The Essentials
Date: Tuesday, 12/19/17
Tip-Off Time: 7:00pm PST
TV: Pac-12 Network- WA Regional
Radio: KOMO 1000
Location: Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec-Ed Pavilion, Seattle, Washington
Betting Line: Washington -12.5
Bethune-Cookman 2017-18 Statistics:
Record: 5-7
Points For per Game: 74.4 ppg (152nd)
Points Against per Game: 79.1 ppg (278th)
Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 96.0 (317th)
Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 110.6 (305th)
Strength of Schedule: 334th
Bethune-Cookman Key Players:
C- Shawntrez Davis, Jr. 6’9, 220: 14.4ppg, 9.0rpg, 1.7bpg, 52.3% FG, 55.1% FT, 41.7% 3pt
Davis is the biggest player on the Wildcats roster and he’s also possibly their best. He’s a high level rebounder/shot blocker and has the ability to step out and hit a 3 occasionally.
F- Soufiyane Diakite, Sr. 6’6, 215: 8.0ppg, 7.4rpg, 0.8apg, 56.7% FG, 61.4% FT, 16.7% 3pt
Diakite is also a very good rebounder/shot blocker for his size. His offensive/defensive profile is incredibly similar to Davis above only slightly worse at most aspects.
F- Isaiah Bailey, Jr. 6’6, 205: 13.2ppg, 4.5rpg, 3.4apg, 40.8% FG, 71.9% FT, 32.6% 3pt
Bailey averages about 6 free throws per game so he gets to the line a fair amount. Keeping him out of the center of the zone will be a priority for the UW defense.
G- Brandon Tabb, Sr. 6’2, 210: 19.0ppg, 3.9rpg, 0.9apg, 38.4% FG, 93.5% FT, 33.0% 3pt
Tabb is what some would call a volume shooter. That’s code for a bad offensive player who thinks he’s good. His percentages all suggest he hurts the team by shooting as much as he does but at least he is great when he gets to the line and doesn’t turn the ball over much.
G- Malik Maitland, Jr. 5’9, 175: 12.0ppg, 2.8rpg, 5.3apg, 38.7% FG, 59.4% FT, 37.3% 3pt
God help Malik if he tries to shoot a 3-pointer over Matisse Thybulle because that shot is getting blocked. He’s the team’s best shooter and best distributor so he’ll have to can several for the Wildcats to have a chance.
The Outlook
Here are the Wildcats’ 5 wins: #285 Cal Poly (home), #321 Grambling State (home), #330 Jacksonville (home), D-III Florida College (home), D-III Johnson FL (home). Not exactly a murderer’s row. However, the only other power-5 team the Wildcats have played was at Georgia Tech and they only lost by 3. So it’s not impossible that they could keep this thing close. In that game Bethune-Cookman made 11 more 3-pointers than Georgia Tech and still lost.
Bethune-Cookman’s defining characteristic is that they play extremely fast. They’re 10th in the country in adjusted tempo so they’ll try to speed the game up as much as possible. The Huskies will have to be ready to get back on defense even after makes and get the zone set up to limit transition opportunities.
There are some things the Wildcats do well. They get to the free throw line a lot (although not as much as Washington). The last several Pac-12 refs crews to do Husky home games have turned the games into a whistle blowing contest and this game could go the same way. Washington will have to shoot better than the 22/36 they shot from the line against LMU.
On defense they’ve been one of the best teams in the country at limiting three-point shots. But that should play into the Huskies’ hands as they’re more than happy to run the offense through Noah Dickerson and Sam Timmins down low while supplementing it with Jaylen Nowell’s mid-range game. This game is going to be the last true gimme the Huskies play this season so it’d be nice to see them get a blowout.
Prediction
Washington Huskies- 87,Bethune-Cookman Wildcats- 68
EDIT: Apparently the Bethune-Cookman team got stranded for an entire day in the Atlanta airport because of their power outages. They essentially traveled for 55 hours before landing at Sea-Tac 4 hours before tip-off. There are absolutely no excuses for UW in this one.
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