Arizona Basketball: Top 5 toughest opponents for the 2019-20 season
By David Rosen
No.3 – Washington
2018-19 record: 27-9 (Overall), 15-3 (1st in the Pac-12)
Leading scorer: Jaylen Nowell, 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3. assists per game
Head-to-head matchup: 52-30,
Last meeting: Washington won 67-60 in McKale Center
The 2018-19 Pac-12 regular-season champions, Washington Huskies, were the one bright spot in the conference last season. They dominated the conference home and away. For their efforts, they made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to North Carolina 81-59.
Pac-12 Player of the Year and leading scorer for the Huskies, Jaylen Nowell declared for the NBA and was drafted in the second round of the NBA by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Huskies will be without top scorers Matisse Thybulle, Noah Dickerson and David Crisp (who all graduated) but they will be bringing back some returning players such Nahziah Carter and few transfers that the Huskies will rely upon for experience and shooting.
Overall, the Huskies that don’t have the depth of experience players they had last season, but they do have the No.3 class in the Pac-12 and No.10 ranked overall in the nation joining them, including two five-star players in Isaiah Stewart and Jaden McDaniels.
The last meeting between these two was a hard fought battle, but in the end, the athleticism was too much for the Wildcats to handle falling 67-60. This time around, both teams will almost be a mirror of one another with the overall talent level each team will have. The Wildcats will want to avenge last season’s only meeting with the Huskies with a W instead of L.