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UW To Host Sharp Shooting Wyoming On Thursday (Nov 18)
ChillyDawg
Member Posts: 1,469
Wyoming MBB https://gowyo.com/sports/mens-basketball
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/uw-mens-basketball-team-faces-tough-early-season-test-in-sharpshooting-wyoming/
After a bunch of geographically-oriented opponents presented harder-than-expected challenges, the Washington men’s basketball team faces what figures to be its toughest test at 8 p.m. Thursday against Wyoming to conclude a four-game homestand.
The Cowboys (2-0) have scored 85 points in each of their first two games, including a 28-point win over Detroit Mercy and a 30-point drubbing against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
“Wyoming is a really good team,” said UW coach Mike Hopkins, who noted Wyoming has converted 17 of 42 three-pointers this season. “They’re a better offensive team than (the teams we’ve faced). They score. They shoot a lot of threes. They take 25 threes a game. It’s going to be a different type of game plan.”
Washington (2-1) has allowed teams to connect on 18 of 53 three-pointers (34%), which appears to be a cause for concern considering UW’s 2-3 defense is predicated on shutting down opponents’ perimeter attack.
But dig a little deeper and the Huskies have made measurable progress on the defensive end.
In a season-opening 71-64 loss to Northern Illinois, UW surrendered 12 of 23 three-pointers, including six to NIU sharpshooter Trendon Hankerson, who finished with 28 points.
But in the past two games, UW opponents are 6 of 30 from downtown.
Washington held Northern Arizona to 4 of 12 from long range in a 73-62 win while Texas Southern connected on just 2 of 18 from deep in a 72-65 UW win on Monday.
Spurred by its full-court press, the Huskies rank first in the Pac-12 with 30 steals while four UW players are among the top 14 in the conference in thefts. Daejon Davis and PJ Fuller are co-leaders with seven steals, Terrell Brown Jr. is tied for fourth with five while Jamal Bey is tied for seventh with four.
To be sure, the Huskies have gradually improved defensively, but a team that’s incorporating seven newcomers and three new starters is still struggling on the offensive end where they rank last in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage (33.9%) and three-point percentage (26.4%).
According to KenPom, UW is ranks 333rd nationally while shooting 33.3% on shots inside the arc.
“The first game, I felt a little bit like we were stressed,” Hopkins said. “Like everybody wanted to do great and that’s when you shoot poorly. Everybody was trying to do it themselves. It’s like having a new dance partner. You got to gain confidence and rhythm with each other.
“Game 2 we only had one day of prep, so a little bit more bench. We played some pretty good defense. The small lineup came in and did what they did. We made foul shots at the end. And (Monday’s) game, I felt like our offense got a lot better. We shared it. We spaced it. We made the extra pass. And that’s how we’re going to win.”
It’s too early to make definitive statements about Washington, which finished 5-21 last season and 11th in the Pac-12 at 4-16.
Still, Brown has been an early standout.
The senior guard who transferred from Arizona ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.7 points) and fourth in assists (4.3).
Hopkins likened Brown to former Husky star Jaylen Nowell, the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2019 — capable of taking over games at the end with his ability to score, draw fouls and make plays for teammates.
“He’s pretty darn good,” he said. “He can score. He can get a bucket. … He can make the right play. He’s a helluva player. Daejon makes great plays at the end of the shot clock. And when you have two guys that are really good ball handlers and decision makers, you got a chance.”
With the game on the line Monday, the Huskies gave the ball to Brown, who responded with a 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He also had all nine of UW’s assists.
“I’m fine with it, but whoever has got it going is going to end the game for us,” Brown said when asked if he’s comfortable being UW’s closer. “If Daejon has it going, I have no issue giving him the ball. PJ, Emmitt (Matthews Jr.), Langston (Wilson), Jamal or whoever. They can all score. … But I’m comfortable with it.”
“I’m comfortable with him too,” Davis said smiling.
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/uw-mens-basketball-team-faces-tough-early-season-test-in-sharpshooting-wyoming/
After a bunch of geographically-oriented opponents presented harder-than-expected challenges, the Washington men’s basketball team faces what figures to be its toughest test at 8 p.m. Thursday against Wyoming to conclude a four-game homestand.
The Cowboys (2-0) have scored 85 points in each of their first two games, including a 28-point win over Detroit Mercy and a 30-point drubbing against Arkansas Pine-Bluff.
“Wyoming is a really good team,” said UW coach Mike Hopkins, who noted Wyoming has converted 17 of 42 three-pointers this season. “They’re a better offensive team than (the teams we’ve faced). They score. They shoot a lot of threes. They take 25 threes a game. It’s going to be a different type of game plan.”
Washington (2-1) has allowed teams to connect on 18 of 53 three-pointers (34%), which appears to be a cause for concern considering UW’s 2-3 defense is predicated on shutting down opponents’ perimeter attack.
But dig a little deeper and the Huskies have made measurable progress on the defensive end.
In a season-opening 71-64 loss to Northern Illinois, UW surrendered 12 of 23 three-pointers, including six to NIU sharpshooter Trendon Hankerson, who finished with 28 points.
But in the past two games, UW opponents are 6 of 30 from downtown.
Washington held Northern Arizona to 4 of 12 from long range in a 73-62 win while Texas Southern connected on just 2 of 18 from deep in a 72-65 UW win on Monday.
Spurred by its full-court press, the Huskies rank first in the Pac-12 with 30 steals while four UW players are among the top 14 in the conference in thefts. Daejon Davis and PJ Fuller are co-leaders with seven steals, Terrell Brown Jr. is tied for fourth with five while Jamal Bey is tied for seventh with four.
To be sure, the Huskies have gradually improved defensively, but a team that’s incorporating seven newcomers and three new starters is still struggling on the offensive end where they rank last in the Pac-12 in field-goal percentage (33.9%) and three-point percentage (26.4%).
According to KenPom, UW is ranks 333rd nationally while shooting 33.3% on shots inside the arc.
“The first game, I felt a little bit like we were stressed,” Hopkins said. “Like everybody wanted to do great and that’s when you shoot poorly. Everybody was trying to do it themselves. It’s like having a new dance partner. You got to gain confidence and rhythm with each other.
“Game 2 we only had one day of prep, so a little bit more bench. We played some pretty good defense. The small lineup came in and did what they did. We made foul shots at the end. And (Monday’s) game, I felt like our offense got a lot better. We shared it. We spaced it. We made the extra pass. And that’s how we’re going to win.”
It’s too early to make definitive statements about Washington, which finished 5-21 last season and 11th in the Pac-12 at 4-16.
Still, Brown has been an early standout.
The senior guard who transferred from Arizona ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in scoring (17.7 points) and fourth in assists (4.3).
Hopkins likened Brown to former Husky star Jaylen Nowell, the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2019 — capable of taking over games at the end with his ability to score, draw fouls and make plays for teammates.
“He’s pretty darn good,” he said. “He can score. He can get a bucket. … He can make the right play. He’s a helluva player. Daejon makes great plays at the end of the shot clock. And when you have two guys that are really good ball handlers and decision makers, you got a chance.”
With the game on the line Monday, the Huskies gave the ball to Brown, who responded with a 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting. He also had all nine of UW’s assists.
“I’m fine with it, but whoever has got it going is going to end the game for us,” Brown said when asked if he’s comfortable being UW’s closer. “If Daejon has it going, I have no issue giving him the ball. PJ, Emmitt (Matthews Jr.), Langston (Wilson), Jamal or whoever. They can all score. … But I’m comfortable with it.”
“I’m comfortable with him too,” Davis said smiling.
Comments
The Wyoming Cowboys hit the road for the first time this season heading to Seattle to take on Washington. It marked the first meeting between the two schools since 2003. The contest is set for a 9 p.m. MT start on the PAC-12 Network.
Fans can listen to the contest, as well as follow stats on GoWyo.com. The contest will be broadcast live on radio over the 26 affiliate stations of the Cowboy Sports Network, as Reece Monaco will have the call with Kevin McKinney on color.
About The Teams
Wyoming heads into the contest with a 2-0 record. The Cowboys own wins over Detroit Mercy and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Wyoming has scored 85 points in both games to open the season. The defense for the Brown and Gold has been impressive with teams averaging 46 points per game. The Pokes are allowing the opposition to shoot 30 percent from the field. Wyoming is shooting 56 percent from the field in the first two contests. UW has also been impressive on the boards averaging 40.5 per game with opponents averaging 295 per game. Wyoming has forced 27 turnovers this season.
The Huskies are led by fifth-year head coach Mike Hopkins. He's guided Washington to the NCAA Tournament once during his tenure. The Huskies finished last season at 5-21, which included a 4-16 mark in Pac-12 play. Washington was preseason picked to finish 11th in the 12-team poll. The Huskies are 2-1 on the young season. They got off to a bumpy start with a home loss to Northern Illinois, but have since bounced back to win their last two games against Northern Arizona and Texas Southern.
About The Players
Wyoming has four players averaging double-figures this season. Forward Graham Ike leads the way at 21.5 points per game. He also adds 6.5 rebounds per night to rank second on the team. Guard Hunter Maldonado adds 17.5 points per game. He adds six rebounds per game and leads the team with 6.5 assists per night. Forward Jeremiah Oden adds 15.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds. He is shooting 87 percent from the field. Guard Drake Jeffries adds 11 points per game and leads the team with seven rebounds per game. He also leads the team with seven three-pointers.
Terrell Brown Jr. paces Washington with 17.7 points and 4.3 assists per contest. Jamal Bey and Emmitt Mathews Jr. also average in double figures, pouring in 11.7 and 11.3 points per game, respectively. Nate Roberts cleans up on the glass, collecting a team-best 10 rebounds per contest.
About The Series
Wyoming and Washington will met for the first time since 2003 on Thursday. The Huskies lead the all-time series 11-4. Wyoming took the last meeting between the two schools on Dec. 6, 2003 in Laramie by a score of 92-76.
Up Next
The Cowboys close their road swing at Grand Canyon on Monday evening in a 7 p.m. start on ESPN+.
Highlights Of The Cowboys' 85-47 Victory Over Detroit Mercy At The Arena-Auditorium (Nov 10/21)
Go Huskies https://gohuskies.com/news/2021/11/17/mens-basketball-cowboys-ride-into-montlake-to-face-huskies.aspx
THE MATCHUP:
The Washington men's basketball team (2-1) wraps up a four-game homestand to open the season by facing Wyoming (2-0) on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (Pac-12 Network) at Alaska Airlines Arena. It will be the Cowboys' first trip to Montlake since Dec. 5, 2002 when UW won 79-70.
The Huskies lead the all-time series 9-4, but the Cowboys won the last time the teams met, 92-76, on Dec. 6, 2003 in Laramie, Wyoming. The Cowboys have four starters that average double-figure scoring, led by 6-foot-9 forward Graham Ike, who is averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Cowboys' two wins have come at home against Detroit Mercy (85-57) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (85-45). Wyoming was picked to finish tied for eighth in the 2021-22 Mountain West preseason media poll.
NOTEWORTHY:
Terrell Brown Jr. had all nine of the Huskies' assists on Monday vs. Texas Southern. He is the first Pac-12 player to have 9 or more assists and account for all his team's assists since Brevin Knight (9) of Stanford vs. Utah on Mar. 20, 1997. Nationally, the last person to record all of their team's assists with 9 or more was North Texas' Ryan Woolridge, who recorded nine on Jan. 20, 2018 vs. Southern Miss. Since Knight accomplished that feat in 1997, three other Pac-12 players have recorded all their team's assists until Brown: Cal's Ayinde Ubaka (4, 3/11/2006 vs. UCLA), Oregon's Jeremy Jacob (1, 2/20/2010 vs. Cal) and Oregon State's Gary Payton II (3, 1/13/2016 vs. Colorado) ... the Huskies are 14-of-15 (.933) from the free throw line over the final 5:00 minutes in their two wins ... Emmitt Matthews Jr. led UW with 21 points vs. NAU, the third 20-point game of his career, first since he was a freshman at West Virginia (3/25/19 vs. Coastal Carolina, 21 pts) ... Nate Roberts opened the year with his third career double-double (10 pts/19 rebounds). His 19 rebounds are tied for 19th most in UW single-game history ... Terrell Brown Jr. has scored 20+ points twice this season, 27 times overall.
Coach Hopkins (70-61 at UW/5th Year):
Head Coach Mike Hopkins is in his fifth year at Washington, and fifth as a head coach after becoming the 19th head coach in UW history. During his 22 years as an assistant at Syracuse, Hopkins was a part of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament 16 times including the 2003 National Championship, four Final Fours, five Elite Eights and 10 Sweet 16s along with four NIT berths. Syracuse never dipped below a 55.0 percent record while Hopkins was on staff. Hopkins is a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, winning the honor in each of his first two seasons with the Huskies as he led UW to back-to-back 20 win seasons with postseason appearances each year. (2018 NIT, 2019 NCAA Second Round).
The Pac-12 Conference appears revitalized in men's basketball, continuing from a heady NCAA Tournament to collectively getting off to a fast start. Losses have been few, bad losses almost non-existent.
Take the University of Washington, for example.
The Huskies have won two of their first three games, yet can do no better than 11th in our Sports Illustrated Pac-12 power ratings. Of course, they're coming off a 5-21 showing last season, have almost all new faces pulling important roles and will need to win back respect from fans and our poll voters.
All signs point to a real competitive conference season, with games beginning in three weeks. We'll see if the Huskies are still 11th when that happens.
SI PAC-12 MEN’S BASKETBALL POWER RANKINGS
1. UCLA (3-0) 60 points *5 first-place votes
2. Oregon (2-0) 55
3. USC (2-0) 50
4. Arizona (2-0) 43
5. Colorado (3-0) 39
6. Washington State (3-0) 36
7. Oregon State (1-2) 26
8. Arizona State (2-1) 23
9. Utah (3-0) 22
10. Stanford (2-1) 17
11. Washington (2-1) 13
12. Cal (1-2) 5
UW vs Wyoming Live Game Stats http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=371020
SI https://www.si.com/college/washington/basketball/hopkins-needs-young-big-man-to-step-up-in-rebuild
Three early glimpses of the restoration project that is the University of Washington men's basketball team have shown much better harmony from a handful of players who grew up together and seem committed to each other.
Similarly, from one 5-21 season to now, the downside for this team once more is it scares absolutely no one from 3-point range (26.4 percent).
Consequently, this means opponents will pack things in and urge these low-accuracy Huskies to shoot at will from the outer reaches, which leaves sorely challenged coach Mike Hopkins with few options to keep things moving on a positive note and him employed for future seasons to come.
Above all, Hopkins has a McDonald's All-American in 6-foot-10, 205-pound Jackson Grant, a big man with considerable promise who needs to be ready to contribute in a meaningful way as soon as possible.
Thursday night's game against Wyoming (2-0), the toughest team on the early portion of the Husky schedule, would be a good place to start. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the outing will be shown on Pac-12 Networks.
The UW's starting post player is Nate Roberts, a more physically developed 6-foot-11, 265-pound junior from Washington, D.C., who plays only 18.9 minutes per game because he's often in foul trouble and limited offensively. He's good for short-term usage.
While Roberts has significantly stepped up his rebounding, averaging 10 per game so far, he doesn't create any shots for himself. Almost none. He scores only on put-backs and loose balls. You won't win with one player on the floor incapable of putting the ball in the basket with any regularity.
This is where Grant enters the picture.
Hopkins can't afford to bring the former Olympia High School standout along slowly. The coach desperately needs points from someone inside and on a regular basis, or this becomes a sub-.500 team once more. He needs to regularly get shots out of this first-year player.
Grant, lean and green, has had his nose bloodied and fired up an airball from 3-point range during his brief college basketball indoctrination. Yes, he looks a little wide-eyed at times. Yet he's already pushing Roberts for minutes with 17.3 per game, dunked a couple of times, moves well and is the kind of player in development that Gonzaga likes to trot out in primetime.
So get him ready and use him. Expect 20 minutes and 10 points from him to begin. Think of a young Jack Sikma shaking off his awkwardness with the Sonics and finding a comfort zone on the fly and not looking back.
Grant has made three appearances and he has five more before the UW faces, in order, Arizona, UCLA and Gonzaga.
If he's not more heavily involved with this UW team by then, Hopkins' Huskies likely will flounder deep in the Pac-12 second division. Wyoming, notable for being an overly aggressive team in shooting the 3-pointer, would be a good spot to get Grant more involved.
The UW started fast, slow up, battled back then let Wyoming win the finals 2 minutes of the half. A lot more man to man defense from the UW this game. The refs don't look like they will be gifting the UW fts in this game as the UW is 1-2 while Wyoming is 5-9 at the ft line for the half. If the UW want sto win this game they will have to earn it. That begins with stopping the Cowboys big man Ike (8-14/17 pts) down low. Ike is abusing Roberts and Grant in the paint. UW is holding Wyoming to 1-8 from deep while making 4-14 themselves. UW is also playing better on the rebounds even though Wyoming has outrebounded them 22-20 so far. Should be a good second half.
Box Score https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore/_/gameId/401372487
Next up for the UW (2-2) is the Crossover Classic Tournament (Nov 22-24) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota where they will play 3 games in 3 days:
Nov 22 vs George Mason (3-0) https://gomason.com/sports/mens-basketball
Nov 23 vs South Dakota (4-1) https://gojacks.com/sports/mens-basketball
Nov 24 vs Nevada (1-3) https://nevadawolfpack.com/sports/mens-basketball
Go Huskies https://gohuskies.com/news/2021/11/18/mens-basketball-huskies-fall-in-overtime-to-wyoming-77-72.aspx
Seattle Times https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/huskies-drop-second-nonconference-game-falling-to-wyoming-in-overtime/
UWDawgPound https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/11/18/22790641/wyoming-outlasts-the-washington-huskies-in-ot-77-72
Mike Hopkins, Terrell Brown Post Game Presser
SI https://www.si.com/college/washington/basketball/uw-deal-with-same-old-rodeo-lose-in-ot-to-cowboys
UW Deal With Same Old Rodeo, Lose in OT to Cowboys
Wyoming was everything the Washington basketball team wants to be, confident, resilient, five players capable of scoring at any time.
On Thursday night, the Cowboys came into Alaska Airlines Arena, took the Huskies' best shot and toughed out a 77-72 overtime victory in a half-full but noisy pavilion, withstanding all of the rigors of the road.
Slippery forward Hunter Maldonado broke a 67-all tie with a twisting jumper in the key early in the extra session that put his Mountain West team (3-0) up for good, and down went Mike Hopkins' team.
More animated than usual at times, Hopkins seems bent on not letting these Huskies tank another season — because he likely has no more job security now than Jimmy Lake did — and on this night he urged his reconfigured team to play as hard as it has in two seasons.
Still, the Huskies (2-2), as much as they tried, couldn't find the win column. They let a 62-55 lead with five minutes left in regulation play fritter away, which was disconcerting as they try to resurrect the program.
"We couldn't knock down shots," said Hopkins, whose players shot 32 percent from the field and 19 percent from 3-point range.
That left the UW unable to capitalize on a couple of highly productive outings from new faces, a 30-point performance from Arizona transfer Terrell Brown and a 12-rebound effort over 19 minutes from Georgia junior-college transfer Langston Wilson.
Wyoming countered with even more firepower from 6-foot-9 sophomore Graham Ike, who supplied 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the ever troublesome Maldanado, a 6-foot-7 senior who came up with 24 points and 10 boards.
Early on, it seemed like this non-conference game might get away from the Huskies, who went down by eight points some 10 minutes into the opening half.
This brought Hopkins out of of seat, emphatically signaling for a timeout and slapping his hands together in frustration. An uncontested layup set him off. The fifth-year basketball coach next gave everyone a lengthy dissertation and subbed out the offending player, showing less patience than usual.
A short time later, Hopkins was practically seated on the floor in front of the scorer's table, crouching at a level matching two of his players waiting to go in. He took the moment to gesture forcefully to them to get his point across. He almost seemed like going in, as well.
"You're just trying to give your energy to them in a tough way," Hopkins explained.
Unlike last year's 5-21 total disaster, these UW players seem to respond much better to this extroverted coach on the hot seat. They just can't close yet.
"We're a work in progress," Brown said. "We're united. We're going to stay together the rest of the season."
With 13:12 to play, the Huskies trailed 42-34 when Hopkins sent them into a full-court press they've used sporadically in every outing. The players, growling like real dogs, ran all over the floor, encouraged by their bench, picking up turnovers. In this case, they tied the game in less than two minutes with a furious 8-0 run.
Down seven, Wyoming responded with a 7-0 spree to tie the game at 62 on Maldonado's close-in shot with 2:04 remaining.
The Huskies were all set to win this one, which would have been satisfying considering the level of competition they hung with.
It came down to a game tied at 65, with just 28 seconds on the clock, when Brown took the ball and went for the win. His four Husky teammates were lined up across the baseline, out of his way. He drove to the basket, encountered Wyoming's Ike and tossed up a floater that wouldn't wouldn't drop.
"I should have gone strong to the basket and finished," Brown said in hindsight. "It was a mistake on my part."
In overtime, the Huskies had nothing left. It was entertaining, but recovery won't take hold until they win games such as this.
*Announced Attendance 5,315 (there were a lot of empty seats I highly doubt that more than 2,500 people were in the arena)
This team is going to win single digit games.
WHAT A CLUSTER FUCK.
BROOM HOP NOW!!! STOP THE MADNESS.
Wyoming vs Washington Men's Basketball Highlights
Jeff Linder Washington Postgame Press Conference