Husky Men's Basketball Blog

It didn't figure to be easy for a young Husky team to win a game like this on the road. And that's exactly what happened.

UW looked had a collective deer-in-the-headlights look much of the night, prompting coach Lorenzo Romar to proclaim that "we were no match for them tonight.''

The game had the feel of a Kiss concert much of the night, with the crowd at a fever pitch, and that seemed to unnerve the Huskies.

"When you are on the road and there is all that atmosphere and emotion, it can disrupt your game,'' said Spencer Hawes.

In terms of what happened on the floor, Romar said defense was the main culprit as the Huskies gave up a season-high 97 points and allowed GU to shoot 55 percent in the first half.

Romar said it's obvious that his team is not "committed'' to playing defense yet.

"There's not any question that tonight's g ame will get our attention,'' Romar said. "We will definitely learn from it.''

That was the theme --- that this was a growing experience for a team starting three freshmen and two sophomores.

Some positives --- Jon Brockman had double-digit rebounds for the third straight game (12) and also scored 13 points; Hawes settled down after a rocky start and hit 8-15 shots to score a team-high 20; Quincy Pondexter also overcame a rocky start that saw him pulled twice in the first 10 minutes to score 13 on 5-7 shooting; and Phil Nelson had eight points in 21 minutes.

The negatives were led by Justin Dentmon's 2-14 night as he seemed to get caught up in trying to take the team on its shoulders and force a lot of things.

Here are some other sobering numbers --- GU had 50 points in the paint to 28 for UW; Gonzaga had 21 points off turnovers to seven for UW; and Gonzaga had 12 fast break points to just two for the Huskies. The latter speaks to the how poorly UW played defense as it never gave itself a chance to get out and run by forcing turnovers --- Gonzaga had just eight.

All for now as we had out into the icy night.

The Huskies likewise are in for a long night as they are bussing back to Seattle.

A quick note to say that we are not allowed to blog from the arena here at Gonzaga during the game, so I won't be able to post anymore here until afterward.

One other quick note before I go to say that Adrian Oliver will start at guard as the Huskies will stick with the lineup of the last three games.

As always, feel free to comment here and we'll try to get to your comments and questions afterward.

Arrived at the arena and there is already a sea of red-shirted students in the stands about 90 minutes before game time.

Also, a few of you have asked about the officials for tonight so here they are --- Dick Cartmell, Mark Reischling and Sam Haddad.

Cartmell and Reischling are each long-time west coast officials who have worked in the Pac-10 and the WCC. Cartmell has worked one GU game this season, the opener against EWU, while Reischling hasn't worked any. Cartmell is one of the more respected officials around, having worked several Final Fours. He was also the point guard on the Richland High state title team in 1972.

I don't know much about Haddad but he has not worked any GU games this season.

I'm headed to Spokane, and assuming all the logistics are in place at the McCarthey Athletic Center, I'll try to post some stuff before, during and after the game.

Before I go, here's a look at some stories we had today.

First, here's a column by Steve Kelley that serves as a good last word on the scheduling issue. He says we should keep the series going (I agree) and talks to several players who agree as well. Definitely will give tonight's game a unique tone.

Next, here's my preview story focusing on how the young Huskies will handle going on the road for the first time. That's not going to be an easy task. Last time UW was here, with a much more experienced group, it lost 99-87. Of course, that was also in the wake of winning the Alaska tournament and some of the players said they were dead tired, and also the game where they knew for the first time Brandon Roy would be out for a while with a knee injury.

Given this team's inexperience on the road, I think the first 5-10 minutes are huge for giving the Huskies some confidence they can handle the surroundings.

Lastly, here's our preview box with lineups, a breakdown by position and a prediction. Sorry, I am picking Gonzaga, and while 91-82 may seem like a lot, that's mostly my hunch that the Huskies will keep it close until the final minute or two, then free throws, etc., will allow Gonzaga to pull away a little bit.

But as is often the case with early-season games, when there is little evidence to base such picks on, this is a hard call. We'll know so much more about the Huskies after tonight.