Washington Basketball: Week at a Glance, November 26 – December 2

After three games in four days at the Vancouver Showcase, the Washington basketball team returns home for a pair of games between Nov. 26-Dec. 2.

The 4-2 Washington basketball team has two games this week, both at home. They play Eastern Washington on Tuesday then UC-Santa Barbara on Sunday, December 2.

Washington  Huskies

Forward Noah Dickerson led the Huskies in both games scoring 24 points against TAMU along with 17 rebounds then he scored 28 points against Minnesota the next day. Guard Jaylen Nowell who led the team in scoring in the first four games including tying a career high of 32 points in game four against Santa Clara was second in scoring in both games with 14 against Texas A&M and 22 against Minnesota. In both games, Dickerson and Nowell were the only Huskies who scored in double figures. The Huskies need to find other players to score more consistently.

Eastern Washington Eagles

The Eastern Washington Eagles currently have a record of 1-3. They began the season two big-time teams. The Syracuse Orange beat them 66-34 on November 6. After that EWU lost to the Oregon Ducks on November 9, 81-47. They lost their third game as well, this time to the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, however, this one was closer 82-78.

EWU won their last game on November 17 against University Missouri – Kansas City from the WAC. They beat UMKC 87-80.

Although the Eagles are 1-3 they have had a winning record in the last four seasons including winning at least 20 games in three of the four years. In the 2014-15 season, EWU won 26 while losing 9 and lost in the second round as a 13 seed in the NCAA tournament.

They are led in scoring by senior forward Jesse Hunt who averages 14.8 points per game, including 32 points against UMKC. He leads the team in rebounds at 9.3 per game.

The Eagles have only seven players returning from last year’s team. Key players with significant minutes are senior guards Ty Gibson, Cody Benzel, sophomore guards Jack Perry, Luke Vulikic, and freshman guard Austin Fadal who plays 21.3 minutes per game.

Perry and Vulikic are the only ones averaging over 30 minutes per game. Besides Fadal, the Eagles have three other freshmen each playing 12 minutes per game in guards Kim Aiken Jr., Elijah Jackson and forward Tanner Groves.

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos

UCSB has a record of 5-1 with their only loss coming against North Dakota State in game number two 82-63, November 11. They will be playing Sacramento State at home on Thursday before coming to Seattle for the game against Washington.

Gauchos have three players from Western Washington who are looking forward to playing in front of family and friends. Senior guard Ar’Mond Davis from Foss High School in Tacoma leads the Gauchos in scoring with an average of 14.3 points per game.

Sophomore guard JaQuori McLaughlin from Peninsula High School in Gig Harbor is second in scoring with an average of 11.8 per game. He transferred in from Oregon State. The third member of the trio is Zach Moore, a junior guard out from Bellevue High School. He is averaging 10.7 minutes and 2.2 points per game.

Besides Davis and McLaughlin the Gauchos have a third player averaging in double figures in scoring, sophomore guard Devearl Ramsey at 10.3 points per game. He is a transfer as well coming to EWU from Nevada.

Two players the Huskies have to watch for are UCSB’s leading rebounders. Freshman forward Amadou Sow averages 6.2 boards per game and senior forward Jarriesse Blackmon at 6.0 per game.

These two teams will give the Huskies a good test this week. Washington will need to play near the top of their game to come away with a pair of victories. Next week the Huskies face Gonzaga and Seattle University at home, in the Alaska Airlines Arena.