Defensive Disaster Sparks Upset Win For Albany Over Washington
This was not supposed to happen.
When the Dawgs hosted the Albany Great Danes Tuesday night in Hec Ed, the intention was not to have a close game. Instead, Albany walked away with a stunning upset while the Huskies have some serious work to do before their upcoming trip to the east coast.
There are many factors to why the Huskies could not win. Offensively, they struggled. Losing Scott Suggs to an apparent concussion could be a crippling blow to a lineup lacking experience. Aziz N'Diaye was powerful at the beginning of the game, and while he recorded a double-double, struggled in the second half against physical defense. CJ Wilcox never was really involved in the offense. Collectively, they shot 58% from the free throw line.
However, this game was lost on defense. Or lack thereof.
Jacob Lati, one of Albany's two players to record 20 points or more (22 for him), was left open on the three point line all night, and made the Dawgs pay, shooting 6 for 12 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Miles Black penetrated the lane over and over again, his final of 20 points coming in a lay-in with 3.7 seconds left.
The Huskies could not adjust.
Albany's ball movement, and Washington could not recover. They were constantly trying to compensate for one person being out of position, and left wide open shooters (see Lati, Jacob). Black consistently went to his left hand and was able to get around the first defender, and there was no backside help to stop him. And how many times did Aziz N'Diaye hedge out on defense to defend a pick (what he is supposed to do), only for no one to help him and guard the man he had to vacate.
The dagger possessions for Albany were demonstrations of this. First, ball movement got the Huskies confused and out of position, and a wide-open Peter Hooley hit a three to give the Danes the lead. Then, down by one, Black drove around CJ Wilcox, the backside defense was agonizingly late, and Albany won on his layup.
The Huskies need to work on the defense if they want to be a contender this year. They have a TON of work to do before they travel to the east coast, where they typically struggle, to face Seton Hall, then either Rhode Island or Ohio State.