Washington Huskies Take Care Of Texas-Arlington Mavericks 82-72

The University of Washington Huskies win their first round NIT game by beating the University of Texas-Arlington Mavericks by a score of 82-72. The Huskies will now host Northwestern Friday at 7pm.

UT-Arlington wasn’t a pushover and they gave the Huskies quite the fight. UT-Arlington even found a way with the clock expiring in the first half to go to the locker room tied at 37. And the Mavericks continued to hang around with the Huskies until about the 7 minute mark when UW was able to gradually extend the lead to 10.

While the Huskies pulled off the win there are a few concerns that Lorenzo Romar is going to need to address before facing Northwestern on Friday:

• Rebounding was a big factor for keeping UTA in the game. They out rebounded UW 37-27 and 17-4 on the offensive glass. The Huskies led the Pac-12 in rebounding and yet struggled all game in this category.
• Fouls were a big factor in this game for both teams. This could be blamed on the refs but Aziz N’Diaye found 4 fouls very quick and at least 3 of those were strong fouls.
• Passion seemed to be lacking in some of the players to start the game. This could be pointed to the disappointment of not making the NCAA tournament. However, the passion was picked up in the second half. If the Huskies can come out hot in their game against Northwestern they should be seeing Iowa or Oregon in the third round.
• Defense also was an issue for the Huskies at times in this game. They had some impressive lockdown moments but other times seemed to play lazy on that end of the court.

Player Notes: 

Abdul Gaddy- played a great game, scoring in double digits for only his 11th time this season. He had 10 points and 6 assists. He finds ways to get the ball to the hot scorer and he was feeding both Wilcox and Ross when they were hot.

Tony Wroten- was one of the most impressive players on the court today. He didn’t do the damage that Husky fans are used to in the scoring department as he only had 9 points. But he tied his season high in 8 assists (the other time was against USC on 2/4). He also had 2 steals, 1 rebound, and 1 block.

Terrence Ross- had two moments in this game where he just could not be stopped. Once was in the first half as he scored 5 straight buckets and the other was in the second as he knocked down back to back threes. He ended the game with 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and 1 steal.

CJ Wilcox- was only able to knock down one 3pt shot in the game but he showed he can score in other ways. He was 8-10 from line and ended with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.

Darnell Gant- was the only Husky player that had a double-double in this game. He came out with a ton of passion and you can tell he is not ready to end his season and his career at Washington. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Desmond Simmons- only saw 10 minutes in the game. He had 3 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

Aziz N’Diaye- struggled with fouls throughout the whole game. He was able to be productive when he was in the game and his most impressive performance was at the line. He went 5-11 from the line which may not sound impressive but he is 34% on the year so this is a vast improvement to 45%. He had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block.

Shawn Kemp Jr.- Saw limited minutes (5) but was able to get 1 block in that time. He shows potential but still needs to get in better shape and is still working on his defense.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins- Played 9 minutes and had 2 points and 1 rebound.