Stanford and Washington look to turn around slow starts in conference play when they meet in a Pac-12 game Thursday night at Seattle.
Each will take the court saddled with a losing streak, with the Cardinal (5-10, 0-5) having dropped three straight overall and all five conference games. The Huskies (9-8, 1-5) have lost five in a row overall and each of their last four Pac-12 contests.
Stanford’s slow start reached its low point Friday at California when the rival Golden Bears exploded for 92 points in a 22-point home win. Cal had struggled on offense all season.
If there was a positive in the loss to Cal, it was that the Cardinal shot 50 percent from the field. Senior Spencer Jones, who had 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, expects more of the same moving forward.
“We have shooters all over the floor, which is nice for me, so they don’t focus so much on me, face-guard me all the time,” Jones said. “And it’s the unselfishness, the chemistry — you’ll see us moving the ball way more than we have in past years.”
Stanford split games with Washington last season, and Jones was a big reason. He was held to just three points on 1-for-5 shooting in a 67-64 loss at Seattle, then rebounded with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting in an 87-69 home romp a month later.
Unlike the Cardinal, the Huskies are coming off competitive road efforts last week in 70-67 and 73-65 losses at Arizona and Arizona State, respectively. Keion Brooks nearly recorded two double-doubles, posting 15 points and 11 rebounds at Arizona State after going for 16 points and nine rebounds at Arizona.
Huskies coach Mike Hopkins came away from the trip wishing his team could have mustered up a bit more offense.
“We’ve got to score the ball better,” Hopkins said. “Sometimes that can get deflating for your defense. You come down, there’s a turnover … Those kinds of things can be disheartening. We have to do a better job.”
–Field Level Media