CSU-Northridge Matadors (3-6) vs Washington Huskies (5-5)
Thursday December 22
Alaska Airlines Arena - Seattle, WA
10:00PM
Moneyline: none currently posted
Spread: Washington -19.5
O/U: 158.5


CSU Northridge

The Matadors hop up the coast to face the Huskies on Thursday evening. They are on a short two game winning streak right now but I think they are going to find that the Huskies are just a little better than Pacifica College, their most recent opponent. Northridge plays in the Big West but they are not expected to challenge Long Beach State or UC Santa-Barbara for the top spot. This is a paycheck game and not much else.

Northridge is a pretty non-descript team but there is one thing they do very well - hit free throws (77% - 10th in the nation). That is a good ingredient to have for an upset but this team just doesn’t have the talent to do so. Leading scorer, guard Stephan Hicks can be a bit hard to handle at times but he is going to find it difficult to be as efficient as he has been against an aggressive and athletic team like Washington.

Washington

I feel confident when I write that the Huskies have to be the best .500 team in the country. Last week they almost knocked off Marquette at MSG and there is enough talent on this team to win the PAC 12. Obviously with that record they have been struggling for consistency big time. I mean how did they lose by almost 20 points to South Dakota State. It was the shocker nobody was talking about last weekend.

Against SDSU the Huskies fell victim to unheralded guard Nate Wolters. With his shooting and point guard play he had good control of the game and the Huskies defense didn’t do enough to disrupt their shooters. Anytime you give up 56% from the floor you are in big trouble. What is really disconcerting is that that game was at home too. You can bet the Huskies will be seriously looking to put a hurt on the Matadors this time out. They way they score points it could be ugly if they are motivated and want to send a message.

Spread Pick: Washington
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Washington 87 - CSU Northridge 60