Washington Basketball Visits the Palouse this Saturday
The Washington basketball team is headed to Pullman, Washington to take on the Washington State Cougars. This follows the first time the Huskies lost a game on the road in the Pac-12 Conference play at Arizona State 75-63 last Saturday.
The Washington basketball game was not only the first loss in the Pac-12 schedule, but the first one on the road since December 15 when they lost to Virginia Tech. The loss still has the Huskies three games ahead in first place of the Pac-12.
The Washington basketball team showed last week it is hard to win all their games in conference play as well those on the road. Up to this point, winning the first ten games in the conference is quite an accomplishment.
They had to face an Arizona State team who had played well throughout the season despite being blown out last Thursday night by Washington State at home, 91-70. No team wants to go through losing two games in a row at home.
For the Huskies to lose this game, Arizona State ended up shooting 62% from the field while Washington shot only 37 %. Though the Huskies may lose at least another league game, the difference in shooting probably won’t happen again.
The Washington basketball team commenced conference play at home against the Cougars back on January 5, winning 85-67. The game was closer than the score indicated. Also, the Cougars were without leading scorer Robert Franks who had a hip contusion. He missed four games including the game against the Huskies.
light. Read. Washington Basketball: The Huskies Lose First Game in Pac-12
Going into last weekend, the Washington State Cougars had only won one game in Pac-12 play this season. The win was over the California Golden Bears on January 17 at home 82-59. Sweeping the Arizona schools last week was a big surprise for the conference.
Robert Franks had outstanding games against both Arizona State and Arizona. Neither team could stop the senior forward for the Cougars. Against Arizona State, he had 34 points on an outstanding shooting performance — 11 of 17 from the field, five of seven behind the three point line, and making all seven from the free throw line. Against Arizona on Saturday, his offensive performance continued. Franks had 31 points, once again going 11 of 17 from the field, including seven of nine behind the arc plus two of two from the stripe.
Freshmen sensation out of Seattle’s Cleveland High CJ Elleby had 10 points against the Sun Devils, going three out of ten from the field. All three of Elleby’s buckets came from three. He added ten rebounds in the game to go with nine assists. Against Arizona, he had 18 points on four of nine shooting from the field, including 2/4 behind the arc. He added eight out of 12 from the foul line, and continued his work on the boards with eight rebounds to go with four assists.
Sophomore forward Marvin Cannon had a good game against Arizona State by scoring 13 points, seven of which came from the line. Against Arizona, he didn’t score a point but had five rebounds.
The Washington Huskies must keep Robert Franks and CJ Elleby both shooting below how they shot in Arizona to win. The week off should have given Washington much needed rest, and their improved shooting percentage compared to the ASU game will reflect that. A win will put the Huskies 11-1 in conference play.