Arizona Basketball: Wildcats back home to face the undefeated Huskies

The Arizona Wildcats are back home and face their toughest Pac-12 game of the season, against the Washington Huskies, who are 9-0 in conference play.

We are now in must win mode. If there is any chance for the Arizona Wildcats to have any hope of making the NCAA tournament, they must find a way to come together and upset the undefeated Washington Huskies.

The Wildcats will need McKale Center to be loud as this team will have their work cut out for them. Arizona has faced adversity all season long and now another challenge presents itself. Time for an upset baby!

Arizona Wildcats

Without Brandon Williams, who is out indefinitely with a knee sprain, the Wildcats will rely heavily on Justin Coleman to play lots of minutes and to hopefully not get in foul trouble. Also, Alex Barcello will be seeing a massive increase in playing time as well and will need to bring it. Everyone will need to bring it as well.

After coming off a tough 95-88 loss to the Sun Devils in overtime in Tempe, the Wildcats will need to put that game behind them and focus on getting the job done against a very confident Washington team. They may be without senior Noah Dickerson, who is questionable due to a sprained ankle against the UCLA bruins.

Dickerson is second on the team in scoring at 12.7 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game. He is one the premier forwards in the Pac-12 and in the country, and without him would help the Wildcats.

Whether Dickerson will be playing or not, Arizona will still have plenty to worry about. Their is a reason why this team is undefeated in conference play. The Huskies are stacked with talented players, most notably Jaylen Nowell, David Crisp, Matisse Thybull and Nahziah Carter just to name a few.

Currently, Nowell leads the team in scoring at16.6 points per game, while Thybull leads the team with 3.2 steals per game – yeah, that’s not a typo! The Wildcats will need to be attentive on offense at all times.

Many things will need to go right for this team to have a chance to win on Thursday night. High percentage shooting and limiting turnovers are two of the more important areas for Arizona. Because of the Huskies’ size, they will likely have the advantage on the boards, but with good ball movement and smart decision making, the Wildcats can give themselves a chance to win this one.

Chase Jeter will likely be much closer to 100 percent, but will need to play smart and aggressive as the Huskies will look to get him into foul trouble. Wildcats must get him going early to open up the three point shot. Because Jeter doesn’t have that mid-range jumper in his arsenal, positioning and being assertive down low will be crucial for him.

Last month against Cal he had a career high 23 points. Similar to when Deandre Ayton played at Arizona, just gotta get the ball inside to the big man and with his good footwork he will find a way to finish:

Defense. Wouldn’t be surprised to see zone defense for the entirety of the game, as that has become the new norm against this team. They can not afford to force three point shots, if they are available, as they will need to find players who have a good look at open shots.

For the Wildcats, this might be the type of game in which Coach Sean Miller throws in some full court press, zone or something to mix it up to prevent his team from getting in foul trouble.

Coming off a career high 19 points, going 5-8 from three point range, Ryan Luther will need to continue that type of performance against the Huskies and for the rest of the season. Many times this season, he has had ups and downs, but he has started to understand what his role is on this team.

Another player who will need to have a big game against the Huskies for this team to have any chance of winning, is Brandon Randolph. He had 17 points against the Devils and is leading the team in points per game with 15.0. He needs to continue to play well if the Cats are to turn this around.

Game Information:

Records: Arizona  (14-8, 5-4) 5th Washington(18-4, 9-0) 1st

Last Matchup: Washington beat Arizona, 78-75 (in Spokane)

Time: 7:00 pm MST/ 6:00 pm PST

Location: Tucson, AZ at McKale Center

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Television: ESPN2

Radio: Arizona IMG Sports Network Arizona Wildcats (Try TuneIn Radio) or 107.5 KHYT (Tucson)

The Wildcats are certainly an underdog in this game, but look what happened against ASU. They weren’t even expected to be in that game, but they were, even had a six-point lead before losing in overtime. They have a chance to upset the Huskies in McKale Center, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. Wildcats fans from all over the globe, the time is now. Time to get up and Bear Down!