The Washington Huskies all of a sudden find themselves in a dangerous position following their shocking 80-69 defeat to their cross-state rival Washington State Cougars. It's a dangerous position because this Huskies team has only one quality win (home vs Arizona) and plenty of bad loses against teams they should of beat.
If the Huskies want to play in the NCAA tournament, the Huskies need to start winning. The Huskies are 19-9 and 10-6 in the Pac 10. The Huskies are currently not on the bubble according to Joe Lunardi a Bracetoligst from ESPN, but will be shortly if they don't start to winning.
If you want to look at Lunardi's bracketology page click here.
If you want to see the latest on the RPI standings click here.
Personally, I think the Huskies will be alright. Washington is a really good team when they shoot well. Consequently, when the Huskies have an off night shooting. The biggest reason why I think the Huskies will be okay is because of their experience. The Huskies have been to the NCAA tournament the last two years and seniors Justin Holiday, Vernoy Overton and Matthew Bryan Amaning would love to make it three years in a row. The Huskies haven't made the tournament three years in a row since 2004, 2005, and 2006.
Furthermore, the Huskies had to deal with a similar situation last year. On February 18th the Huskies were dealt with a tough 67-64 loss to USC. With the Huskies 17-9 and only 7-7 in the Pac 10, Washington's tournament chances were going out the window. College Gameday was coming for that game and the Huskies needed to show america what they were all about. The Huskies ended up destroying UCLA 97-68 to ignite a nine game winning streak that ended with the loss to West Virginia in the Sweet 16.
One year later the Huskies basketball team will try to catch fire like they did last year. In fact, the game will be on ESPN2 so the Huskies can show America that their contenders and not pretenders.
Don't get me wrong, this team is much improved from last year. UCLA is 21-8 and 12-4 in the Pac 10. The Bruins are coming off an impressive 71-49 win over Pac 10 leader Arizona. The team is led by Sophomore Reeves Nelson. His 14 points per game leads his team.
For Washington to take care of business tomorrow the Huskies have to have a smooth game and limit the turnovers. In the Huskies 80-69 loss to Washington State, the huskies had 16 turnovers and a lot of flat possessions. UCLA has improved mightily since the Huskies 74-63 win in Pauley Pavilion on New Years Eve and the game shouldn't be looked at as an easy win just because it's at home.
In the end I think the Huskies pull off it out and get the win. The Huskies haven't had back to back Pac 10 losses at home since the 2008 season when they lost three in a row. Also, Washington hasn't lost to UCLA to home since 2004. If UCLA is going to end that streak they will have to weather the early storm. Washington is coming off their worst performance at home this year and should be hungry to get back on the floor again. I don't see UCLA being able to weather the storm, Washington will be able to feed off the noise of the crowd for a 86-69 win. Matthew Bryan Amaning will have a big game in hopefully his second to last home game.
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