Washington Basketball: Week at a Glance – November 19-25

The 3-1 University of Washington basketball team plays two games this week at a neutral site in the Vancouver Showcase in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Washington Huskies

Last Monday, the Washington basketball team beat the San Diego Toreros in Seattle 66-63, in a game that was close all the way through. Washington went on to beat Santa Clara at the Vancouver Showcase on Sunday to start their trifecta of games north of the border. Next, they take on Texas A&M Aggies on Tuesday, November 20 followed by the Minnesota Gophers on November 21.

The 3-1 Huskies have been inconsistent so far this season. Jaylen Nowell continues to lead the team in scoring after tying his career high of 32 points against Santa Clara on Sunday. He hasn’t had much help with offense outside of Noah Dickerson averaging 14.3 a game. Additionally, Nahziah Carter has 10 points per game off the bench.

Defensively the Huskies have been inconsistent as well giving up 68.5 points a game. This week it will be a test to see the defense can improve, especially against Minnesota.

Texas A&M Aggies

The Aggies are 1-3 going into the game against UW, Tuesday night. They won their opening game of the season against Savannah State on November 7, 98-83 before losing three straight. The first loss was UC Irvine on November 9 in a very close game 74-73. Last Thursday lost big to #3 ranked Gonzaga 94-71 then narrowly lost to the Minnesota Gophers at the Vancouver Showcase Sunday night 69-64.

Against Minnesota. the Aggies were led by sophomore guard Brandon Mahan with 17 points which is more than double of his season average of 7.8 per game. Christian Mekowulu a senior forward out of Nigeria was second with 16 points which were above his 10 points per game average. He is tied in the lead with sophomore guard Savion Flagg in rebounds at 8.8 per game.

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Flagg who leads the Aggies in scoring with an average of 15.5 per game, had only nine against the Golden Gophers. Another sophomore guard TJ Starks second on the Aggies in scoring had 11 points in the Showcase opener. Flagg and Starks are the only Aggies who play at least 30 minutes per game. So the Huskies defense has at least four players they need to look at stopping on the defensive side.

Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Huskies opponent on Wednesday, take on the Santa Clara Broncos, Tuesday. They are undefeated going into Tuesday’s game with a record of 3-0. Minnesota beat the Omaha Mavericks in their opening game in a 104-76 blowout.  They followed up by beating Huskies PAC-12 rival, the Utah Utes last Friday 78-69. Both games Minnesota played at home.

The Huskies will have to play stellar defense against the Golden Gophers as all five of their starters average in double digits. They are led in scoring by Amir Coffey with an average of 14.7 per game. Coffey also averages four assists per game. Senior forward Jordan Murphy leads the Golden Gophers in rebounding at 11.3 per game, the Huskies will have to find a way to neutralize him.

Minnesota averages 84 points a game while Washington averages 72 points per game so this will be another good test for them. The Huskies will have to hold back the Golden Gophers with defense or try to outgun them on the offensive end.

The Huskies will return home for the Thanksgiving break then play Eastern Washington next Tuesday at home followed by UC Santa Barbara at home on the following Sunday.