Pac 12 Tournament First Round
#11 Washington State Huskies vs #6 Washington Huskies
Wednesday, March 13, 2013, 11:30 pm Eastern, TV: Pac 12 Network
MGM Grand Arena – Las Vegas, Nevada
Opening Line: Washington -1 1/2
Current Line: Washington -2
Opening Total: 127
Current Total: 127 1/2
Opening Money Line: Washington -125 / Washington State +105
Current Money Line: Washington -135 / Washington State +115
The 17-14 Washington Huskies will face their arch rival 13-18 Washington St in the first round of the Pac 12 tournament Wednesday night. The Huskies were 9-9 in the Pac 12 and part of a 4 way tie for sixth along with USC, Stanford, and Arizona St. The Huskies were seeded sixth based on the tiebreaker. Washington St finished tied for last in the conference with Oregon St at 4-14. The winner of Washington and Washington St will play #3 seed Oregon in the Pac 12 quarterfinals Thursday.
Washington leads the series against Washington St 176-100. The Huskies have won 5 straight in the series and 9 of the last 11. The Huskies took two narrow victories this season. The first was 68-63 in Pullman in the Pac 12 opener for both schools. The Huskies also won in Seattle March 3 72-68.
Washington St is coached by Ken Bone. The Cougars swept the LA schools over the weekend to snap a 9 game losing streak. Washington St has losses at Pepperdine, Stanford, Cal, Oregon twice, USC, and UCLA, to Kansas and Texas A&M in a tournament in Kansas City, and at home against Gonzaga, Washington, Colorado, Arizona St twice, Arizona twice and Oregon St. WSU has wins over Idaho, Portland, Fresno St, Buffalo, Utah, and at Oregon St, UCLA, and USC 76-51 Saturday. The Cougars are 15-12-1 ATS and the total is 10-12 this season.
Washington St is outscoring teams 65-63 this season. The Cougars shoot 42.6% from the field and 34.6% from 3 point range. WSU makes 68.6% of their free throws. Washington St averages 33.7 rebounds per game and give up 27.5 per game. The Cougars are #36 in rebounds allowed. Cougar opponents are shooting 42.7% from the field and 34.6% from 3 point range. Washington St averages 12 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, and 12 turnovers per game.
Forward Brock Motum averages 18.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.8 blocks a game. Guard Mike Ladd averages 11 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game. Guard DaVonte Lacy averages 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2 assists per game. He is out for the season with a knee injury. Guard Royce Woolridge averages 10.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1 steal per game. Guard Dexter Kernich-Drew averages 6.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists. Forward D.J. Shelton averages 5.8 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Will DiIorio and Junior Longrus also get time in the rotation. Guard Que Johnson is out for the season because of academics.
Washington is coached by Lorenzo Romar. Washington has home losses to Albany, Colorado St, Nevada, Utah, Arizona twice, UCLA twice, along with road losses at UConn, USC, Oregon St and Oregon twice. The Huskies also have a loss to Ohio St in a tournament in Connecticut. Washington has key wins over Seton Hall in Connecticut, home against Saint Louis, CS-Fullerton, Seattle, Cal-Poly, Northern Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona St twice and road wins over Washington St, Oregon St, and USC, Cal and Stanford. Washington lost at home to UCLA 61-54 Saturday to snap a 3 game winning streak for the Huskies. Washington is 16-13 ATS and the total is 6-14 this season.
Washington is outscoring teams 67-66 this season. The Huskies are shooting 43.4% from the field and 33.2% from 3 point range. Washington makes 67.9% of their free throws. The Huskies average 36.6 rebounds per game and give up 27.8 per game. Washington opponents are shooting 43.1% from the field and 33.7% from 3 point range. The Huskies average 12 assists, 5 steals, 4 blocks, and 13 turnovers.
Guard C.J. Wilcox averages 16.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. Guard Scott Suggs averages 12 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists. Guard Abdul Gaddy averages 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists. Center Aziz N’Diaye averages 9.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. Guard Andrew Andrews averages 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Desmond Simmons averages 4.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1 steal per game. Shawn Kemp, Jr., Jernard Jarreau, and Hikeem Stewart make up the rest of the rotation. Forward Austin Sefarian-Jenkins is out for the season with an elbow injury.
Washington is 4-1 ATS after failing to cover, 8-3 after a straight up loss, and 1-4 against teams with losing records.
Washington St is 12-4 ATS after a cover, 10-4 after a straight up win, 7-3 in Wednesday games, 2-7 in neutral site games, and 1-4 after a straight up win of more than 20 points. The underdog is 5-2 ATS in this series recently.
While Washington is the better team, The Pac 12 has been ruled by parity with any team capable of beating any other team. It is exceedingly possible that any of the lower seeded teams could pull off the upset in Wednesday’s first round games. I like Washington St to win in a slight upset.
