The Husky Haul
Fansided

Washington basketball takes on the San Diego Toreros

By Herbert Nightingale

ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
ANCHORAGE, AK - NOVEMBER 08: Elijah Hardy #10 of the Washington Huskies reacts in the first half against the Baylor Bears during the ESPN Armed Forces Classic at Alaska Airlines Center on November 8, 2019 in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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Washington basketball is playing their third of seven straight at home, and they’re facing a familiar foe who they had a tough time with last year

The Washington Huskies now have a 4-1 record after beating Montana on Friday night, while San Diego is currently sitting at 2-4. Last year, the Huskies beat the Toreros 66-63 in Seattle.

The Toreros do have a Washington flavor to them with head coach Sam Scholl, who grew up in Gig Harbor, Washington. He played his college ball at San Diego, and is in his second full season as head coach.

The Toreros are like the Huskies, with only one returning starter in junior forward Yauhen Massalski who had 12 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocked shots when the two teams met last season. He’s not expected to play after suffering a left foot injury early in the season. Senior forward  Alex Floresca has been a key part of the offense, this year, and was a perfect 5-5 for 10 points against the Huskies last year.

Another new starter this year is sophomore guard Joey Calcaterra who scored 20+ points in each of the Toreros’ first three games this season.

The second of the three starting guards is junior Braun Hartfield, who redshirted last year after transferring from Youngstown State, and he’s averaging 10 points and 6.5 rebounds per game so far this year. The last is redshirt freshman Marion Humphrey, who’s averaging 8.5 points per game.

The second starting forward in place of Massalski is James Jean-Marie, a junior from Montreal and a transfer from Navarro College, where he averaged 12.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game last season. So far this year, he’s averaging 8.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

The two primary guys off the bench for San Diego right now are sophomore forward Jared Rodriguez, another transfer who played at Idaho last year and freshman guard Noel Coleman, a member of the Belgian national team.

San Diego will be a good test for this young team who is continuing to gel. The most important thing, after winning, is for the Huskies to get better every game (especially when it comes to their shooting).

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