NIT Tournament: Washington Season Ends With 90-79 Loss To BYU

Finally, we can lay this season to rest. The offense looked better in its final game with 11 of the Huskies’ first 12 shots having an assist to their name. C.J. Wilcox made some nice shots and Shawn Kemp Jr. looked like an offensive threat we can look forward to next season, finishing with a double-double. Andrews Andrews looked like point guard our high tempo offense needs.

March 14, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Washington Huskies guard Abdul Gaddy (0) shoots against the Oregon Ducks during the second half in the second round of the Pac 12 tournament at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Oregon defeated Washington 80-77 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Huskies simply couldn’t stop Tyler Hawes of BYU who was shooting lights out for the entirety of the game. Some of that lies on the defense that could not get back soon enough in transition and part you have to credit to Hawes for playing at such a high level.

The Dawgs had the game even at half only to get down 11 points early in the second resulting in another half of furious comeback attempts that fell all too short of an insurmountable lead. Abdul Gaddy finished on somewhat of a high note despite the lose with 9 points and an incredible 9 assists to only 2 turnovers. Speaking of assists, the Huskies handled the ball surprisingly well with 18 assists on 28 shots and committed only 10 turnovers. What killed the Dawgs was their rebounding or lack thereof. The Dawgs were out-rebounded 37 to 28. Kemp Jr. led all players with 11 boards and Scott Suggs pulled in 5. The Dawgs only managed to get 3 boards from Aziz N’Diaye who scored early and looked to be having some success only to have foul trouble remove him from the game.

With all this in mind its tough to say much else until the whole season settles in and I have time to process whether or not this year was a bust or simply a subpar team playing up to their capabilities. This off season has a few interesting story lines for the Huskies including the recruitment of Aaron Gordon and whether or not Wilcox will return for his senior season.

Go Dawgs!