Washington Scouting Report

After a dominant win over Nebraska (Midwest) and Rutgers (East Coast), Purdue seeks to complete the American triple-crown with a win over the mighty Huskies from Washington. The Boilermakers travel to a strange land filled with Starbucks and other Seattle things.

Despite the travel, Purdue is still favored by 10 points, according to Torvik, against a struggling Washington team. According to Kenpom, they currently rank 93rd in the country in adjusted efficiency margin, with an offense ranked 137th and a defense ranked 75th. Here's what you need to know about Washington ahead of Wednesday.

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Washington's Offense

The Huskies are having a dreadful shooting season. They rank as the 221st team in the country in eFG%. Only two players (#8 and #32) in Washington's top 8 contributors are shooting above 33% from three. The Huskies make up for their lack of shooting by playing with a ton of size and forcing their way to the free-throw line, led by Great Osobor, the Big Ten leader in free throws attempted.

In terms of play style, Washington will run a lot of ball screens and post-ups with a variety of different combinations. The common theme is Great Osobor (#1) and Zoom Diallo (#9) trying to get shots in the paint. I wouldn't expect unique sets, but rather running the same actions with slight variations to attack defenses.

This was Washington's opening set in their last game. Starts in a horn set that uses multiple staggers to set up an Osobor post-up or a pick-and-roll on the other side. They have problems finding Osobor in the post and their offensive speed makes it tough to gain advantages.

Here's another opening set versus Michigan State, again starting in horns but going to a ball screen motion. Again, notice the speed never putting stress on the Spartans until #32 makes a great pass to Osobor rolling. They generate a lot of offense using their rollers or posting up bigs or guards against mismatches.

When DJ Davis enters the game, transfer from Butler, Washington will use him more off the ball due to his shooting. He hasn't broken out fully but scored 31 points against Illinois.

Key Huskies

#1 - Great Osobor

A dynamic power forward who challenges defense by combining bully ball with craftiness. Anytime he has the ball, he's looking to draw fouls. Against Purdue's doubles from the baseline, I expect Osobor to throw early passes and Washington to distract Purdue's help with pick-and-rolls or staggers on the perimeter to open the paint. Caleb Furst is the expected defender for Purdue.

#9 - Zoom Diallo

The freshman was highly rated and is averaging 10.9 points a game with decent efficiency. He isn't going to shoot many threes, nor is he looking to set up teammates. He thrives off his ability to drive into the paint where he uses his size to finish plays. CJ Cox would get the matchup for me, the more pressure Cox can apply, the more I think Diallo will try to score.

#8 - Tyler Harris

He is a big wing that is a capable shooter and their second leading scorer. His numbers look good but his struggles against conference opponents and stark lack of assists make him an unknown for Washington.

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Huskie's Defense

Washington has positional size from their starters, the average height for their lead lineup is 6'7". That's an advantage they have to leverage against Purdue. The number of blocks, rebounds, and steals will be important to watch for. If they struggle to create defensive plays, I worry about their chances.

The help side awareness and lack of ball pressure are the two big weaknesses in this defense. They force a good amount of turnovers but that is more defensive gambling than good defense.

Defensive Concepts (Man to Man):

Pick-and-rolls - I think they prefer to hard hedge but play an equal amount of drop coverage.

Post-Ups - Washington is going to double, most likely on the catch but they may switch it up vs TKR.

On-Ball - Ball pressure isn't an emphasis, often giving 2-3 feet of seperation. Pump fakes are effective.

Off-Ball - They will show in gaps but it's more a swipe at the ball before recovering. The awareness is bad but better at home.

*They will play a 1-3-1 zone*

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Who Wins?

I lean Purdue heavily despite being on the road. Washington looks much better at home but the lack of physicality on the perimeter and poor rebounding plays right into Purdue's hands. I think Braden Smith and Trey Kauffman-Renn need to have a good passing night and the secondary players (Loyer, Cox, Colvin) could have a big night shooting the ball.

I have been negative about Washington but they play with a lot more energy at home compared to on the road which makes them dangerous. If they can bully Purdue's guards with post ups and hit enough threes, this game is going to be close enough for the home crowd to make a difference.

eFG% - references effective field goal percentage, a better way of understanding shooting as it values threes as 1.5 times the value of twos.