The University of Washington men’s basketball team saw its own blood earlier this season, when a one-point loss at Stanford ended the Huskies’ dreams of going unbeaten in Pac-10 play.
Right about now, UW could use a cut man in its corner.
The Huskies (15-6 overall, 7-3 in the Pac-10) are coming off two consecutive losses — just their second losing streak since Jan. 2010 — and are shooting just under 35 percent in those two games. A loss to Oregon today would match the longest losing streak since the beginning of the 2008-09 season.
UW beat the Ducks 87-69 in Seattle last month, but Oregon was in control of that game for much of the first 25 minutes. The Ducks (11-11, 4-6) are coming off their most lopsided win of the conference season, having drubbed a Washington State team that beat the Huskies last weekend.
There are few secrets as to what UW needs to do better if it is going to get back to the top of the Pac-10 standings. Big man Matthew Bryan-Amaning has made just 6 of 20 shots during the two-game losing streak, while the Huskies’ defense has been surprisingly out of synch as well. And the bench that was such a strength early in the season has struggled since Scott Suggs got pushed into the starting lineup in place of injured Abdul Gaddy.
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