via imgs.sfgate.com
Who wants another triple OT classic?
Time: 11:30 AM
TV: FSN HD/CSN Bay Area
Radio: KFRC 1550 AM
Stream links: Check the comments
Line: Huskies by -1.5 to -2.5, depends on which book you look at
Injury report: Jorge (out), MSF (questionable), Bak Bak (eligibility issues, possibly apocryphal)
It's Saturday Morning Bears! And it's...time to play hoops??
Talk about a brutal turnaround. The Bears barely have enough time to savor their high-paced victory in Pullman before turning around and facing the preseason Pac-10 favorites. Obviously we'd love a victory here, but let's be real. The Huskies just curbstomped the Cardinal and rested most of their players for the final stretch; the Bears just ran their seniors ragged against the Cougars. The Huskies are playing at home; the Bears are playing after a long road trip across the state, a brief Friday practice and 36 hours between games. Both teams need every win they can get, but the Huskies are the more desperate team--ANOTHER loss this early would drop them to 2-4 in the conference and really hamstring their repeat Pac-10 title bid.
And yes, I know we beat them there under similar circumstances last year, but to expect the same miracle twice is a tall order. It's not easy to win in Seattle (we didn't even lead there until the third overtime last year), so we'd need the right combination of luck and skill to pull one out this afternoon. Randle is going to be worn out, so someone else will have to step up.
Team matchups
| Team | Oeff | Deff | Tempo | eFG% | TO% | Off Reb% | FTA/FGA |
| Cal | 120.2 (3) | 94.5 (71) | 70.8 (66) | 53.3 (44) | 17.3 (25) | 36.1 (70) | 32.3 (280) |
| UDub | 107.9 (74) | 94.0 (69) | 74.3 (11) | 48.5 (187) | 17.4 (28) | 39.0 (23) | 43.1 (61) |
You thought the Cougars loved to run--the Huskies are one of the fastest teams in the nation (11th in the country)-- they'll push that ball and take any shot they like to see. While they aren't as efficient as Cal, they also pound the boards and can get those extra possessions and extra shots that might make the difference here.
Individual matchups
Alpha dog: Quincy Pondexter (120 offensive rating, 77.5% of minutes played, 26.2% of posessions, 56 eFG%, 61.7 true shooting %, 6.2 fouls drawn per 40 min., 50 FT rate, 11.2 offensive rebound %, 17.2 defensive rebound %, 15.3 TO rate, 2.9 steal%)
Defensive assignment: Theo Robertson
Point guards: Isaiah Thomas (27.0% of possessions, 27.2% of shots, 77.4% of minutes played, 6.9 fouls drawn per 40 min., 55.8 FT rate) and Venoy Overton (23.8 assist rate, 4.2 steal %).
Defensive assignments: Jerome Randle and Nikola Knezevic
Big men: Matthew Bryan-Amaning (10.0 offensive rebound %, 16.7 defensive rebound %, 13.7 TO rate, 5.6 block%), Justin Holiday (10.1 offensive rebound %, 13.9 defensive rebound %), Tyreese Breshers (20.6 defensive rebound %, 8.2 block %)
Defensive assignments: Primarily Jamal Boykin and Omondi Amoke--the Huskies are not a tall team (tallest member is 6'9).
Role players: Adbul Gaddy (22.3 assist rate) and Elston Turner (7.2 TO rate)
Defensive assignment: Patrick Christopher, probably some Nikola too.