Washington Huskies Vs #7 Arizona: One Final Stand
For the Washington Huskies’ NCAA tournament hopes, this is it. There is always the Pac-12 tournament as a last resort, but UW can’t count on that the way they’re playing.
The Dawgs are 14-9 overall and 3-8 in Pac-12 play. They have suffered every kind of loss from blowouts to heart-breakers on their current five-game losing streak.
A win over the Arizona seems unlikely at this point. Especially without Robert Upshaw. The Wildcats will start a pair of 6’7″ wings (Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson), a 6’9″ power forward in Brandon Ashley and a 7’0″ center in Kaleb Tarczewski.
All four of them have a future in the NBA. I don’t even want to begin imagining the match-up problems the Huskies will have in this game.
But UW’s shots have to start falling eventually right? While playing with four, and sometimes five guards, the Huskies haven’t been able to hit outside shots. Mike Anderson, Andrew Andrews, Darin Johnson, Quevyn Winters and Donaven Dorsey are all more than capable of catching fire from outside, and yet none of them have since Andrews early in the season.
Jan 25, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Washington Huskies guard Nigel Williams-Goss (5) dribbles up the court during the first half against the Utah Utes at Jon M. Huntsman Center. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
There is no reason to think that UW will win this game, other than the facts that they are way overdue to snap out of this funk, and that they have an athletic advantage at the guard spots.
But a win over Arizona would give the Huskies three wins over teams in the top 28 of the RPI rankings. Not many teams in the country are able to say that, and especially not many teams on the bubble.
Only two teams outside the RPI top-25 (Indiana and Xavier) have three or more wins over the top-28. Not to mention the fact that the Huskies would have two wins inside the top-12, with a win over the Wildcats. No bubble team would be able to come close to the Huskies in the “good wins” column if UW is able to add Arizona to the list with Oklahoma (#12 in the RPI) and San Diego State (#28 in the RPI).
If Nigel Williams-Goss and Shawn Kemp Jr. are able to lead UW to a win over the 7th ranked Wildcats, the March Madness judges would have to give the Huskies a serious look despite their horrific in-conference play.