Huskies 76 – Cardinal 63
The Washington Huskies came out pretty flat on Saturday afternoon, but they did get the much needed win after last Thursday nights devasting loss to Cal.
For the third straight game, the Huskies were without star C.J. Wilcox, but they managed to power through the Cardinal effort to stymie their up-tempo game.
It wasn’t until the second ten minutes of the first half when two-sport star Austin Seferian-Jenkins came into the game and gave the crowd, and his teamates, the much needed boost they needed to end their lethargic shooting game.
Aziz N’Diaye, and Sefarian-Jenkins, did an awesome job of cleaning up the glass, grabbing a combined 13 boards, and upping the intensity for the whole building.
The Cardinal tried their hardest to shut down the fast paced offense that coach Lorenzo Romar knows works best for his Huskies, his response was giving it back to the Cardinal. Stanford shot only 19% from the field in the first half.
Led by Tony Wroten, the Huskies offense finally came to life in the second half. They were sharing the ball quite well, especially coming out of the full court press the Cardinal used late in the second half.
Led by Wroten, the Huskies offense finally came to life in the second half. - (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
This game was fun to watch, it was a tale of two halves definitely. The first half was pretty slow moving, a lot of fouls, and poor shooting all around, but the second half was as fast paced as I’ve seen the Huskies play all year.
My impression with this team over the last few weeks is, when push comes to shove, this team will fight tooth and nail for the victory.
I think at the beginning of conference play, they were still trying to find a true identity, and who the leader of the team was.
The core of Darnell Gant, Tony Wroten, and Terrence Ross have shown that they don’t need one go to guy, that all three of them can take over a game, just like they did tonight.
And add a healthy C.J. Wilcox, and Abdul Gaddy to the mix, and you’ve got a starting five that can be unpredictable for any team in the conference.
I don’t think I stand alone with this statement, but I’ve never been more impressed with a non-scoring outing than I was today watching Sefarian-Jenkins. Hustle.
That’s the one word that I took away from his performance today.
That boy was everywhere. Rebounding, setting screens, diving for loose balls, making no-look passes. Not only that, but making players like Shawn Kemp Jr. rethink their status on this team.
If anything, Sefarian-Jenkins will bring more competition to practice, which ultimately will bring a healthier group of players to the floor for the Huskies.
I can’t wait to see the Huskies ride this wave into Arizona this week. With games against the Sun Devils and Wildcats, the Huskies will need a sweep to stay near the top of the standings.
About Clinton Bell
