Husky basketballers keep on over-achieving

They remain atop the PAC-10, thanks in part to a nice boost from WSU.

By Mike Henderson

February 22, 2009.

The math seemed improbable but the University of Washington Huskies men’s basketball team seemed to go two and one in Los Angeles while actually only playing twice.

In fact, the greatest of the Dawgs’ “triumphs” may have been the game they didn’t play: the Saturday (Feb. 21) scrap in which Washington State emerged 82-81 over UCLA. It preceded the Huskies’ 60-51 victory against USC. Going into a pair of home contests later this week, the Dawgs are — thank you, Cougs — two games ahead of the Bruins in the win column and may even share the same advantage over Arizona State if Arizona beats its in-state rival Sunday night.

In short, despite losing to UCLA Thursday (Feb. 19), Lorenzo Romar’s 20-7 over-achievers are well positioned to win the Pac-10 regular-season championship.

After the game the coach said to USC scribes: “This is one of the best feelings in sports, to go on the road and be down against a physical, scrappy, hard, great defensive team at their home and come out on top. We played tough and physical ourselves." He summed up: "We were down in a hostile environment to a tough, gritty team in USC. This win is as good as it gets in sports."

Unfortunately, just about every road games poses a hostile environment, and such will be the case two weeks hence, when the Pac-10 tournament commences as always in Los Angeles. Next comes the NCAA tournament, with no games scheduled in Seattle.

As has been the case even during home games this season, the Dawgs fell behind early Saturday, with the Trojans pounding the visitors and putting up a 22-11 lead. At that point the slumbering Huskies woke up and raced to perhaps their most impressive run of the season, an 18-2 scoring advantage and a three-point half-time lead. USC led for much of the second half, but the Dawgs dominated the final five minutes.

Top Dawg: Quincy Pondexter. The junior forward had slashing drives to the bucket and several net-only long shots, hitting 10 of 13 and amassing 22 points, 14 more than anybody else on his team. "Quincy was just a man out there today from the tip,” Romar said, clarifying what would seem to be obvious. “No question he is a guy that you have to pay attention to.” Jon Brockman’s 14 rebounds helped his club control possession. But the Huskies’ nagging, fan-frustrating inability to coax the ball through the hole from close range was evident again.

The game of the day featured Washington State winning at Pauley Pavilion for just the second time in 52 tries. The Bruins may have been somewhat spent from their 85-76 Thursday-night triumph over the Huskies.

The Dawgs host the Arizona programs then finish the regular season against Seattle University and the Cougs. The emergence of Pondexter as a force no doubt will give opposing-team strategists fits, since the Husky-offense story was supposed to be all about Brockman and three stellar guards. But Husky guards (Justin Dentmon, Isaiah Thomas, and Venoy Overton) had just 19 points against USC. That the Dawgs still managed to win on the road by nine (against a 16-10, SC team, yet) could mean that Romar will have his guys ready to play at peak level during the postseason.

One potential set-back is scheduled March 7, when Wazzu comes to town. The 14-13 Cougs may now be of the belief that they can win anywhere, even in Seattle. Besides, the Dawgs now would seem to sort of owe their neighbors a favor.

View this story online at: http://crosscut.com/2009/02/22/huskies/18864/Husky-basketballers-keep-on-overachieving/

© 2012 Crosscut Public Media. All rights reserved.