Washington (#4, West, Portland pod)
vs Mississippi State (#13)
Thur., 3/19 at 5 pm
Vegas line: -6
Thanks to Vegas Watch for providing these graphs that measure the moving average of a team’s spread (moving avg.) over time vs. the spread for each individual game (indiv). If a team’s moving average is higher than zero, then Vegas currently has a higher opinion of them than Pomeroy, and vice versa.
General Profile
Location: Seattle, Washington
Conference: Pac-10, at-large.
Coach: Lorenzo Romar, hired 2002. Record at UW = 144-80
08-09 Record: 25-8 (14-4)
Last 12 Games: 9-3
Best Win: at Arizona State, 84-71, on 1/31/09.
Worst Loss: at Portland, 74-80, on 11/15/08.
Off. Efficiency Rating: 112.1 (37th)
Def. Efficiency Rating: 88.7 (11th)
Nuts ‘n Bolts
Star Player(s): Isaiah Thomas (15.4 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.5 apg) and Jon Brockman (14.9 ppg and 11.2 rpg).
Unsung Hero: Quincy Pondexter (11.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
Potential NBA Draft Pick: None listed at nbadraft.net, but Thomas is already generating talk.
Key Injuries: No significant injuries.
Depth: 31.2% (162nd nationally); percentage of minutes played by reserves
Achilles Heel: Taking care of the ball. UW averages 14.7 TO per game, ranking 252nd nationally.
Will Make a Deep Run if…: They can shoot a little better. The Huskies shoot 45.9% from the field including 34.1% from three (respectively 69th and 166th in the nation), but they’ll need a little improvement on that to go deep.
Will Make an Early Exit if…: They get outrebounded. They average 37.7 rebounds/game, 5th in the nation.
NCAA History
Last Year Invited: 2006; lost to Connecticut in the Sweet 16.
Streak: One year.
Best NCAA Finish: National semifinalist in 1953, lost to Kansas. Beat LSU in consolation game for 3rd.
Historical Performance vs. Seed (1985-present): n/a
Other
Distance to First Round Site: 175 miles
School’s Claim to Fame: The med school is ranked #1 in Primary Care and the nursing school has been ranked #1 since 1984.
School Wishes It Could Forget: Recent football woes — last winning season was 2002.
Prediction: Assuming Jarvis Varnado doesn’t block everything in their first round game, Washington matches up well with all three teams in its 16th of the bracket, so a trip to the Sweet 16 seems likely.
Major RTC stories: Pac-10 Wrapup and Tourney Preview
Preview written by Rush The Court.