The Dawgs got the W in their home exhibition game against Seattle Pacific University in anything but an easy win. They struggled at times offensively and defensively, but were able to grind it out and secure the exhibition victory.



Jaylen Nowell led the way with 23 points on 8 of 17 shooting and 2/4 from 3, in 37 minutes. He easily looked like the best player on the floor, creating space and pulling up from mid-range with ease. His confidence out there is unmatched, often taking over when needed. He even wowed the crowd with some fancy dribble and spin moves that led to an and one. He did miss 3 free throws in his 8 attempts, but his 80% from last season causes me not to worry. Jaylen will have the ball in his hands a lot this season.



David Crisp had a sneaky 20 points in 33 minutes on 6 of 10 shooting, 1 of 4 from three. He looked wild at times with the ball in his hands, but he also made some incredibly tough layups and a nice transition 3 to give the Dawgs an 8 point lead early in the second half. He was consistent from the line after missing his first and one attempt, finishing 7 of 9. Yes, these past two games have been exhibitions, but David has shown some promising improvements in his offensive game. I hope he can continue it into regular season play after a somewhat disappointing offensive year last season.



Matisse Thybulle was incredible on defense as always, leading the team with, on my count, 9 steals, 3 blocks, and 7 rebounds. He started off the game with 2 steals in the first 50 seconds. He got his 3 steal by the 16 minute mark in the first half, but lost the ball on what would have been a rim rocking jam. He couldn't quite get his offense to click tonight, and finished with 7 points on 2 of 8 shooting. Matisse will easily win defensive player of the year again this season if his defense stays like this, but he will need to build some confidence in his offensive game if the Huskies hope to make that next step. I have no doubt that he will.



Dominic Green played 22 minutes for the Huskies, and although his shots didn't fall tonight, he did have 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal. I'm not at all concerned with Dom's shooting in this game. He could not miss in warm-ups, and I expect him to be back to form come the regular season.



No, I didn't forget about Noah Dickerson. Noah played only 14 minutes in this game. Hop was clearly easing him into the game, often subbing him out for Sam Timmins on defense. He finished with 8 points on 2 of 4 shooting and 4 of 4 from the line. Noah's second shot attempt was a turnaround jumper from about 11 feet that rattled in. Something you never even saw attempted last season. It'll be exciting to see what else Noah has in his game this season, and if he can still bully people in the post.



Sam Timmins played a solid 23 minutes in this game. No, his offensive game did not look improved, but he reeled down 9 boards, and showed promise from the free throw line (4 of 5 before missing his last 2). He will provide some quality minutes on the defensive end, but will need to show improvements offensively to have an impact.



The backups for the Dawgs showed their youth in this one. Naz made the most out of his 18 minutes, scoring 6 points on 2 of 6 shooting. However, he did turn the ball over 4 times in the first half off of travels and lost dribbles. Jamal Bey, Nate Roberts, Bryan Penn Johnson, and Elijah Hardy all played less than 7 minutes, and didn't show much of anything. Jamal aired his only shot, and BPJ committed a foul trying to gain position in the post. Our new guys clearly need to get acclimated to the college game. They will improve as the season goes on. I'll be curious to see how the minutes get distributed between them.



Overall, the Huskies clearly struggled in this one, but battled for a tough win. They couldn't get anything going offensively. Plays weren't working, players weren't getting open, and we weren't making shots (aside from Jaylen and David). It is clear the Dawgs will need Noah on the court to get into any sort of rythm in the half court. Our zone showed holes at times too. SPU was cutting, back dooring, rebounding, and seemingly picking apart the zone quite often. Coach Hopkins and the Huskies will need to show up a little more next week if they hope get a win against a tough Western Kentucky Team.



Be on the lookout for WKU Scouting Report before Tuesday's game.





