by: Griffin Bennett
In a day where the headlines where overtaken by an improbably Seahawk win, the Huskies moved to 4-0 in the Pac-10 as their 63 second half points against Oregon State proved far too much. Even though it took a last second tear drop from Venoy to grab a one point lead at halftime, the following 20 minutes were laughable. The Beavers tricky 1-3-1 was quickly mastered by Romar and his players while their opponents couldn’t keep up with the Huskies speed and depth.
While we all were looking for Terrence Ross to sneak into the starting line-up, Romar kept Venoy Overton as a starter and Ross was, again, the first off of the bench. The more I talked to people close to coach Romar on Friday, the more they kept telling me that Romar will not put Ross into the starting line-up anytime soon. They’re thinking is, basically, why ruin a good thing? He doesn’t want Ross either getting a big head, or getting too nervous. They also told me that if coach didn’t like Venoy starting, then Suggs would be his first choice. Interesting thoughts.
You could see why Arizona struggled against this Beaver team last week. They’re 1-3-1 really bothers offenses and it took the Huskies around 15 minutes in the first half to completely dismantle it. Once they realized that they could pass it down low, the perimeter opened up and then the Huskies were rolling. Isaiah Thomas kept the Huskies in it early with his three point shooting, and then MBA finshed them off.
Matthew Bryan-Amaning is starting to become the post player that we all wanted him to be. His 24 points and 15 rebounds Saturday afternoon might be his most complete game of his career. What’s more impressive is that he finished incredibly well at the hoop and banged the offensive and defensive boards hard. He easily wins MVP of the game in a landslide.
It’s nice to be 4-0 in the Pac-10. Everything seems to be going right and whenever the Huskies have struggled lately, they always seem to find a way out of it before it’s too late. It’s a great sign that the team doesn’t get down on themselves. With that said, let’s take a look at how they graded out tonight.
Positives:
- Isaiah Thomas – Another great game from IT who is becoming the best passer in the Pac-10. He recorded 8 assists to go with his 19 points while also making 4 of the Huskies 10 threes. He is leading the Pac-10 in assists and has filled in for Abdul Gaddy seamlessly.
- Scott Suggs – He keeps putting up quiet games that stuff the stat sheet. He had 12 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and shot 4-6 from deep. I like his role as it currently is. He might be the most underrated Husky right now.
- Aziz N’Diaye – He still doesn’t finish well at the rim, but he is getting more aggressive in the paint defensively while keeping his feet on the ground. At one point the Dawgs realized that they had a mismatch in height with Roberto Nelson (6’3″) guarding him, and he effectively took advantage and scored. Very good play from Aziz.
- Rebounding – The Huskies won the battle 41-30 as expected against a team that runs a zone. It was also great to see Gant with 5 rebounds.
- Assist to Turnover – 20-10. Keeping the TO’s at that low number against an effective defensive zone is a great sign. IT continues to lead this category with 8 assists and only 1 turnover.
Ehhhh:
- Terrence Ross – Don’t let his stat line fool you. He got 8 of his 14 points in garbage time as he continued to rain three’s with less than 2 minutes left. He wasn’t as agressive as he was Thursday, but he still got 7 rebounds. A good but not great night from Ross.
Negatives:
- Who schedules a Husky basketball game during a Seahawks playoff game? I had to wade through “OMG! BEAST MODE” and “BEST RUN I’VE EVER SEEN” texts through the final 10 minutes. All I wanted to do was run home and watch the replay.
On to the next one. Raise the Roof.