MBK: Cougs square off with UW in first Apple Cup matchup
The first half of the Boeing Apple Cup Series tips off in Seattle Sunday with Washington State looking to snap a six-game losing streak.
The Cougars travel west to take on the suddenly red hot Huskies. Washington was winless in Pac-12 play before sweeping Colorado and Utah last weekend. Washington nearly upset the previously undefeated UCLA Bruins the prior week. WSU enters the weekend having swept the season series last year between the two rivals including a 78-74 win in Seattle.
While both teams have a ton of new faces, there are still a handful of holdovers from last season when the Cougs swept the Huskies. In two games against UW, senior Isaac Bonton averaged 16.0 ppg (33.3%) while sophomore Noah Williams averaged 12.5 ppg (46.7%).
In Seattle, Bonton came up with a 20 point effort while Williams notched 15 points in his hometown, drilling 9-of-10 from the line, including a game-sealing pair with :05 remaining to give the Cougs a 78-74 win in Seattle.
Head Coach Kyle Smith became the fourth Cougar head coach to sweep UW in his first season. The victory was WSU's lone road win in Pac-12 play. WSU is a perfect 12-0 against teams from the Pacific Northwest under Smith. WSU travels to Oregon and Oregon State next week.
Sophomore Noah Williams continues his transformation into one of the best two-way players in the Pac-12 as the defensive ace has scored in double-figures in 12 of 16 games, including 31 pts combined in two games against Colorado. Williams has been nails from deep, hitting a team-best 27-for-56 (48.2%) on the year including going 15-for-26 (57.7%) in the last five games.
Freshmen have powered the Cougs as Efe Abogidi (16), Andrej Jakimovski (14), and Dishon Jackson (7) have moved into the starting lineup. Their combined 37 starts is the fourth most in Division I. Jackson is the youngest player on the Cougars roster at barely over 18 years old.
Despite facing off against some of the best post players in the country in the Pac-12, Jackson has played well for the Cougs in Pac-12 play with three double-digit scoring games in his last four contests.
The 6-10 center leads the team shooting 49.1% from the field and is averaging 7.0 ppg in Pac-12 play. Jackson moved into the Cougs' starting lineup Jan. 2 against Arizona and quickly cemented himself as a threat on both ends of the court.
Since the calendar flipped to 2021, Jackson has started seven games and scored in double-figures three times including back-to-back efforts against Colorado. Against the Pac-12, Jackson is averaging 7.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 1.3 bpg.
In UW's two wins over Utah and Colorado, the Huskies shot 50 percent from the field (57-114) and 49 percent from 3-point range (24-49). UW's season average is 41.6 percent from the field and 32.4 percent from long distance.
Junior Jamal Bey was named the Pac-12 Player of the week after averaging 21.0 points while shooting 78.9 percent from the field (15-of-19), 85.7 percent from 3-point range (6-of-7) and 85.7 percent from the free throw line (6-of-7).
UW scored 80 or more points in back-to-back games for just the fifth time under head coach Mike Hopkins and the first time since a pair of games in December of 2019 (Dec. 17 v. Seattle/Dec. 22 vs. Ball St.).
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