Washington Basketball: The Huskies dominate Stanford

The Washington basketball team continues good play Thursday night, beating the Stanford Cardinal by a score of 80-64.

After a close start the Huskies went on an 11-0 run, making the score 18-8 at 9:39 remaining in the first half; only twice did the Cardinal get the score inside double digits the rest of the game. The first time was 20-12; the Huskies led half-time at 37-24. The second time was at the half-way mark of the second half with the Huskies leading 53-44. The Huskies made a three and the Stanford Cardinal never again get within 10 points again.

The largest lead the Huskies had in the game and the second half was by 16. First, with a score of 62-46 and again. with the final score of 80-64. The difference in the game which allowed the Huskies to win was turnovers, blocked shots, and steals. The Stanford Cardinal had 18 turnovers, three blocks, and two steals while the Washington Huskies had only six turnovers, seven block shots, and eight steals.

The Washington Huskies were led by sophomore standout guard Jaylen Nowell. He had 22 points with 14 coming in the first half. Another sophomore, Nahziah Carter, had 13 points coming off the bench along with Dominic Green with 11. Green made three out of four from the three point line.

Senior guard David Crisp, who had outstanding games in the Huskies previous three games in the Pac-12 schedule, struggled on the night, making four out of his 13 shots. Most of the shots came up short. He did, however, come away with 10 points. Noah Dickerson once again struggled with getting into foul trouble early, playing only 11 minutes and having only three points.

The Stanford Cardinal was led in scoring by sophomore sensation KZ Okpala with 22 points. Senior center Josh Sharma had 17 points along with leading the Cardinal with 8 rebounds. With Dickerson out of the lineup, the Huskies had trouble stopping Sharma. However, he wasn’t a factor in the last half of the second period. Sharma wound up in foul trouble and spent some time on the bench.

Sophomore guard Daejon Davis didn’t have a good game during the return to his hometown of Seattle. He scored eight points with only made one basket in seven attempts from the three point line. He did, however, make five out of six from the foul line.

The Washington Huskies now are at the top of the Pac-12 and are the only team still undefeated with a record of 4-0. The Arizona Wildcats, who were undefeated heading into Thursday night, lost to the Oregon Ducks at home, 59-54. Oregon State started the day undefeated as well, but lost on the road to the Arizona State Sun Devils, 70-67.

The Washington Huskies now face the California Bears on Saturday night. The Bears continue to struggle not winning a game yet in conference, losing Thursday night, 82-59 to Washington State. The Huskies will be looking for their 1,000th win at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, a first for a single arena in NCAA Division 1 history.