Scouting report: No. 8 Arizona Wildcats vs. Washington Huskies

The Star's Bruce Pascoe breaks down the starting lineups, storylines and stats as the No. 8-ranked Arizona Wildcats host the Washington Huskies Monday night at McKale Center. 

What: Washington (5-5) at No. 9 Arizona (11-1) 

Where: McKale Center

When: 6 p.m.

TV: Pac-12 Network

Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM

Social media: @TheWildcaster on Twitter / TheWildcaster on Facebook

Probable starters: Arizona

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 sophomore)

G Dalen Terry (6-6 sophomore)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-6 sophomore)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 sophomore)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 junior)

Probable starters: Washington

G Terrell Brown (6-3 senior)

G Daejon Davis (6-3 senior)

F Jamal Bey (6-6 senior)

F Emmitt Matthews Jr. (6-7 senior)

C Nate Roberts (6-10 junior)

How they match up

The series: Arizona leads the series 54-31 overall and has won the past three games, but has struggled with the Huskies in Tucson during the previous three seasons. Washington beat Arizona 67-60 at McKale Center in 2018-19 and 69-63 in 2019-20, then took the Wildcats down to the wire in UA’s 75-74 win on Senior Day at McKale Center last season. In that game, James Akinjo led the Wildcats with 26 points and seven assists, including one to Azuolas Tubelis for a game-winning jumper with 5.2 seconds left.

This season: The Wildcats and Huskies were originally scheduled to play on Dec. 2 at McKale Center before the Huskies ran into COVID-19 issues. The game was rescheduled for Jan. 25 and, after UA’s games at Top-10 teams UCLA and USC were postponed last weekend because of those teams’ COVID issues, moved up to Monday. The Wildcats and Huskies are scheduled to meet again in Seattle on Feb. 12.

Washington overview: Thanks to their own COVID issues and those of Washington State, which pulled out of a scheduled Dec. 29 game with the Huskies in Pullman, Washington has played only twice since Nov. 27, a 64-56 home win over Seattle on Dec. 18 and a 68-52 home loss to Utah Valley on Dec. 21.

Over 10 total games so far, the Huskies have struggled to turn around a program that spent the past two seasons at or near the Pac-12 cellar. Coach Mike Hopkins replaced two assistant coaches, bringing in former UW standout Quincy Pondexter and former Cal coach Wyking Jones, while washing the playing roster fully through the transfer portal. The Huskies lost six players to transfer after last season but brought home three Seattle-area transfers to put in their starting lineup: guard Terrell Brown arrived from Arizona after spending last season with the Wildcats, guard Daejon Davis came from Stanford, while forward Emmitt Matthews of Tacoma arrived via West Virginia. They also play TCU transfer PJ Fuller heavily off the bench after he transferred from TCU.

The Huskies’ top returner, wing Jamal Bey, was far and away the Pac-12’s top 3-point percentage shooter last season at 50.7. He’s is shooting 37.1% from 3-point range so far this season but none of the other Huskies are shooting better than 32% from long range — and when Bey missed the Utah Valley game, the Huskies went 0 for 11 from 3.

A combo guard and part-time starter last season at Arizona, Brown has become the Pac-12's leading scorer at Washington while shooting 48.7% from two-point range and 25.0% from 3-point range He also gets to the line often, drawing 6.1 per 40 minutes, the 53rd best rate nationally.

With all its perimeter depth, Washington has the flexibility to go with a big or small lineup and the Huskies know how to get to the line, with the 13th highest ratio of free-throws attempted to field goals attempted. But their offense is woefully inefficient. The Huskies rank 312th nationally in two-point shooting at 44.0% while making only 28.5% (the 322nd best) from 3-point range. Stylistically, in part because Brown and some of the Huskies’ other scorers get to the basket often via isolation plays, they use an assist to set up a basket just 37.3% of the time, the sixth-lowest assist ratio in the country.

Defensively, Washington also isn't as intimidating as Hopkins' earlier UW teams. The Huskies turn opponents over 24.0% of the time but overall are rated just 82nd nationally in defensive efficiency.

He said it: “It's really hard to say if (Brown) is more on or off the ball because they’ve only played two games (in the past month) and they had a different rotation based on guys being available and not being available. So it's hard to get a true feel of what this team's true identity is based on that and you just have to go in and try to be as prepared as you possibly can. They've had a lot more practice time now so they could change a lot of things.

"(Bey) makes it makes a lot of difference. He gives them another scoring threat and he's a big-time player. We’re fully expecting him to play. We're gonna prepare as if he's going to play and if he doesn’t play, we'll adjust accordingly.

“Matthews (and Fuller) are both proven scorers and you treat Fuller like a starter because he plays starter minutes and has starter production.

“They're playing a little bit more zone over the last two games than they have  in the past, but overall, they're playing more man than zone. That's not to say that they don't come in and play us all zone. It's just terms of the tendencies that they've shown so far.

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“We have to play well. I'm sure they will be hungry. We've been off for a while. It's just kind of a crazy time period that we're faced with. (There are) large gaps in between games and hopefully you can get into a basketball playing rhythm and don't look like a team that hadn't played in a while.” — UA assistant coach Steve Robinson, who scouted the Huskies.

Key player (Washington): Terrell Brown Jr. 

You might say the Seattle-bred point guard has a knack for timing. He went through Senior Day ceremonies last season with Arizona before the Wildcats’ home finale against the Huskies, and after the season he transferred to Washington to play a super senior season in 2021-22. Now he returns to McKale in a visitor’s jersey as the Pac-12’s leading scorer.

Key player (Arizona): Bennedict Mathurin

If the sophomore wing from Montreal can carry his explosive December into the New Year, he’ll be in the conversation for Pac-12 Player of the Year. Over six games last month, Mathurin averaged 22.7 points while shooting 68.3% from two-point range, 40.9% from 3 and went to the line an average of 4.8 times per game.

Sidelines

From mentor to opponent

As a freshman last season, Dalen Terry found education, comfort and friendship in roommate Terrell Brown, then a veteran grad transfer who had transferred to UA from Seattle U.

That relationship will change Tuesday, at least for a couple of hours, when Brown will be in front of Terry wearing a Washington jersey.

Terry figures to have a big hand in trying to defend Brown and the two may even, well, exchange a few words on the court.

“I mean, y’all know me. You know how I play defense,” Terry said, chuckling. “So I’ll take pride in that. But I’m not going to look at him any type of different way because he's on a different team. I'm gonna take it as seriously as I'll take any other any other person we play this year.”

Even though Brown really is different. Off the court, Terry says Brown is still “like a brother” to him after they spent last season together.

“I had ups and downs and so did he, but since he's been through it, he knew what it was like to have good games, and he knew like to have bad games,” Terry said. “He knew what it was like to have everybody cheering for you, and not. So he kept me real.

“And since he was my roommate, it was two steps away from my door and we gonna talk about the game, talk about video games. We played the game together, watch games together.”

Zoom and gloom

Citing an “abundance of caution” related to the current COVID surge, Arizona moved its news conferences to a Zoom-only format at least temporarily starting Sunday, when UA coach Tommy Lloyd and Terry appeared alone in UA’s media room while media questions shot in remotely.

That was also the set up the Wildcats held last season, when fans were also not allowed in McKale Center, but UA coach Tommy Lloyd said he has not heard of any other changes in game-day policy.

“I don't love doing these press conferences via Zoom,” Lloyd said. “But it is what it is and the current state of things. So I think we're gonna do the best job we can moving forward.”

Terry said he became used to the format last season and has continued being careful this season, wearing masks and limiting his visits to only close family members during the Christmas break.

“I know the world is crazy. COVID is happening so we got to be safe,” Terry said. “ I try to be as safe as possible just because I really don't like being sick.”

Life goes on

If the 28 fouls the Wildcats were called for in their 77-73 loss at Tennessee on Dec. 22 stuck with UA fans over the holiday break, they apparently did not with Lloyd.

Asked for his reaction Sunday, after some national media expressed criticism of the officiating in that game, Lloyd said with a smile, “Are you trying to get me fined?"

Lloyd then offered his take.

“Honestly, I would just say this: Of course there's questionable calls,” Lloyd said. “There's questionable calls in every high-level game. But as a coach, I can go back and watch that film and I guarantee I can find twice as many questionable decisions that we made as coaches or players that had more of an impact on that game than officiating.

“So you’ve got to take officiating out of the equation and you’ve got to just evaluate the things you can control. I didn't think we did a great job handling pressure, taking care of the basketball especially early in the game. I didn't think we did a great job battling on the glass like we're capable of.

“If you're turning the ball over and you're not winning the battle of the boards, it's going to be a tough night no matter who and where you play. So you literally take the officials out of the equation. I haven't even thought about them at all since that game has been over. I haven't called the conference office. I haven't done anything. This is an Arizona basketball issue, not an officiating issue.”

Numbers game

12 — Days since Arizona has played a game

13 — Days since Washington has played a game.

24.0 — Percent of the time Washington opponents turn the ball over on their possessions, the 22nd-best defensive turnover percentage.