Mount St. Mary’s Open Thread and How to Watch

The Essentials

Date: Tuesday, 11/12/19

Tip-Off Time: 6:00 pm PT

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Radio: KOMO 1000

Streaming: Pac-12.com/live

Location: Seattle, Washington

Betting line: Washington -22

Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers 2019-20 Statistics:

Record: 0-1 (also won 75-58 over D-III Gettysburg College)

Points For per Game: 68.0 ppg (207th)

Points Against per Game: 81.0 ppg (289th)

Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 95.6 (239th)

Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 102.5 (260th)

Mount St. Mary’s Key Players:

C- Malik Jefferson, So. 6’9, 230: 11.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 0.5 bpg, 62.5% FG, 40% FT

Jefferson is your typical big bodied athletic center. He is an above average offensive rebounder and shot blocker and doesn’t attempt shots from outside of the paint. He might have given past additions of Washington some trouble but the Huskies should be able to neutralize him with their front court depth.

F- Omar Habwe, Jr. 6’6, 225: 6.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.5 apg, 36.4% FG, 33.3% 3pt, 100% FT

Habwe is an undersized stretch 4 for this Mount St. Mary’s team and while he’s an ok shooter he’s by no means a great one. Considering his role in the offense he’s a decent ball handler who can keep the offense moving but isn’t going to break down the defense or anything.

G- Jalen Gibbs, Jr. 6’3, 185: 15.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 57.9% FG, 20.0% 3pt, 77.8% FT

Gibbs was the leading scorer for the Mountaineers against Georgetown. He also led the team in shot attempts last year after transferring in from Drake. The efficiency isn’t there for Gibbs as he is a career 28% 3-pt shooter on almost 200 career attempts but he is a crafty scorer around the rim.

G- Vado Morse, So. 6’0, 167: 16.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.0 apg, 40.7% FG, 27.3% 3pt, 77.8% FT

Morse was the leading 3-pt shooter on Mount St. Mary’s last season with 54 makes and he is on his way to doing so again this year with 11 attempts in 2 games. He was the only guard for the Mountaineers last year who had an above average offensive rating partly because when he does drive he’s adept at drawing fouls.

G- Damien Chong Qui, So. 5’8, 145: 8.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 40% FG, 25% 3pt, 77.8% FT

Damien is probably going to be both the shortest and lightest player the Huskies play against all season. He was only an average shooter last season but has skills as an adept passer. Good luck to him however navigating the trees of the Washington zone defense.

The Outlook

Coming off of a thrilling comeback start to the season over a ranked Baylor team there’s a potential for a letdown in the home opener. Mount St. Mary’s may sound like a small school with absolutely no chance of victory but they’ve shown heart so far this season. The Mountaineers were the 2nd youngest team in the country a year ago starting 3 freshmen and 2 sophomores. Now all 5 of those players are back and still comprise the starting lineup which is why they are 1st in the country nationally in minutes continuity. That experience helped them get out to a 19 point lead at Georgetown before collapsing down the stretch as Georgetown went on a 23-2 run in the final 8 minutes.

While they may now have continuity they also are incredibly undersized. The Mountaineers have a trio of 6’9 forwards that rotate through at the center position but otherwise they lack size everywhere else. The starting guard trio at 5’8, 6’0, 6’3 should be overwhelmed by the amount of length Washington can put out on the court. Georgetown only starts 2 players above 6’3 but they were able to dominate Mount St. Mary’s on the glass to the tune of 11 offensive rebounds. Expect Isaiah Stewart to feast.

Mount St. Mary’s was able to stay in the game against Georgetown by shooting 38% from deep. They then turned around and shot 3 of 19 beyond the arc against D-III Gettysburg college. Only one of their 8 returning rotation players shot better than 34% from 3-pt range last season and none better than 36%. Maybe they get lucky and get hot but I find it unlikely they’ll be able to do so.

Washington was incredibly sloppy in the first half against Baylor and it wouldn’t shock me to see the Huskies go through periods of that tonight. The Mountaineers have logged a lot of minutes together even if they are at a seemingly impossible talent disadvantage. Expect a couple of runs from Mount St. Mary’s that make Coach Hopkins more angry than worried but it would take an all-time flop from the Huskies for them to not overwhelm their opponent.

Prediction

Washington Huskies- 86, Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers- 61

*****

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