Washington basketball snapped their losing streak with an 87-52 thrashing of the California Golden Bears
Washington basketball held a 17 point lead at halftime, and Husky fans were probably pretty nervous the way this season has gone so far, but after holding the Golden Bears without a field goal for 11 minutes, most fans probably exhaled.
The Huskies played one of their best defensive games of the year, as the Golden Bears ended up getting more of their points from the free-throw line than the field, which is an incredibly rare occurrence. On the other hand, the Huskies shot 51.6% from the field, and 50% from behind the three-point line.
The Huskies were led in scoring by Nahziah Carter with 16 points. 11 of those 16 came in the first half, and the junior really stepped up and gave the team a lot of energy early on in the game.
Isaiah Stewart was second on the team in scoring with 15 points. Jaden McDaniels had 12 points, and was the team’s leading rebounder with seven. He came off the bench and played limited minutes after Mike Hopkins benched him for committing his sixth technical foul of the year. Marcus Tsohonis had all 11 of his points in the second half, including opening the half with three straight triples that sucked all the life out of the Golden Bears.
The Huskies were able to contain Matt Bradley, who was the hero in the two teams’ first meeting of the year. They held him to 14 points, which was a team-high, but on just 3-11 shooting.
This game might’ve woken up the sleeping giant that is the Huskies. Can they carry this momentum over the last three games of the regular season, and into Las Vegas and the Pac-12 Tournament?
The Huskies aren’t dead yet, they can still make the NCAA Tournament as an auto bid by dominating in Vegas. It seems like a long shot, but if there’s anyone who can get their team amped up and ready for that kind of challenge, it’s Mike Hopkins.