Washington at Washington State


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The Washington State Cougars host the Washington Huskies in an in-state rivalry showdown Sunday. The tip is set for 10:00 EST and there are sure to be fireworks between these two rivals. The Huskies have won four straight over the Cougars, and Washington State head coach Ken Bone certainly knows the significance of putting an end to this losing streak. The Cougars are sure to be a bubble team come tournament time, while the Huskies aren’t going to be outside the Top 25 any time soon. A win like this on their resume would certainly help their cause down the road. The odds for this contest show us a line of Washington -4 over Washington State with a total set of 150 points.

Washington State (14-6, 4-4) doesn’t have many quality wins on their schedule. They lost to then.-No. 5 Kansas State who has been way overrated this season and have since been knocked out of the Top 25. The Cougars did beat Baylor down in Honolulu, but the Bears continue to struggle so that win looks less and less impressive by the week. Road losses against UCLA and USC to kick off their Pac-10 schedule, and a home loss to Arizona certainly don’t help matters, either. The Cougars sit at 69th in the RPI and the words of “We need this one on our resume” from star Klay Thompson is certainly an understatement.

Thompson must play much better against Washington than he has in the past if the Cougars are going to pull off the upset. He leads the team in scoring this season at 22.2 points per game and is one of the most underrated players in the country. But Thompson went just 4-of-29 from the floor in two losses to the Huskies last season. The previous year as a freshman, he shot 6-of-18 in a pair of losses to Washington. DeAngelo Casto is a solid presence on the inside while leading the team in rebounds and blocks at 6.3 boards and 1.9 blocks per game, while Faisal Aden is a sharpshooter on the outside and is the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.1 points per contest.

Washington (15-4, 7-1) has solved their road woes from a year ago which is a big reason why many feel they are a legitimate national championship contender. After losing their first five conference road games last season, the Huskies have won seven of eight away from home in Pac-10 play since. Their only loss during that stretch came against Stanford just two weeks ago. Washington is led by point guard Isaiah Thomas who leads the team in scoring (16.9) and assists (5.8). Thomas has averaged 20.4 points and 7.3 assists over their last seven road wins. The Huskies also have two more studs in Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday. Bryan-Amaning is their second-leading scorer at 16.2 points and their leading rebounded at 7.7 boards per game, while Holiday scores 12.5 points and grabs 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Projected Score at Sports Interaction: Washington 77 – Washington State 73

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