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General News Huskies head to Tempe to take on Sun Devils |
Tempe, AZ (Sports Network) - The 24th-ranked Washington Huskies will attempt to score a Pac-10 Conference road win over an Arizona State team in search of its first league victory.
Washington is 10-3 overall and carries a 1-1 conference record into this tilt. The Huskies were most recently in action on Saturday when they suffered a 90-79 loss to Oregon, snapping a four-game overall win streak. Tonight's game marks just the second true road tilt of the season for Washington, which has clearly benefited from 11 home games.
As for the Sun Devils, they have been a streaky team this season, running off a pair of four-game win streaks. Unfortunately, there have been a pair of two- game losing streaks as well, and the last two outings for the team have ended in defeat. ASU, which is 10-5 overall, fell to 0-2 in conference last Saturday with a 47-37 loss to USC, as the Sun Devils were held under 40 points for the first time since 1991.
Arizona State owns a 35-33 series advantage over Washington, but the Huskies have won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
There are only two players on the Washington roster that are averaging more than 8.4 ppg this season. Fortunately, those two players are both capable of taking over a game at the offensive end of the floor. Quincy Pondexter may very well be the best player in the Pac-10, and he is currently averaging 21.3 ppg on 56.5 percent shooting from the field. More than just a scorer, he is ripping down 8.3 rpg to pace the squad as well. As for Isaiah Thomas, he is scoring 18.2 ppg for a Washington team that is putting up 82.5 ppg while allowing 71.5 ppg. In the recent loss to Oregon, the Huskies clearly struggled at the defensive end, allowing the Ducks to connect on 53 percent of their field goal attempts. Thomas scored 25 points in the setback, while Pondexter pitched in with 16.
Arizona State is a tough defensive team that is limiting opponents to 55.2 ppg on 39.1 percent shooting from the floor. The Sun Devils are netting 68.1 ppg at the offensive end, and like Washington, they have two double-digit scorers in the fold. Rihards Kuksiks is tops with a modest output of 11.4 ppg, and Derek Glasser provides 11.1 ppg, so it is obvious that those two individuals are not on the same level as Pondexter and Thomas. ASU shot an embarrassing 24.4 percent from the field in the ugly loss to USC last time out, overshadowing a solid defensive effort that limited the Trojans to 35.7 percent shooting. The Sun Devils were outrebounded, outscored from the foul line and had more than twice as many turnovers as assists, so it isn't hard to figure out why they lost the game. Demetrius Walker led the way in defeat with 11 points off the bench.
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