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Preview: Washington at Tulane
Washington makes its final road trip before conference play when it visits Tulane on Tuesday. The Huskies have won three of their last four games in an up-and-down non-conference slate, picking up an 85-66 victory over Idaho State on Saturday. Perris Blackwell scored 20 points and C.J. Wilcox added 19 in what was Washington’s largest margin of victory since its 2012-13 season opener 43 games ago.
Despite the win, the Huskies need to correct a few issues, most notably an interior defense that allowed Idaho State to match them in points in the paint and to get within five points with under seven minutes remaining. The Green Wave is one of the worst shooting teams (42.9 percent) in Conference USA. Guard Jay Hook, however, was spectacular in a 70-65 win over Jackson State on Dec. 7, hitting a school-record eight 3-pointers en route to a career-high 31 points as Tulane broke a five-game slide.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, N/A.
ABOUT WASHINGTON (5-4): While wins have been hard to come by on a consistent basis, the Huskies have shined on the offensive end relative to prior teams under 12th-year head coach Lorenzo Romar. Their assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.37 is their best under Romar through nine games, as is their 77.4 percent mark from the foul line, which ranks eighth nationally. Washington handed out 19 assists on 32 baskets and went 11-for-13 from the charity stripe in their win over Idaho State.
ABOUT TULANE (5-5): Hook’s performance against Jackson State came out of nowhere after he had shot 3-of-15 from the floor over his previous two games, and it was a necessity with leading scorer Louis Dabney struggling. Dabney, who averaged 23.6 points during the team’s five-game skid, was limited to 11 points on 2-of-12 shooting in the win. But the sophomore had a career-high six assists and hit three free throws in the closing seconds to help seal the win.
TIP-INS
1. Wilcox needs two points to move into sole possession of 11th place on the school’s all-time scoring list and is 13 shy of the 1,500-point mark.
2. Tulane freshman PG Jonathan Stark entered Monday leading the nation in minutes per game at 38.3.
3. This is the first meeting between the teams.
PREDICTION: Washington 76, Tulane 68
