Three impressions from Washington’s 80-64 win over Stanford

The Huskies moved into first place in the Pac-12 after Thursday’s 80-64 win over Stanford.

Washington (13-4, 4-0) won its sixth straight game and improved to 9-0 at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Here are three impressions.

Noah Dickerson’s strange disappearance

The all-Pac-12 forward played just four minutes in the second half and was essentially replaced by backup Sam Timmins, who racked up six points, four rebounds, two blocks, two steals in a season-high 22 minutes off the bench. Dickerson has been on a slow decline since the start of Pac-12 play. He had four points and one rebound in 29 minutes against Washington State in the conference opener. Dickerson struggled in the first half before finishing with 13 points in 20 minutes last week at Utah. And in UW’s previous outing, Colorado held Dickerson to seven points. Stanford 7-foot center Josh Sharma presented a huge obstacle for Dickerson and the Cardinal sent extra defenders each time he got the ball inside. Dickerson appeared flustered in the first half while tallying just a point before the break. He didn’t completely lose his cool, but appeared bothered by a questionable offensive foul early in the second half. After the play, Dickerson went to the bench with 15:50 left and Washington leading 46-30. He didn’t return. UW coach Mike Hopkins said “Foul trouble hurt and the other guys were playing good. We felt we had to keep that defense rolling and Sammy was the difference maker.”

Nowell and Carter make a nice scoring tandem

Washington shot 51.7 percent from the field, 42.9 percent on three-pointers (6 of 14) and committed a season-low six turnovers, which are indicators of an efficient offense. But the Huskies finished with just eight assists on 30 baskets. For the most part, Thursdays’ game allowed Jaylen Nowell and Nahziah Carter to showcase brilliant 1-on-1 abilities. The UW sophomore guards repeatedly got into the lane and either finished at the rim or pulled up in the lane for mid-range jumpers. Nowell hit 9 of 19 shots, including 2 of 3 three-pointers for 22 points. Carter could hardly miss in the second half as he canned 6 of 7 shots for 13 points. Only four guards are among the 15 players in the Pac-12 shooting 50 percent or better from the field, which includes Carter (52.8 percent) and Nowell (51.6).

Defense wins the night again

The offensive heroes change with each outing, but Washington’s suffocating defense has been the mainstay during its six-game winning streak. The Huskies have allowed an average of 61.5 points in the past six contests. Led by Matisse Thybulle, who had five steals, UW forced 18 turnovers. Those miscues resulted in 24 points for the Huskies. Washington also shut down Stanford’s perimeter offense, which connected on 3 of 15 three-pointers.