Dawgs Welcome No. 9 Gonzaga on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Sunday, December 8

Seattle, WA

4:00 PM

University of Washington

No. 9 Gonzaga

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

December 06, 2019 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes (PDF)Weekly Press Conference Gameday Central

#22 Washington (7-1) vs. #9 Gonzaga (9-1)
UW continues its stretch of seven-straight games inside Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday, Dec. 8, as it hosts No. 9 Gonzaga at 4 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPN2 with Roxy Bernstein and Bill Walton on the call. Fans can also tune into the official Husky Radio Broadcast with Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton on KOMO 1000AM and 97.7 FM. This is the 48th meeting between the two programs with UW holding a 29-18 mark over the Zags. It's also the first time UW has had seven-straight non-conference games at home since the 2008-09 season. UW's 7-1 start is its best since the 2014-15 season.
The Coach (55-23 at UW/3rd Year)
Head Coach Mike Hopkins is in his third year at Washington, and third as a head coach after becoming the 19th head coach in UW history. During his 22 years as an assistant at Syracuse, Hopkins was a part of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament 16 times including the 2003 National Championship, four Final Fours, five Elite Eights and 10 Sweet 16s along with four NIT berths. Syracuse never dipped below a 55.0 percent record while Hopkins was on staff. Hopkins is the reigning back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year, winning the honor in each of his two seasons with the Huskies and has led UW to back-to-back 20 win seasons with postseason appearances each year. (2018 NIT, 2019 NCAA Second Round).
Quick Hitters
• UW is 37-5 at home under head coach Mike Hopkins ... the last time UW recorded just five home losses during three years was 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 ... but having just five losses in 42 games inside Alaska Airlines Arena is the best since a stretch of 42 home games from 2004-05 to 2006-07 when UW lost just twice
• Over the last three games, freshman Jaden McDaniels is averaging 19 points on 53.7 percent shooting from the field ... he is also pulling down five rebounds per outing
• Between McDaniels and Stewart, the freshman duo is accounting for 306 of UW's 583 season points which comes in at 52.5 percent between points and assists.
• UW had six players reach double-figures against Eastern Washington in their highest scoring game of the season ... the last time UW had six players score 10 or more points was Jan. 1, 2019 against Cal State Fullerton
• UW has seven players listed at 6-9 or taller on its roster, the most in the Pac-12
• UW had two freshmen reach 20 points or more against San Diego (Stewart-25, McDaniels-20), which marked the first time two freshmen have done so since Dejounte Murray (30) and Marquese Chriss (27) did against LBSU in the NIT on March 15, 2016 ... additionally, UW joins Duke as the only two programs to have two freshmen score 20 points in the same game this season
• Attendance through UW's six home games (7,843 average) is up by over one thousand from the first six home games last season (6,350) while its scoring margin over the first eight games (+10.7) is its highest since the start of the 2014-15 season (+11.5)
• UW is currently 11th in the NCAA in blocks, averaging 6.3 over eight games ... UW led the NCAA at the end of the season a year ago in the category
• Carter and Wright are both nearing 200 career rebounds as Wright is at 199 and Carter is at 198 ... Carter's rebounding per game is up to 6.6 from 2.4 a year ago
• Carter recorded his first career double-double against Tennessee with 18 points and a career-best 12 rebounds
• Junior Nahziah Cater hit 500 career points following his 15-point night against Mount St. Mary's ... and now sits at 582 career points
• UW graduated four seniors last season (D. Crisp, N. Dickerson, D. Green, M. Thybulle) and lost sophomore Jaylen Nowell as an early NBA Draft entry ... those five accounted for 80.2 percent of UW's scoring during the 2018-19 season
• Jaden McDaniels and Isaiah Stewart were named to the Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 watch list ... Stewart was also selected for the Citizen Naismith Player of the Year watch list
• UW faces four teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago during non-conference action in Baylor (Second Round), Tennessee (Sweet 16), Montana (First Round) and Gonzaga (Elite 8)
• Coach Mike Hopkins is the reigning back-to-back Pac-12 Coach of the Year becoming the first league coach to earn the honor in his first two seasons on the job ... he is also the second coach in UW history to record 20 or more wins in their first two seasons, joining Tippy Dye (1951-52, 52-53).
• UW was picked to finish third overall in the Pac-12 by media covering the league ... additionally, freshman Isaiah Stewart was picked to finish on the Pac-12 First Team while junior Nahziah Carter, sophomore transfer Quade Green and freshman Jaden McDaniels were selected as honorable mention Preseason All-Pac-12