Happy charts:
Player of the Game: Klay Thompson. 25 points on 50% shooting, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals. The only thing keeping this from being his best performance ever were 5 turnovers and 5 missed free throws.
Right Hand Man: Reggie Moore. Playing Isiah Thomas head-to-head brought out the best in Reggie. 18 points on 50% shooting, 5 assists versus 2 turnovers and 9 of 10 (!) from the free throw line. One thing people tend to forget is our team free-throw shooting is often reliant on who gets to the line. When it's Reggie and Klay, we're in good hands. When it's just Casto and Capers, it's a little iffy.
Unsung Hero: Team Defense. Let's start with Isiah Thomas' stat line: 3 of 13 shooting (2 of 6 from three), 5 assists, 7 turnovers. Normally, credit would go to Capers, but often IT was going up against the top of the 2-3 zone: Aden and Moore. The team also did a great job of taking away anything inside. Matthew Bryan-Amaning was 1 for 8 with six points. Aziz N'Diaye was a total non-factor with 2 points in 9 minutes. People will look at the 80 points and think this wasn't a great defensive effort by the Cougs. It was. The Dawgs' only offense came from three-point shooting (11 of 31) and free throws (23 of 29). Even the three-point percentage wasn't great.
Play of the Game:
Reggie Moore WSU Alley-Oop Dunk (via andrewgragg)
It was over when... Somewhere during Klay's four trips to the line in the final two minutes, where each time he missed the first shot but drained the second. Really, it was the defense preventing any hope of a Husky comeback after Faisal Aden's three put the Cougs up 11 with 2:15 to play.
Stat of the Game: I'm not sure if they use the same formula as kenpom.com, but if scacchoops.com is right, the Cougs' offensive efficiency of 108.8 is the best offensive performance against the Huskies this season. Even if it isn't the very best, you have to be impressed about an effort like this against a team as good on defense as UW.
My other stat of the game: Who would've thought Charlie Enquist would log nine minutes? In a win?