Jim Hayford and the Seattle U Redhawks started the season red-hot and won their first three contests. All three wins took place away from the Redhawk Center as Seattle U began the 2020-21 season on a 14-day road trip.
Since winning three straight to start the season, Seattle U has tapered off a bit, dropping four of its last five contests.
Two of the losses came against Pac-12 foes while two other losses came against Big West foes.
For the record, Seattle is one of the few teams across the nation to not have any cancelled games thus far in the 2020-21 season. Technically, their season-opener wasn’t cancelled. The opponent was just different. Instead of playing Idaho, Seattle took on Portland due to Covid protocols within the Vandals program.
On Sunday, Seattle U played host to a non-Division I opponent in Northwest.
The Redhawks shot a blistering 57.6 percent from the floor against Northwest. However, the Redhawks struggled in connecting from downtown; shooting a forgettable 23.8 percent. In the second half, the Redhawks tightened the clamps on defense, holding Northwest to only 15 points. Regardless of any opponent at the collegiate level, it is impressive to hold a team to just 15 points in a single half.
Leading the way for the Redhawks these first eight games has been junior playmaker Riley Grigsby. With the loss of Morgan Means and Terrell Brown, Grigsby has stepped up in a much needed way for this Redhawks squad. Darrion Trammell has been a breakout player thus far. The City College of San Francisco transfer is putting up an impressive line of 17 points, five assists, and nearly two steals per game.
In the season preview for the Redhawks, it was stated that size was going to be an issue this season for coach Jim Hayford. Because of this, Seattle U has struggled on cleaning up the glass. As a team, they’ve only averaged 32.88 rebounds per game, and that ranks in the bottom half of the country.
Scouting College of Idaho
The College of Idaho comes into Thursday night’s game with a record of 1-4. Life hasn’t been easy for the Yokes early in the 2020-21 season. The Yotes played Mountain West opponents Utah State and Boise State as well as Big Sky foe Eastern Washington.
On Dec. 8, the Yotes hung with Utah State and even held the lead for a brief moment. The back-to-back Mountain West champions responded with a 30-5 run in the second half, ultimately downing the ‘Yotes.
Leading the ‘Yotes is the experienced leadership of guard Ricardo Time and forward Jalen Galloway. These two average 14.8 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.
College of Idaho averages 64.4 points per game while allowing 82.8 points per game. The Yotes struggle from the field shooting just 36 percent while allowing opponents to shoot 45 percent. However, the Yotes do a good job defending the 3-point line, holding opponents to 31 percent from deep.
This is a game where Seattle can give much needed minutes to newcomers such as Daron Henson and Angelo Stuart. The ‘Yotes will be a stingy test and can give Seattle a run for its money. But, if the Redhawks can dictate the game as a whole, they’ll have no problem taking care of business tonight.
The game will broadcast on the WAC Digital Network. If you’re old school, you can listen to a radio broadcast on mynorthwest.com. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PST.
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