A Washington Huskies team that got hot at the right time looks to pull off a third-straight upset when they take on the West Virginia Mountaineers in a Thursday, March 25, 2010 Sweet 16 matchup.
The Mountaineers are 5.5-point March Madness odds favorites for this West region tilt at the Carrier Dome and the over/under is 142.5.
The Huskies are the number eleven seed so nobody expected them to be here, but they’ve proven that they belong by beating some good teams to get here.
They squeaked by the sixth seeded Marquette 78-80 in the first round and then made a statement with a 82-64 hammering of the third seeded New Mexico in the second round.
Quincy Pondexter has been the story of the tournament for Washington. He led the team with 18 points in both games and pulled down an offensive board with the Marquette game tied before scoring the winner with 1.7 seconds left.
Isaiah Thomas and Matt Bryan-Amaning ably supported Pondexter against New Mexico each contributing 15 points.
The Huskies play a fast up-tempo game that can wear on an opponent and results in some pretty high scores.
The number two seed in the West region, the West Virginia Mountaineers earned the right to be the favorite coming in, but they could be vulnerable to Washington.
They cruised to a 68-59 victory over their second round opponent Missouri. Da’Sean Butler led the way with 28 points and Devin Ebanks added another 14. But the Mountaineers had some sour moments including a 12:47 stretch between field goals.
After beating the defense-first Tigers, the Mountaineers will need to adjust to play the offense-first Huskies. The contrast between the teams will be a good test for the Mountaineers.
Expect the Mountaineers to try to slow the tempo while the Huskies try to push the tempo. Whoever controls the pace of the game should win.
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