SEATTLE β After his surprising Washington Huskies knocked off ASU 68-64 on Thursday, putting them at 6-3 in Pac-12 play, coach Mike Hopkins lunged over in a group hug with his wife and children on the southwest corner of Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
About 15 minutes later, in his postgame news conference, somebody asked him about Arizona.
βThe thing about this league and any great league is you can celebrate for about 4-5 hours, kiss my kids, drink a bottle of water or whatever, and get ready for tomorrow,β Hopkins said. βWeβre gonna be confident, thatβs really important, but itβs having the energy and a game plan.
βWeβre going up against Saturday a team that could be the best team in the country. At the beginning of the year, they had issues but theyβve got size. Theyβve got shooting. Theyβve got guard play. Theyβve got a complete package and it will be a great test for us.
βBut thatβs why you love coming to schools like this, to play this type of competition and see where weβre at.β
The Huskies will have to figure out a way to slow down Deandre Ayton and Arizona's inside game Saturday but they did it Thursday by focusing on the outside. UW used its 2-3 zone defense to cut off ASUβs outside shooting early while getting a first-half double-double from Noah Dickerson.
Then they received 10 second-half points from David Crisp, including two gutsy layups within 40 seconds that allowed UW to carry a four-point lead into the final 1:58.
The Huskies never lost the lead again, leading to a wild celebration among the 6,904 fans on hand Thursday at Hec Ed.Β
βThe greatest thing about David heβs like any great guard: You run your team and when things go sour, the great thing about David is he can score,β Hopkins said. βItβs just the timing of when to do it. So we started the double screen, and he was able to get all the way to the rim. He just made big plays, and timely too. They were defending us pretty well. We had a tough time getting good shots. He made those plays and those were just lifesavers for us.β
Crisp, though, indicated it was also a matter of taking what the ASU defense gave him, since the Sun Devilsβ focus on Dickerson opened things up.
βWeβve got a lot of weapons,β Crisp said. βYou gotta respect everyone on the floor. Noah was killing them early and they were reluctant to leave him. And guys like Matisse (Thybulle) and Jaylen (Nowell), they can get a basket, too.β
Then again, Crisp wouldn't blame the Sun Devils for focusing on Dickerson.
βI wonβt tell you what Iβve been telling him,β Crisp said of Dickerson. But itβs sort of βthey havenβt found nobody who can mess with you.β
The first half was a display of what the Huskiesβ 2-3 zone defense can do at its best. The Sun Devils managed to hit just 1 of 10 3-pointers against the Huskies before halftime, with Shannon Evans missing four 3-point attempts, and ASU was 38.5 percent from the field overall.
The Huskies also scored nine points off eight first-half ASU turnovers.
βI just think the guys, the more reps they get in, the better they get at it,β Hopkins said. βTheyβre learning a whole new system. If you saw our first game (an exhibition) against Saint Martinβs, they made 15 3s.
"Itβs almost like they couldnβt play defense one lick and they just kept getting better. Not only are they getting better at it but they start reading and they start adapting, and thatβs the great thing about our zone, itβs a little bit of both. It can transform, based on personnel, and the longer Matisse and those guys play, theyβve got great instincts.β
Thybulle had three steals in the first half and another three in the second. The six total steals gave him the school record for steals in a season, 70, with another nine regular-season games to play.
Hopkins referred to him as βSpider-Man.β
βHeβs No. 1,β Hopkins said. βWe had a defensive player of the year at Syracuse but they were all big guys, shot-blockers. He impacts the game at the guard spot as well as Iβve ever seen it and heβs got great instincts.Β Heβs got great anticipation, heβs quick and he covers space really well. Heβs got the whole package.
βHe was sick tonight. He had the stomach stuff and he just kept coming at it. (It was) `Please, please get out thereβ and he did. When you think about it: Heβs sick. He has three 3s, had six steals.
βGuyβs a frickinβ machine.β
The Seattle Times recently had a story on Thybulle's defense.
In his game story for the Republic, Doug Haller wrapped up what has led to ASU's 4-6 record in Pac-12 play after that 12-0 start.
Dickerson and Crisp both raved about the atmosphere in Hec Ed, which had the student section standing and active throughout the game. Of course, it could be even wilder on Saturday when Arizona pays a visit...
