Huskies - Bruins Preview: The Turning Point

With 11 games left in the season, the Huskies travel to play the Los Angeles schools with many questions to answer. Could this be the turning point in the season?

So far, so good for Lorenzo Romar’s young UW Huskies team. The Huskies are tied for first place in the Pac-12 with Oregon with a 5-2 conference record despite eight Freshmen on the roster and three seeing significant minutes. Dejounte Murray, a graduate of basketball talent machine Rainier Beach High School in Seattle, and Andrew Andrews, the team’s sole Senior and the Pac-12’s leading scorer, lead the Huskies into a potential turning point in the season as they head to Los Angeles to play the UCLA Bruins tonight.

The Huskies swept the LA schools in Seattle for the first time since the 2011-2012 season earlier this month. Both wins were emotional, dramatic, and crucial for the Huskies. They beat then-nationally ranked UCLA in double overtime and came back from a 22-point deficit to defeat USC. At the time, the victories seemed to be coming-out parties for Romar’s squad. Since then, there have been questions about whether they can hold up in March, when teams will be attempting to lock down Murray and Andrews, who have provided the team with 79.9 percent of its scoring in conference play.

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Rematches on the road against UCLA and USC will either cement this team’s confidence or continue to erode it. This year, the Huskies have been a hoops analyst’s wet dream, shooting three-pointers and driving to the basket constantly. Romar’s hallmark style for the past 13 seasons has been to run and score in bunches. This year, he has a Senior guard in Andrews who can score with the best in the country. If his 21.7 points per game average in conference play holds, he’ll become the first player in Pac-12 history to average over 20 points per game since Klay Thompson averaged 21.6 PPG in the 2010-2011 season.

Murray has been a revelation for the Huskies this season. He has proven that he can score, distribute the ball, and rebound. He and LSU Freshman and wunderkind Ben Simmons are the only Freshmen in the nation averaging more than Murray’s 14.7 pts, 6.4 rebs, and 4.7 assists per game. (Simmons’ numbers are ridiculous).

With even a split of the upcoming road games against UCLA and USC, the Huskies will be in good shape to contend for the Pac-12 crown down the stretch. A sweep over these teams, despite the Bruins’ and the Trojans’ recent struggles, would have to gain some notice from the selection committee.

Next: Huskies Slip From First Place

If the Huskies take care of business in Los Angeles, we could look back at this stretch in March and remember it as the launchpad to the tournament.

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Huskies – Bruins Preview: The Turning Point

By Ben Renner | Jan 28, 2016

With 11 games left in the season, the Huskies travel to play the Los Angeles schools with many questions to answer. Could this be the turning point in the season?