GAME: Indiana (4-0 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) vs. Washington (2-1 overall, 0-0 Pac-12). WHEN: Thursday, 6:30 p.m., Madison Square Garden, New York. TYPE: Non-conference, 2K Sports Classic. MEETING: 4th (Indiana leads 2-1). RANKINGS: Neither school ranked. COACHES: Tom Crean, Indiana; Lorenzo Romar. TV: ESPN2. RADIO: KJR 950 AM
Lorenzo Romar’s Washington Huskies will appear in New York’s Madison Square Garden for the third consecutive year Thursday night (6:30 PT) when they play the first of two in the championship rounds of the 2K Sports Classic. In two previous showings, in the 2012 NIT semifinals and 2011 Jimmy V Classic, the Huskies had three narrow defeats.
In March, the Huskies lost in overtime, 68-67, to Minnesota. The year before, Washington lost to Marquette, 79-77, and to nationally ranked Duke, 86-80.
But Thursday night might not be as close. UC Irvine defeated the Huskies handily at Alaska Airlines Arena last week, and UW struggled to overcome a 10-point deficit and defeat lower-tier Eastern Washington. Although evidence is emerging that this won’t be one of Romar’s better teams, especially with forward Jernard Jarreau out for the year (ACL), Indiana coach Tom Crean maintains a healthy respect for the Huskies.
“Their speed and transition game is the best we have watched on film and the best we will see in a long time,” Crean said. “They get the ball out of bounds really quick. They attack and do a great job off of one pass, getting the ball ahead and attacking the rim. They want to play fast. They don’t spend a lot of time in the half court. The ball gets swung a couple times and they are going to the rim or shooting a three.
“C.J. Wilcox is playing at a high level. Nigel Williams-Goss is an excellent freshman guard. He was a national level recruit and we saw him a lot. Their big guys are good inside. Shawn Kemp Jr. is playing well. Perris Blackwell is solid. They are scoring a lot of points. They have had some good games and some close games. They are an extremely fast team that is very aggressive in half-court defense as well.”
Indiana (38th in RPI) features four double-digit scorers, led by Kevin Ferrell, averaging 19.5, and Noah Vonleh, 14.8 points and 12.5 rebounds.
Although Wilcox leads Washington with a 20.3 average, the team’s newcomers, including transfers Blackwell, Mike Anderson and Gilles Dierickx, along with freshmen Nigel Williams-Goss and Darin Johnson, have made impacts.
Combined, the five have accounted for 62 percent of the Huskies’ scoring and 54 percent of their rebounding. Williams-Goss, Blackwell, Johnson and Anderson are four of the team’s top six scorers while Anderson and Blackwell are the top two rebounders.
After playing Indiana Thursday, the Huskies will take on the winner of Connecticut-Boston College Friday at a time to be determined.
SERIES: Dates to Dec. 29, 1966, when the Huskies defeated the Hoosiers 81-79 in the Far West Classic in Portland. They also met twice in 1978 in back-to-back games, but in different tournaments. Indiana won 73-56 Dec. 19 in the Hoosier Classic and 71-57 Dec. 27 in the Far West Classic.
UW STATS / NOTES
- REGULAR-SEASON SUMMARY: Record: 2-1. Home: 2-1. Road: 0-0. Neutral: 0-0. Vs. Pac-12: 0-0. Vs. Pac-12 North: 0-0. Vs. Pac-12 South: 0-0. Vs. Non-Conference: 2-1. Points: 252 (84.0). Field Goal Pct.: 41.1 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 24.5. Free Throw Pct.: 78.8. Rebounds: 123 (41.0). Assists: 34(11.3). Turnovers: 27 (9.0). Steals: 20 (6.7). Blocks: 14 (4.7). Points Against: 244 (81.3). Opp. FG Pct.: 49.2. Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 35.7. Opp FT Pct.: 50.7. Opp. Rebounds: 119 (39.7). Opp. Assists: 42 (14.0). Opp. Turnovers: 42 (14.0). Opp. Steals: 13 (4.3). Opp. Blocks: 19 (6.3).
- PAC-12 RANKINGS: Scoring Offense — 4th (84.0). Scoring Defense — 12th (81.3). Scoring Margin — T10 (+2.7). FG Pct. — 11th (41.1). FT Pct. — 1st (78.8). 3-Pt FG Pct. — 12th (24.5). Rebound Margin — 11th (+1.3). Blocked Shots — T7 (4.6). Assists — 10th (11.3). Steals — 8th (6.6). Turnover Margin — 2nd (+5.0).
- RATINGS PERCENTAGE INDEX: Nov. 11 — 99; Nov. 18 — 96.
- C.J. Wilcox ranks 17th (1,354) all-time in scoring at UW after posting 15 points against Eastern Washington. He has made 217 career 3FGs and is 14 from tying the school record set by Ryan Appleby from 2005-09.
- With 22 points against Eastern, freshman Nigel Williams-Goss has taken over the No. 2 spot in scoring with a 13.7 average. Williams-Goss also has 16 assists to four turnovers.
- Freshman Darin Johnson tallied 16 points in his debut (vs. Seattle U.) and added seven rebounds. His 16 points were the most by a Pac-12 freshman in a debut game.
- Sophomore Andrew Andrews had a career-high 21 points against Seattle U while shooting 50 percent from the floor (6-of-12) and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
- Since 1996, Washington started a season 2-1 five times, 2012, 2008, 2001, 2000, and 1999.
- The Long Beach State game, scheduled for Nov. 30 at Alaska Airlines Arena, will start at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by Pac-12 Networks.
UW HEAD COACH: Lorenzo Romar (332-218 overall, 239-130 UW) is coming off a year in which the Huskies finished 18-16 overall and ended the year with a loss to Brigham Young in the National Invitation Tournament. Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament six times and won three Pac-10 Tournament titles (2005, 2010, 2011).
2012-13 Washington Regular-Season Statistics
| Player | G | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Wilcox | 3 | .400 | .353 | .852 | 6.3 | 3.0 | 20.3 |
| N.W-Goss | 3 | .459 | .000 | .636 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 13.7 |
| A. Andrews | 3 | .448 | .300 | .800 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 13.7 |
| P. Blackwell | 2 | .450 | .000 | .778 | 8.0 | 0.6 | 12.5 |
| D. Johnson | 3 | .345 | .111 | 1.000 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 11.3 |
| M. Anderson | 3 | .333 | .250 | .727 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 9.0 |
| Shawn Kemp | 3 | .500 | .000 | .600 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 |
| H. Stewart | 3 | .500 | .000 | .600 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| J. Jarreau | 1 | .000 | .000 | .500 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| J. Taylor | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| G. Dierckx | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 3 | .411 | .245 | .788 | 41.0 | 11.3 | 84.0 |
| Opponents | 3 | .492 | .357 | .507 | 39.7 | 14.0 | 81.3 |
University of Washington 2013-14 Schedule
| Date | Opponent | UW Rnk | Opp Rnk | W/L | Score | Rec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/6/13 | @vs. Cent. Wash | — | — | W | 95-65 | 0-0 |
| 11/10/13 | vs. Seattle U. | — | — | W | 88-78 | 1-0 |
| 11/14/13 | vs. UC Irvine | — | — | L | 86-72 | 1-1 |
| 11/17/13 | vs. E. Wash | — | — | W | 92-80 | 2-1 |
| 11/21/13 | *vs. Indiana | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 11/22/13 | *vs. UConn | — | 18 | — | —– | — |
| 11/26/13 | vs. Montana | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/30/13 | vs. L. Beach St. | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/8/13 | vs. SD State | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/14/13 | vs. Idaho St. | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/17/13 | at Tulane | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/22/13 | vs. UConn | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/27/13 | vs. Miss. Valley | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 12/29/13 | vs. Hartford | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/2/14 | at ASU | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/4/14 | at Arizona | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/8/14 | vs. Utah | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/12/14 | vs. Colorado | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/15/14 | at Cal | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/18/13 | at Stanford | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 1/23/14 | vs. Oregon | — | 19 | — | —– | — |
| 1/25/14 | at OSU | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/1/14 | at WSU | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/6/14 | at Utah | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/9/14 | at Colorado | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/12/14 | vs. Stanford | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/15/14 | vs. Cal | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/19/14 | at Oregon | — | 17 | — | —– | — |
| 2/22/14 | at OSU | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 2/28/14 | vs. WSU | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/6/14 | vs. UCLA | — | 22 | — | —– | — |
| 3/8/14 | vs. USC | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/12/14 | ^Pac-12 | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/13/14 | ^Pac-12 | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/14/14 | ^Pac-12 | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/15/14 | ^Pac-12 | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/18-19/14 | NCAA 1st 4 | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/20-23/14 | NCAA 2nd, 3rd | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 3/27-30/14 | NCAA Reg. | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 4/5/14 | NCAA Semis | — | — | — | —– | — |
| 4/7/14 | NCAA Final | — | — | — | —– | — |
@=Exhibition; *=2K Sports Classic; ^=Pac-12 Tournament
2 Comments
I don’t have the highest hopes for Washington in this two-game trip, but at least they get to play in the Garden before returning to the cozy confines of Hec Ed for seven of their next eight games in the usual preconference lollipop schedule. Get those easy wins while you can, boys…even the CIT prefers teams with winning records for the regular season.
Yeah, the Hoosiers should be for the Huskies what the Vikings were for the Seahawks.