Washington Basketball: The Huskies Roll Continues Over Cal

Washington basketball won their fifth straight game, 71-52 over the California Golden Bears Saturday night stay undefeated in the Pac-12 Conference. The Huskies were able to overcome a tough start on the offensive side.

The Golden Bears started off scoring five points before Washington basketball got on the board with two free throws by Noah Dickerson at the 16:54 mark in the first half. The Huskies didn’t make their first field goal, a three by Matisse Thybulle, until 15:20 in the first, making the score 9-5. The Huskies then went seven minutes without making another basket. The Golden Bears went on a couple 6-0 runs. The Huskies had been struggling behind the three point line, making two out of 12  before making three in a row to end the half. At the 1:45 mark, the Huskies took their first lead of the game, 27-25. The first half ended with the Huskies leading 29-28.

In the second half, the Huskies kept the lead all the way. Matisse Thybulle made the first field goal, a three pointer at the 18:35 mark. By 15:38, the Huskies were leading 39-33. The lead was extended to 51-37 at 10:40. For the remainder of the second half, the Huskies outscored the Golden Bears 20-15 for a final score of 71-52.

In the final ten minutes of the second half, the game got very physical with several offensive fouls called on both teams. Sophomore Nahziah Carter was charged with a technical foul for retaliating after he went flying to the ground. Washington’s Noah Dickerson was manhandled at least a couple times as well. Dickerson ended with 12 points, 10 of them coming from the foul line.

The Huskies were led in scoring by senior guard Dominic Green with 17 points off of the bench. Like most of the Huskies, he had a hard time getting going early from beyond the arc. He did, however, end up making four of 10 threes. Matisse Thybulle was second in scoring with 13 points. He added three slam dunks, helping the Huskies maintain energy during the second half. Thybulle also contributed on the defensive end, tallying five blocked shots and two steals. David Crisp scored 12 points while Jaylen Nowell had 11.

The Golden Bears were led in scoring by freshmen forward Andre Kelly with 14 points. He was one player the Huskies had trouble stopping, making six out of eight shots. Junior guard Paris Austin was the only other one in double digits with 12 points. He only shot six times, making three of them from the field. His remaining points were from the foul line, where he made six out of eight.

The Huskies played great defense on Golden Bear’s leading scorer on the season, Justice Sueing, who scored only eight points. He made only two field goals out of 11 shots, including making none from the three-point line in five attempts. In fact, Cal had trouble with the Huskies’ zone defense,  making only one of 15 attempts from beyond the arc. In all, the Golden Bears shot 30% from the field (18 for 59). The Huskies, on the other hand, shot 45% from the field, 37% from three despite having a hard time in the first half.

The Huskies now go back on the road next week, facing the Oregon Ducks on Thursday and the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday. Those two games will be tough ones for the Huskies as both teams have winning records for the year.