Huskies' Crap Shoot: Need to Roll 3's to Make Tourney Run
Jaden McDaniels has his game in order. Isaiah Stewart's performance has been rock solid all season. Washington's twin lottery towers should come ready to play when the Pac-12 tournament opens on Wednesday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Yet for the 12th seed Huskies (15-16) to beat No. 5 Arizona (20-11) in the first round and ignite some magical postseason run, these sensational freshmen will need help from three-point range and beyond.
It doesn't matter who it is, but somebody has to step up from 22 feet, 1 3/4-inches or farther out and put the ball in the basket. Three-point shooting has been difficult for this UW team all season, before and after Quade Green's tour of duty at point guard.
"They have the most athletic team in the Pac-12," said Tre Simmons, former Husky standout and one of the top three-point shooters in school history. "They can utilize that a little more, maybe play without the zone a little bit. Isaiah is doing a great job of dominating the post.
"But you need to bring it inside out. Spread the court. That way we can attack."
What he means is do like Tre -- drain the trey.
In beating Arizona 69-63, the Huskies got a little lucky. They hit just 6-of-17 attempts, with McDaniels the only visiting player dropping in more than one three-pointer that night, and his team survived.
Against Arizona State in a 90-83 victory, the UW had an easier time of it by connecting on 11 of 26 from three-point range, keeping the Sun Devils at arm's length. Junior forward Naz Carter knocked down 5 of 8 shots and freshman guard Marcus Tsohonis, junior forward Hameir Wright and McDaniels each offered up a pair. ASU couldn't overload anyone.
For their 2:30 p.m. tipoff at T-Mobile Arena against Arizona, the Huskies enter with a season-long, three-point shooting percentage of 33.2. It's been so bad at times, the UW pitched a shutout against Montana, going 0 for 11 in treys. At home.
McDaniels, Carter and Wright have been in a dead heat to launch the most three-pointers on this team, attempting 123, 118 and 108, respectively. They're all similar in accuracy, shooting a lukewarm 34.1, 38.1 and 34.3 percent.
The UW's designated three-point specialists remain freshman RaeQuan Battle and sophomore Jamal Bey, but these two have struggled behind the line all season, hitting a frigid 27.2 and 25.7 percent.
To keep the season going, one or more of these Huskies have to beat the odds and roll some lucky numbers. Threes. After all, that's what you do in Vegas.
