WATCH: Kaila's Keys for Beating the Arizona Wildcats on Day 1 of the Pac-12 Tournament
The Freshmen Need to Go Off
Jaden McDaniels received his first Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award while Isaiah Stewart was named to the All-Pac-12 first team, the all-freshman team and the USBWAS District 9 all-district team. Those aren’t the only two UW players who need to have stellar offensive performances. Marcus Tsohonis must be a leader as the primary ball handler and RaeQuan Battle, if used, has to be a threat from behind the three-point line. If the freshmen can make a statement, so can the Huskies in the tournament.
Huskies Can't Sleep on Arizona’s Sharpshooters
Two of Arizona’s best shooters didn’t have a good outing on Saturday in their 69-63 loss to Washington. Zeke Nnaji, who averages 16 points per game, was held to 12 and Nico Mannion, who averages 14 a game, had 11. But just because someone has a down game doesn’t mean that’s the case the next. The Huskies need to stay on their toes on defense and be aware that the Wildcats can score, especially with Chase Jetter coming back from his two-game suspension to present problems for the Huskies.
Don’t Let Up
Washington a sweep of the Arizona schools, but the UW was fortunate in the Arizona game, helped by the Wildcats struggling some at the free-throw line by going 15 for 22. After the Huskies went up by 17 points early in the second half, Arizona on three occasions cut the deficit to four. The UW survived on Saturday night, but letting teams come back late in games has been a disturbing trend. It can’t happen in the Pac-12 tournament if the Huskies want to stick around.
My Spread Prediction: -3 Washington
My Total Points Prediction: 134
