less prime rebounding position relative to their opponents. This could be a major problem against Baylor, a team that ranked 14th in the country at over 13 offensive rebounds per game and gets 6-10 junior Tristan Clark back from injury this season.

One way Washington can offset their rebounding disadvantage is to use their affinity of blocking shots to keep the Bears out of the lane. Last season the Huskies ranked second nationally to Duke in total blocked shots (207) and blocks per game (5.8), and I’m pretty sure some guy name Zion was a big reason why Washington didn’t lead the country in both categories. If Washington is going to have trouble rebounding against Baylor, then they better keep them out of the lane if they want to win this game.

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