Husky Men's Basketball Blog

In the wake of the post earlier today on Justin Dentmon, one reader wondered whether UW's slower pace this year might somewhat render irrelevant any statistical comparisons to previous seasons.

That's a good point. So I turned to Ken Pomeroy's site where you can find a wide variety of stats, including possessions per 40 minutes --- the most relevant in this discussion.

The findings were a little surprising as Washington's pace of play isn't dramatically different than it has been.

This year, UW has 71.3 possessions per 40 minutes, which ranks 39th in the country. Last year, UW averaged 72.3 possessions per game --- a difference, obviously, of just one per game, not really enough, you wouldn't think, to really impact the stats all that much.

In 2005, UW had 73.8 possessions per game, and in 2004 the Huskies were at 75.4, which ranked seventh in the country.

Washington State, by way of comparison, averages 61.6 possessions per 40 minutes this season, showing that the Huskies are still playing at a lot quicker pace than the Cougars.

The Huskies just aren't quite as effecient, however. The Huskies are averaging 77.9 points per game to WSU's 66.5.

I wrote today about Justin Dentmon and his season. A lot of this has been touched on before but I felt it would be good to put it all together in one story, especially the stuff about his weight gain prior to the season, which he now says was a big factor in throwing off his play.

As one reader pointed out, however, how does that explain the fact that he seemed to start off the season so well, winning MVP honors of the Basketball Travelers Classic? Good point, though I think the level of competition in that also says a lot --- the only decent team UW beat was Northern Iowa, which is having a disappointing season.

Another way to look at that, however, is that those games came before Spencer Hawes was fully integrated into the offense and the team's style of play started to change --- he missed the first game and didn't play much the second before playing 30 minutes against UNI.

But signs of trouble for Dentmon started with the fourth game, against Sacramento State, when he had four turnovers and was 3-7 from the floor in 28 minutes, and the real beginning of his struggle was the game at Gonzaga when he was 2-14 with four turnovers.

One thing that surprised me a little are his overall turnover numbers --- I actually thought they might be higher. He has 90, second-most in the Pac-10 behind only Mustafa Shakur (92). Shakur has played one fewer game than Dentmon, as well. But his average turnover rate isn't that much higher than, say, Darren Collison's --- Dentmon averages 3.2 per game to Collison's 2.8 --- or Aaron Brooks, who is at 2.7. The big thing is that Dentmon's assists are way down in comparison --- he's at 3.7 now compared to 7.2 for Shakur and 5.9 for Collison.

And as plentiful as Dentmon's turnovers seem, it's nowhere near being historically bad --- UW's single season turnover record is 127 set by Senque Carey in 2000. That was Carey's sophomore season and the first of three bad years in a row for Bob Bender that cost him his job. Carey probably had more responsibility for initiating offense that year than does Dentmon, but Dentmon doesn't figure to get close to that number.

Reader Greg Garbe sent along an interesting comparison of Dentmon's season with those of the sophomore years of Curtis Allen and Will Conroy. In a nutshell, all three had almost indentical assist-to-turnover ratios --- Conroy's was 1.3-1 (108 assists, 85 turnovers), Allen's was 1.2-1 (126 assists, 109 turnovers) and Dentmon's is 1.2-1 (technically 1.16-1, with 104 assists and 90 turnovers to date).

Garbe wonders if it's maybe just the high expectations that have everyone pointing at Dentmon. Dentmon, though, was also simply a lot better as a freshman than those other guys, and it was expected he would improve on that, not level off, or even regress. Remember, Dentmon had 124 assists and 88 turnovers last season.

Stats, obviously, don't tell everything, and one of Dentmon's other problem areas this season is defense, which is harder to quantify statistically other than through team numbers.

What's interesting is that UW's overall field goal percentage defense doesn't compare too poorly to past years. UW is allowing teams to shoot 45.3 percent this year compared to 43.6 a year ago, 45.4 two years ago and 46.5 three seasons ago --- all years the Huskies made the NCAA Tournament.

But that may be largely a function of the early schedule.

A more telling number is UW's field goal percentage defense in Pac-10 games only --- UW is allowing teams to shoot 49 percent this year compared to 43.9 last season.

As for Dentmon, as he says in the story, this isn't anything he doesn't think he can't overcome. UW coach Lorenzo Romar also predicts a big comeback by Dentmon next season.

But the addition of Venoy Overton will make things that much more competitive next season.

And no matter who is back there, improving the backcourt play will be one of the big keys to next season.

This was the last regular Tuesday press conference of the year for the Washington Huskies, and despite finding themselves in a position they never envisioned, they insisted the rest of the season still holds meaning.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar talked again of the team still having a chance at winning the Pac-10 Tournament next week.

"We are definitely capable (of that),'' Romar said. "It's a strong league and there are a lot of teams that are capable. We are one of those teams.''

To that end, winning two this week --- or at least competing --- is important.

"We've got to play well this weekend,'' said UW forward Jon Brockman. "We can't just expect miracles to happen in Los Angeles.''

Players and Romar said practice Monday went well even though UW is mired in its longest losing streak since 2004.

"Guys were getting after it,'' said center Spencer Hawes. "It was intense. Just like any normal practice.''

The Huskies are currently tied with Cal for seventh in the Pac-10. The team that finishes seventh will likely be able to avoid UCLA in the second round of the Pac-10 Tournament.

Cal hosts Arizona and Arizona State this week, meaning the Bears could easily end up with at least one win.

The tiebreaker for determing seeds is:

1, Head-to-head --- not applicable since the two teams split.

2, Each team's record vs. the top team in the conference and then continuing down until one team gains an advantage. UW can take the edge here by beating either USC or UCLA. Right now, Cal would have the edge, believe it or not, due to sweeping Oregon State --- the two teams have the same results the rest of the way.

3, Won-lost percentage vs. All D-I opponents. UW would have the edge here if it got this far.

Lorenzo Romar just told us that Will Conroy has been picked up by the Los Angeles Clippers, apparently for another 10-day contract.

That will give Conroy a homecoming as the Clippers are here to play the Sonics in Seattle on Thursday.

The Clippers will host the Sonics Wednesday night, and Conroy may be in uniform for that game.

Conroy was with Memphis for 10 days earlier this month, then let go at the end of that contract. He had been back in the NBA DL playing for Tulsa.

Here is Conroy's player page from the NBA DL where he was averaging 15.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Here, also, are his stats from his stint in Memphis.

I'll try to address a few of the questions that have arisen regarding today's news on Venoy Overton:

--- First, I think the scholarship situation may be just this simple --- Tim Morris becomes a walk-on, if needed, and Darnell Gant may not make it in due to grades. From what I know, this has nothing to do with anything regarding Spencer Hawes. But obviously if he leaves, that opens up another scholarship. Two of those three is all that is needed to happen to make this work out.

--- From what I've been told, the UW coaches really value Overton for his defense, quickness and athleticism. UW's guards have had trouble defending all season and it's thought Overton could make a big difference there immediately, on top of whatever offense and ballhandling he will add.

--- As for Overton, he was rated as the No. 26 PG in the country this year by Rivals.com.

Here's the Star Times list for Saturday that included Overton and has his stats.

Here's a Sideline Smitty column from earlier this year that included this quote from an anonymous coach that "I don't know if there is a player who works as hard as he does on both ends of the court for 32 minutes.''

Here's the story from the final game of the state tournament last year when Overton scored 20 points as Franklin won going away.

--- It sounds as if Overton began reconsidering his recruiting after USC took a commitment in November from Brandon Jennings, a Class of 2008 player regarded as one of the best junior point guards in the nation. That was on top of the signing of O.J. Mayo, who may also play some point guard. So it sounds as if USC knew there was a chance they might lose Overton, but took that risk to take those other players. Overton committed to USC in September but didn't sign due to concerns over his academics.

--- As for Jamelle McMillan, he originally committed to North Carolina State, where his father, Nate, played. That was when Herb Sendek was coach. When Sendek went to Arizona State, McMillan followed him there.

The Washington Huskies got a big surprise gift today --- a commitment from Franklin High point guard Venoy Overton.

Here's the story that will soon be posted on our website:

The University of Washington has taken a big, and somewhat unexpected, step toward solving its point guard woes by getting a commitment from Venoy Overton of Franklin High.

Overton, a 6-foot senior, had been committed to USC but said Monday he is changing his mind and will sign with UW in April.

"I just did a lot of thinking over the last few weeks that this would be the best thing for me and my family,'' Overton said.

Overton committed to USC last September but did not sign an official letter-of-intent.

While the Huskies appear to be full of scholarships for next season, Overton said he will be on full scholarship.

UW had had troubles at point guard this season with sophomore Justin Dentmon struggling.

Overton said the opportunity to make an immediate impact at that spot played a big role in his decision to change his mind.

"They said they really needed a point guard,'' Overton said.

Overton said UW "was always my top choice'' but that "I just got caught into that whole USC thing'' when he committed to the Trojans last September.

Overton said another factor in changing his mind was "I'm not sure about the playing time and how packed in it is there and how I would fit in. I feel it's a better fit for me at UW.''

USC's recruiting class includes guard O.J. Mayo, considered by some as the top high school player in the country.

"Now I get to play against him,'' Overton said.

Overton said he made the announcement Monday so he can concentrate on playing in the state tournament for Franklin.

"I wanted to get this out of the way so I could just play basketball,'' he said.

Overton was named to the Star Times team last week after averaging 21.7 points and 5.7 assists this year for Franklin, which is 21-2 and the top-ranked 4A team in the state.

Overton said he talked with USC coaches to tell them the news. "It was tough, but they understood,'' he said.

FURTHER COMMENT ---

The obvious question is how the Huskies will fit him in, given that they already have at least 13 scholarships committed for next year. My answer at the moment is I don't know.

Here's how next year's roster now looks:

07-08 roster

SENIORS
G - Ryan Appleby
G - Tim Morris

JUNIORS
G - Justin Dentmon
F - Jon Brockman
F - Artem Wallace
G - Joel Smith

SOPHOMORES
C - Joe Wolfinger
C - Spencer Hawes
F - Quincy Pondexter
F - Phil Nelson
G - Adrian Oliver

FRESHMEN
F - Matthew Bryan-Amaning
F - Darnell Gant
G - Justin Holiday
G - Venoy Overton
TOTAL 15.

Maybe this is a sign that Spencer Hawes is for sure out the door, since him leaving is the most logical way that a scholarship opens. For today, the big news is simply that the Huskies have taken a definite step toward solving what has been an obvious problem this season.

UPDATED COMMENT --- Remember that Tim Morris can move to walk-on status if necessary. Also, there are apparently some concerns over Darnell Gant's academics, which would also open up a scholarship.

UPDATED --- Here's a profile of Overton from Rivals.com.

Just two weeks left of regular season polls.

Here's this week's AP poll.

And as always, here's mine:

1, Ohio State
2, UCLA
3, Kansas
4, Texas A&M
5, Florida
6, Wisconsin
7, Memphis
8, North Carolina
9, Georgetown
10, Washington State
11, Nevada
12, Southern Illinois
13, Louisville
14, Texas
15, Pitt
16, Virginia Tech
17, Vanderbilt
18, Maryland
19, Virginia
20, Butler
21, UNLV
22, USC
23, Michigan State
24, Duke
25, Oregon

You can see I differ a little on the order of the Pac-10 teams. But I also don't quite get why the Cougars would fall more than Pitt would. I decided, based on the recent game between the two teams and the way each has played of late, that Louisville had to be rated ahead of Pitt.

Time to start looking ahead, which is what I tried to do in today's story where I attempted to break down where the Huskies go from here. Basically, they are heading to the NIT barring a miracle run through the Pac-10 Tournament, where the Huskies will now have to play four games instead of three to win it.

I was remiss Sunday not to link a couple columns from our paper: first, this from Blaine Newnham talking to Marv Harshman about both the Huskies and Cougars. Like everybody else, Harshman pins many of UW's problems on Justin Dentmon; next, there is this from Steve Kelley on Brandon Roy, in town to play the Sonics tonight.

A lot of you have asked why the Oregon-Washington rivalry has become so heated. I attempted to explain that, from a football side, anyway, a few years ago
in this story here.
A couple of positives lost in all the spotlight on the Brooks-Appleby thing were the play of Quincy Pondexter and Phil Nelson.

Pondexter scored 13 points for the second straight game after having not hit double figures since Jan. 27. Pondexter hit 12-19 shots for the weekend and looked more assertive going to the basket then he had in quite a while, especially against Oregon. The up-tempo nature of the game surely helped him against the Ducks.

Nelson had scored just three points in the previous five games but broke out for 10 against the Ducks. He said afterward he felt comfortable at Mac Court, where he played often while in high school.

Adrian Oliver also tossed in seven against the Ducks, meaning the four true freshmen scored 50 of UW's 85 points, the most since the Arizona home game Jan. 4.

The Aaron Brooks-Ryan Appleby dust-up figures to be remembered forever now.

Maybe it would have faded away a bit if last nght's game hadn't developed the way it did.

But everything that happened Saturday --- from Appleby's refusal to take Brooks' hand before and after to the way the two played on the floor as the two leading scorers in the game --- will put this one in permanent UW-Oregon lore.

Here's our coverage today, including this game story and notebook.

Here's more from the Eugene Register-Guard including this column by Ron Bellamy that delves more deeply into Brooks' thoughts on it all, and this game story.

To address one question raised on here that the stories may not answer of why did the other UW players take Brooks' hand when Appleby didn't? Spencer Hawes said it what happened was between Brooks and Appleby and it wasn't for the other Husky players to get involved. Also, Brooks went around to some of the other UW players before he got to Appleby, and all of the Huskies said they had no idea what Appleby was going to do --- he hadn't told them, apparently.

But the other Huskies thought it definitely fired up Appleby, Phil Nelson saying "he feeds off'' that kind of emotion.

It was interesting after the game as the players milled about on the court with family and friends. Appleby stood near the UW bench talking with a few people, Brooks was over in the corner near on the same side talking with a few friends. They never seemed to make eye contact.

But a few Huskies acknowledged Brooks with brief handshakes or nods and when Lorenzo Romar playfully sunk a shot from out-of-bounds, about 35 feet from the basket, Brooks grabbed a ball and tried to match it. Brooks' shot went off the front rim and the two exchanged what appeared to be some brief good-hearted banter.

Point is, I think everybody had their own feelings on this issue, and were resolving them in their own way.

As for the two teams meeting again this year, as it stands now, they are in opposite brackets of the Pac-10 Tournament and wouldn't meet until the championship game if each got that far.

Much of the media focus afterward, as might be expected, was on the Ryan Appleby-Aaron Brooks issue.

Appleby had said it would be a gametime decision whether he would accept Brooks' traditional pre-game handshake, and when the time came, he said he didn't because he still felt "disrespected'' from what happened last year.

"I'm not going to acknowledge someone like that,'' Appleby said.

Brooks said that "if he didn't want to shake my hand, that's on him. I can't dwell on that. We had a basketball game to win.''

Thanks to Brooks' 30 points, the Ducks did just that.

"We have to give it up to Aaron Brooks,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "He really carries this team and that's why he's up for Player of the Year for this conference.''

Romar said he was proud of the team's effort, which was a far cry from the uninspired outing at Oregon State.

"The Pit was phenomenal,'' Romar said. "I haven't heard it this loud in years. I was proud of our guys for how they handled that.''

Romar said the difference was simply that "Oregon was the better team tonight.''

UW shot an even 50 percent --- solid, but not good enough to offset the Ducks, who were 11-18 in the second half and 25-46 for the game. UW also again lost the turnover battle, losing 15 while forcing just eight.

Oregon had a 40-18 edge in free throws attempted. But again, a lot of that came late as the Ducks attempted 14 in the final 3:07 as the Huskies tried to rally.

UW has now lost four in a row, its longest losing streak since the 0-5 conference start in 2004.

At least it's exciting.

The Huskies were in control for a little while with that 30-19 run built on 17 points by Ryan Appleby, obviously intent on making a statement.

But Appleby was slowed a little after the Ducks moved 5-6 guard Tajaun Porter off of him and instead used Bryce Taylor and Aaron Brooks as defenders.

That helped spark a 21-3 Oregon run that has this place rocking.

Ryan Appleby is sure to hear it from the Oregon crowd now.

As the teams set up for the jump, Aaron Brooks tried to shake his hand. Brooks held the hand out for quite some time but Appleby, with his hands on his knees, didn't budge, inciting a loud boo from the crowd and a derisive chant of "Appleby'' from the student section on UW's first possession.

Obviously, he hasn't quite forgiven and forgotten. But I'm not sure he did UW any favors as the crowd is even more into it now, if that's possible here.

I've arrived at Mac Court, wading through a few hundred students waiting outside for the doors to open on my way.

The Oregon looks in prime form for UW's annual visit --- I saw a few fans holding up "Have fun in the NIT'' signs, and one guy holding a photo of Ryan Appleby with his face bloodied after the hit from Aaron Brooks in the Pac-10 tournament last year. Hopefully that part of it doesn't get too ugly.

The bigger picture is the Huskies are going to have to really bring it to get a win here today. As I pointed out from Pitt, I didn't think that was a very intimidating environment at all, nothing like the Huskies will get here today, and UW has yet to show this year it can stand up to a real crazy crowd, getting blown out at Gonzaga, WSU, Arizona and UCLA. The Huskies did hang in against Stanford, which is on a par in terms of environment with most of the others. But overall, that's not much of a track record.

The first five minutes will likely tell a lot. In most of the previous road blowouts, the Huskies fell down big early and never recovered. They've got to get some confidence from the start tonight.

UW has won here the last two years and hasn't won three straight here since 1980-82.

Also to watch tonight --- Spencer Hawes needs just 11 points to pass Mike Hayward for the most points by a freshman in UW history. Hayward had 406 in the 1987-88 season.

I wrote a lot today about Aaron Brooks in our preview story for tonight's game as he's an obvious angle due to his Seattle ties and the flareup with Ryan Appleby last year. The two haven't been on the same court since then.

But included in the story is, I thought, a pretty telling quote from Lorenzo Romar about the difference in makeup of this year's team vs. those of the last few seasons.

I'll reprint it here:

"Those were some unique individuals,'' Romar said, recalling the likes of Bobby Jones, Nate Robinson and Will Conroy. "Those were three underdogs that had never been pampered, always had people say 'I don't think you're good enough.' They'd always been the underdog --- Nate was told he was too small, Will Conroy 'you're not good enough,' Bobby Jones was underrecruited. So those guys had that in them. The makeup of our team for the most part here is guys who have been good early, and they have to learn that.''

Basically, he's saying the previous group had always had to work for everything while this group has been used to having things come a lot easier. Maybe that's one reason this team has often seemed to have trouble finding the needed fire for games, especially on the road.

Surfing the net, I found another interesting story to pass along, this one saying that Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey is likely to declare for the NBA Draft.

Stuckey has said many other times this year that he is likely to be back, and as far as I know, this is the first time he's said he will look at the NBA. He says in the story he'll declare without signing with an agent, so he'll at least have the option of returning.

But Cheney could look a long way away once he starts thinking of the NBA, especially considering what a disappointing year this has been for the Eagles, who may not even make the Big Sky Tournament.

I realize this is a Husky blog and the Cougars and Ducks are topics about as dear to the heart as paying taxes and wiping gutters.

That said, I saw this a little while ago on Foxsports.com and wondered if it seemed a little out of line.

Here's the link to the college basketball front page, which shows a picture of Tony Bennett with the caption saying that "Washington State came crashing down from a five-game winning streak with a thud in an embarrassing loss to Oregon.''

Really? Embarrassing?

Set aside hatred of the Cougars and Ducks for the big picture. Is a five-point road loss against the No. 23 ranked team in the country really "embarrassing?" Would it be called "embarrassing'' if a Duke team ranked No. 9 lost to, say, a Wake Forest team ranked No. 23 (that seems about the same on the rivalry scale)?

And the headline --- "Free Falling.'' Really? A WSU team having its best season ever that lost a single game on the road against the No. 23-ranked team in the country after winning five in a row is "Free Falling?''

No offense, but the Huskies probably wouldn't mind a collapse like that right about now.

Guess the Pac-10's right back where it always has been on the old national respect-o-meter.

I'm Eugene and just back from the end of Washington's practice and the beginning of Oregon's, where we talked with players and coaches on both sides.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar insisted that the team will bounce back, saying "I think that loss took a lot out of us but I think we will recover.''

The question now is recovering to what. It's pointless now to do much speculating about UW's post-season hopes. It's either win the Pac-10 Tournament and get the conference's automatic bid, or go to the NIT.

For the record, Romar said today the Huskies would accept an NIT bid, though he was quick to say that doesn't mean he's accepting that as UW's fate. He said he's holding out hope of an NCAA bid and won't concede until it's official there can't be one.

But UW's RPI took a fatal hit last night, dropping to 94 today. Not that it's really worth talking about.

For now, this team has to figure out how to win a few games against good teams. UW has three left against NCAA Tournament-bound teams, all teams that should be playing at full strength.

In the portion of practice we watched today, the Huskies were working a lot on entry passes and transition defense, two things that have failed this team often. Oregon State greatly exposed UW's backcourt Thursday night. The Beavers play aggressively --- they lead the Pac-10 in steals when considering conference games only at 7.38 per game and had 14 against the Huskies. Expect Oregon to also get after UW's guards.

To answer a few things I've seen on here:

--- Hans Gasser is a scholarship player for UW and always has been one, though there was briefly talk two years ago of him becoming a walk-on to free up a scholarship. He was recruited by Romar and not Bob Bender and was part of Romar's first full recruiting class.

--- UW may go after adding some help in the backcourt if it can figure a way to make the numbers work. For now, the Huskies are full up for the next two years, but these coaches are also always working, so nothing they do would surprise me in terms of trying to add some backcourt help, especially of the JC kind. UW tried to do just that last spring with the recruitment of Blake Young, who ended up at Kansas State.

--- For now, there's little the Huskies can really do lineup wise with just 10 healthy players, so expect to see the same lineup the rest of the way. The Huskies have to hope Justin Dentmon can begin to turn it around just enough to get some confidence heading into the off-season. He admitted last night he's "real, real frustrated'' at the way his season has gone, but also insisted that he isn't giving up, saying "I'll be back.'' Those comments were included in this story here.

--- There will undoubtedly be a lot of media focus tomorrow on the first meeting between Aaron Brooks and Ryan Appleby since the incident at the Pac-10 Tournament last March. Both players met the media today and said their issues are in the past, though Appleby admitted he's not sure how he will react tomorrow if Brooks reaches out his hand or otherwise greets him. I'll have more on that in the paper Saturday.

It's hard to even know what to say after that one.

I could break down a few numbers --- like how UW lost its most turnovers (21) since the UCLA game on Dec. 31, or how the Huskies allowed Oregon State to get a season-high 14 steals (admittedly one and the same), or how UW got just three points off its bench.

But mostly, it's just time to realize that this team is unlikely to become the team everyone thought it would at the beginning of the season. More often than not, this is how it has played this season --- seemingly without passion on defense and without chemistry on offense.

A few of us talked to Brandon Roy at halftime and asked him what he thought was going on and he mentioned "inexperience and inconsistency with their guard play.''

That probably about covers it in a nut shell, and you saw all of that tonight.

UW again came out flat, passive, unfocused --- whatever words you want to use --- and let Oregon State take control early, signs of a team that hasn't yet realized what it takes to win on the road, or win consistently.

And the guards were again a mess. Justin Dentmon and Ryan Appleby combined to go 5-20 from the field with nine turnovers and just six assists. Appleby didn't hit a three-pointer until the final minute and Dentmon had six turnovers by himself.

And don't be fooled by the three throw totals. The refs weren't a factor in this one even though OSU shot 42 free throws to UW's 10. Instead, the Huskies tried to get back in the game by fouling --- smart, considering OSU's free throw shooting woes --- and the Beavers attempted 28 in the final two-and-a-half minutes.

The UW locker room was predictably somber and the Huskies were as harsh on themselves as anyone else could be.

Asked if it was embarassing to play like that in front of Brandon Roy, Jon Brockman said "that was an embarassing performance in front of anyone.''

Brockman said that "everyone knows we should be playing better'' but seemed perplexed at what the problems are.

"But we've got to figure something out,'' he said. "I'm not the type of person to belly up and roll over.''

UW coach Lorenzo Romar, meanwhile, all but admitted that the NCAA Tournament hopes are dead after having remained optimistic until now. "With this loss it makes it real tough to get an at-large berth,'' he said.

UW is also now almost certainly relegated to being the No. 7 seed (or maybe even No. 8) at the Pac-10 Tournament, meaning it would have to win four games in four days to take that title --- something that is impossible to envision right now.

There's 3:56 left and seemingly little hope for UW in a game that seals their fate barring an unlikely run through the Pac-10 Tournament (guess we have to include that caveat just in case).

To answer a few questions --- all that is needed for an NIT invite is a winning record and UW is actually assured of that since the worse the Huskies could do is 16-15.

I'm sure they would be invited as the NIT always needs big names, especially on the West Coast. And I'm also sure they would go since they can obviously use all the experience they can get.

Just in case I'm wrong and UW comes back, I'll post again.

Otherwise, this may be it until after the game.

The Huskies got one once here three years ago, down 16 with about six minutes left, to pull out a win that started that team on its way to the NCAA Tournament from an 0-5 start.

But this game has none of that feel as the Huskies simply looked befuddled against what is an Oregon State team not even playing all that well itself.

To answer one question, UW has yet to make a three-pointer, going 0-8. UW has made at least two in every game this season.

Sorry for no halftime report. Went to talk to Brandon Roy --- I'll have some of that later.

But UW is now down 31-24 and looking in serious trouble. Hawes and Brockman combined for just six shots in the first half, almost all the result of rebounds putbacks, out of 27 total shots for the Huskies. They have to change that percentage in a hurry to win this one.

Too bad he can't play, but maybe just seeing Brandon Roy behind the bench will give the Huskies a little spark.

Roy just walked into the building and is sitting behind the UW bench, evidently having made the drive down from Portland. Pretty sure it's the first time he's been at a UW game this season.

Roy is the one wearing a Mariners' cap.

This is really bad basketball so far, and the Huskies had better start showing some life or they could be in real trouble.

There isn't much of a crowd here and I've heard more noise at a mime concert, but UW isn't using it to its advantage. Instead, the Huskies seem lulled to sleep by the atmosphere.

Worst news of all is that Spencer Hawes has two fouls and no shots attempted.

A quick note to pass along --- the USC game next Thursday will be televised on a delayed basis on FSN-NW at 9:30 p.m.

There will be no live telecast of the game in any form, so you won't find it on a dish or anything. But Fox will record the game for a delayed telecast that night following the UCLA-Washington State game.

The drive down here was pretty easy, though there were a few rain storms.

There are 53 minutes remaining until tipoff as I write this and this is as empty an arena as I have been in this year at a similar point before gametime. This is often a rowdy environment, but OSU's losing ways have led to a real drop in attendance this year, and the early start time tonight could depress it even further. All possible plusses for the Huskies.

When I arrived about a half hour ago, C.J. Giles was going through a fairly intense workout and laid down a mammoth dunk off a lob that had the basket shaking for a minute or so. He's obviously had issues off the court, but if he keeps to the straight and narrow, he will make the Beavers a much tougher team the next few years.

I'm just about to begin the drive to Corvallis for the latest "must-win'' game for the Huskies, a phrase, I'll admit, but has been overused by all of us this season. It's just been the weird nature of this season that the Huskies keep seeming to have a chance.

The time for that is just about over, however ---- the Huskies have to win two this weekend, which is why I decided to write about their NCAA Tournament chances one more time today.

I talked with former UCLA coach Steve Lavin, who is now an analyst for ESPN, for a while Wednesday after hearing that he has been consistently predicting that the Huskies are going to make it in. He did so again Sunday, saying he expects UW to win its last four games and make it in, possibly as the seventh seed from the conference.

I asked Lavin flatout if he was just being nice to Lorenzo Romar, who is a good friend. No, he insisted.

"They really remind me of our team in 2000,'' Lavin said, then began telling me the story of the 1999-2000 Bruins who started off 4-8 in Pac-10 play, then won their last six to get an at-large bid. That got the Bruins in at 10-8 in Pac-10 play and 19-11 overall. That team beat only two ranked teams all year, but one was No. 1 Stanford on the road late in the season.

The Bruins went on to advance to the Sweet 16.

I asked Lavin why he thinks the Huskies are going to pull it off.

"This conference is so strong this year, you can be improving incrementally but not necessarily see the wins and losses,'' Lavin said. "When I look at the games they played, the strength of the Pac-10, the fact that they fared well against Pitt in a tough environment, that they've won five of seven games in a league that is going to send at least six to the tournament and you factor in all of their young players --- you just know they are going to learn from those experiences.''

To further preview tonight's game, here's a little reading:

First, here's a story from the Oregonian assessing the tournament chances of the entire Pac-10.

And here are a pair of interesting stories from the Corvallis Gazette-Times. First, a story on OSU coach Jay John getting a vote of confidence despite being headed to a fourth losing season in five years; and a look at a pair of redshirting OSU players, including C.J. Giles.

One byproduct of Washington's planned trip to Greece next summer is that Lorenzo Romar will not return as a coach for USA Basketball.

Romar coached the American team to the FIBA Americas U18 Championships last summer, a roster that included Spencer Hawes.

As part of a desire by USA Basketball for more continuity in the program, Romar was asked if he wanted to coach the U-19 team this summer for the FIBA World Championships --- many of the same players are expected to return, simply moving up a year in category.

"They're trying to keep the teams together the way the Europeans do,'' Romar said this week.

But Romar said no, citing his demands with the Huskies.

"We're planning on going to Greece and I thought it was to much to do it again this year,'' Romar said.

Romar said he "hated'' to have to say no because of the fact that so many of the same players will take part and that the tournament will be held in Vancouver, B.C.

DePaul's Jerry Wainright is expected to be the head coach, instead. He was an assistant for Romar last summer.

Here's a wrapup of the team's activities last summer.

This is a few days old, but here is a real intersting story on officiating in the Pac-10, including a listing of the top-ranked officials in the conference as judged by the conference itself.

Verne Harris, the top-ranked official, just did the UW-WSU game. Harris also was the lead official on what was probably the most controversially officiated Husky game of the season --- the double-overtime loss at USC when the host Trojans attempted 38 free throws and the Huskies 12.

Dick Cartmell, you may recall, is an official who works a lot of Gonzaga games and didn't work as many in the Pac-10 last year, but this year has done a number of conference games. Among the notable UW games Cartmell has officiated this year were Arizona (home), Stanford (away) and at Gonzaga.

A couple of you have asked why Phil Nelson didn't play against Pitt Saturday.

I think it's as simple as looking at his numbers of late --- he hadn't scored in his three games prior to Pitt and had just two points in each of the two before that.

The official reason was simply that other guys were playing better, namely Adrian Oliver, who set a career-high with 32 minutes against Pitt.

The Pitt game wasn't real up-and-down, so the Huskies didn't need to go deep into the bench, and they didn't, with six players getting all but 17 of the minutes.

Nelson today said "I didn't expect it'' that he didn't play at all, and that it was the first time it's happened in his career. But he said he knows the coaches want him to work on some things, mainly on the defensive end.

"The biggest thing is competing, playing hard, maybe I haven't been doing the things they want me to do as well as I used to,'' he said. "It's just playing hard. Maybe they don't think I'm playing hard enough.''

He's obviously hoping to play this week as UW travels to his home state of Oregon --- he's from Keizer, Ore., and was recruited by both schools and said he has a lot of friends at Oregon and Oregon State.

He said he's already gotten a few calls from a few of his friends about making his return --- as well as a few that haven't been as friendly.

"They say stuff about 'be ready for The Pit' and the Appleby incident last year,'' he said. "Just trying to get in your head and scare you a little bit.''

To answer a question on TV for the USC game --- there is none of any kind and the only way to see the game in any form is to be in the arena next Thursday.

FSN picked the WSU-UCLA game for its broadcast that night and can hardly be blamed for that.

For all the consternation there often is over the Pac-10 TV deal, the reality is that the USC game will be one of just two this season for the Huskies not available on some sort of telecast somewhere. The only other game that had no TV of any kind came at Arizona State, which was also played on a Thursday night --- that's the night when there are typically just two TV windows and four games being played.

UW's other three remaining games will have TV on either FSN or CBS, all the games in the Pac-10 tournament are televised, and any NCAA game is obviously on (most NIT games typically get telecast as well) meaning this will be UW's most visible season in terms of TV in scchool history.

--- Not a lot of big news from Lorenzo Romar's press conference today. He talked a lot about the shift in offensive emphasis the last few weeks, crediting it to the return to health of Spencer Hawes and the realization of the team that utilizing the big men is the best way to go.

He talked a little of UW's NCAA Tournament hopes, saying mostly that the Huskies just have to win and worry about it later.

He elaborated a little on the trip to Greece, saying that country was picked in part because it would serve as both a good playing and educational experience. He said a lot of details are still being worked out so he didn't want to get real specific about a lot of things.

Expect the lineup to stay the same.

Here's a few stories to pass your way today:

First, here's a good feature from the Eugene Register-Guard on enigmatic forward Sasa Cuic of Oregon State, the team the Huskies play Thursday night in Corvallis.

How erratic is Cuic? He led OSU with 25 and 22 points two weekends ago in games against Arizona and Arizona State, then came back with a zero-point effort at Stanford last Thursday, going 0-10. UW has to hope it gets the bad Cuic instead of the good one Thursday.

Also from the Register-Guard is a Pac-10 notebook complete with conference rankings --- interstingly, they rank UW sixth and Oregon eighth.

And here's our story today on the Greece trip and the surgery to Joe Wolfinger.

We'll have more from UW later after coach Lorenzo Romar meets with the media.

In a separate interview after his coach's show, Lorenzo Romar elaborated on the team's trip to Greece next August and Joe Wolfinger's surgery.

Romar said Wolfinger's situation isn't necessarily a setback just a new way to ensure that the injury heals properly.

Wolfinger has been dealing with a stress fracture since September and the hope was that it would heal without surgery.

"He wanted to try that route instead of going straight to surgery,'' Romar said. "This will be a real good thing. It will get it healed.''

The surgery will happen in a few weeks and Romar said Wolfinger should be recovered by the time of the trip to Greece. That trip is set for late August and will mean the team will have 10 additonal days of practice including a half-dozen or so games.

Romar said "it's great timing'' to do it next year when as many as 11 players could be returning, including Wolfinger, Joel Smith and Tim Morris, who all sat out this season.

The last time UW took such a trip was to France before the 1997-98 season.
That was the team that advanced to the Sweet 16 under Bob Bender.

We've written about the chances of this happening on here before, but Lorenzo Romar confirmed on his coaches show on KJR-AM tonight that the Huskies will take a pre-season tour of Greece next August.

Teams are allowed to take such foreign tours once every four years, though UW hasn't actually taken once since 1998. On such tours, the teams typically play 5-6-7 games against local teams while also partaking of sight-seeing, educational ventures, etc.

You'll note the last time UW did one was the year Bob Bender's team went to the Sweet 16 and a lot of people thought the extra practice paid off well.

Romar said tonight the team will get 10 additional practices out of the trip. All players on the current roster are eligible but incoming players are not.

It's for that reason that UW did not take a similar trip last summer, though it was eligible for one, since Spencer Hawes, Adrian Oliver, Phil Nelson and Quincy Pondexter would not have been eligible to play.

Oregon took a similar trip to the Bahamas last summer and Ducks coach Ernie Kent credited the extra practice and the bonding as contributing factors in the team's fast start this season.

--- In more disconcerting news, Romar also said that center Joe Wolfinger will have surgery soon to repair the stress fracture that has held him out all season. Wolfinger had opted to heal the injury through rest and rehabilitation but surgery is now apparently needed.

"We're optimistic he will be back next season,'' Romar said.

As always on Monday, the new polls are out.

You can find them both here.

I think the AP poll presents some bad news for UW as there are just three Pac-10 teams included --- UCLA at No. 4, WSU at 9 and Oregon at 23 --- which means that the national image of the conference is starting to slip.

I had a little different as you can tell from looking at my poll here:

1, Ohio State
2, Wisconsin
3, UCLA
4, Kansas
5, Florida
6, North Carolina
7, Memphis
8, Washington State
9, Texas A&M
10, Pitt
11, Nevada
12, Georgetown
13, Air Force
14, Southern Illinois
15, Butler
16, Louisville
17, Virginia Tech
18, Vanderbilt
19, Virginia
20, Texas
21, West Virginia
22, BYU
23, Stanford
24, Kansas State
25, USC

I've had Oregon in every poll until now --- including the pre-season --- but the way the Ducks have lost five of their last six caused me to drop them out. I think Oregon's lack of an inside game has begun to take a toll.

I also moved Arizona back out for the obvious reasons.

Meanwhile, I put Stanford back in the poll and kept USC in it, while dropping them a little bit. You'll note USC is 26th when considering the rest of the votes, so I'm not that far off.

The bottom 10 or so of the poll is a real jumble and I'll admit it was as hard for me to put together this week as it has ever been with almost everybody from 13-25 losing last week, some teams twice, so I'm open to arguments there. There doesn't seem to be a lot of difference among a lot of those teams.

The times for the rest of Washington's games have been set, along with the TV situation, and it's pretty much as we projected it to be last week --- the UW-UCLA game will be on CBS at 11 a.m. on March 3 with the UW-USC game on March 1 not selected:

Here is the official release from UW:

Washington's final regular-season men's basketball game against UCLA has been selected by CBS Sports to be televised live at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 3, the Pac-10 Conference announced Monday. The Huskies host the first-place and fourth-ranked Bruins at Bank of America Arena.

Washington's preceding home game, against USC on Thursday, March 1, was not selected for television and the game time has been set for 7 p.m.

The Pac-10 did not announce the game times and television schedule for the final week of the regular season until today so its broadcast partners could provide the best possible matchups.

The other Pac-10 game that will be televised on March 3 is the Arizona at Stanford contest that airs on ABC at 12:30 p.m.

On Thursday, March 1, FSN will televise the UCLA at Washington State game at 7:30 p.m.

Three of Washington's four remaining games will be televised, including both games on this week's road trip. The Huskies visit Oregon State, Thursday, Feb. 22 for a 6 p.m. game that airs on FSN Northwest.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Huskies invade McArthur Court in Eugene to meet 23rd-ranked Oregon. The game will be televised at 7:30 p.m. on FSN.

Washington (16-10) is in seventh place in the Pac-10 standings with a 6-8 record.

REMAINING WASHINGTON MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 22
6:00 p.m. PST -- Washington at Oregon State, FSN Northwest

Saturday, February 24
7:30 p.m. PST -- Washington at Oregon, FSN

Thursday, March 1
7:00 p.m. PST -- USC at Washington, No TV

Saturday, March 3
11:00 a.m. PST -- UCLA at Washington, CBS

MORE COMMENT --- The big news in this is that the WSU-USC game on March 3 was not picked up by either ABC or CBS. Many had expected last week that it would be on one or the other, with the UW-UCLA game on the other. Instead, ABC opted for Arizona-Stanford, seemingly a curious choice considering the Cougars could be playing for the Pac-10 title. Maybe the network thinks that the intrigue of Arizona's possible situation --- the Wildcats may be on the bubble for an at-large spot --- will make for better TV.

Here's a few news and notes for a Monday morning:

--- First, here's our story today speculating about whether Washington still has any legit NCAA Tournament hopes. Again, winning the last four is a lot to ask for this team. But we're simply making the point that the way other things have happened, if the Huskies pulled it off, they'd have a good chance of getting in.

--- Here's a similar story from Aaron Fentress at the Oregonian saying that three wins might place Washington squarely on the bubble. It might, though four would obviously be that much better.

--- Funny anecdote from Pitt I didn't get on here yet. During Lorenzo Romar's post-game press conference, which had him sitting at a podium in a big interview room just off the court, a man's cell phone began to go off playing the old '50s tune "Money (That's What I Want'') --- which is not to be confused with a Pink Floyd song with a similar title. The man struggled to turn it off causing Romar to stop talking and finally look his way as the room grew silent. After a pause, Romar finally said he knew of some places where the man "could get you some sweeter tunes'' eliciting a loud round of laughter.

--- Justin Dentmon understandably gets a lion's share of criticism for UW's turnover woes. But he hasn't been alone of late. Jon Brockman has led the Huskies in turnovers each of the last four games with 17 in that time.

Spent all day traveling, which is why there was no post earlier today pointing you to our stories.

If you missed it, you can find our coverage here.

One thing I realized while flying is that the Huskies are due to win some close ones.

Losing two straight games by four points means the Huskies have now lost all five games this year that were decided by four points or less or in overtime --- the two-OT loss to USC; a 78-77 loss at Stanford; the OT defeat at Cal; and these last two games.

Conversely, UW's closest win of the season is the five-pointer over ASU. Maybe the Huskies simply aren't good enough to win the close ones, but I've got a feeling they'll have a few more such opportunities the rest of the way.

--- The close loss to Pitt didn't do much for UW's RPI. The Huskies are at No. 80 today according to Pomeroy. They were at 81 heading into the game.

--- On a blog-related note, a few of you have sent me e-mails wondering why you have trouble getting posts published from time-to-time. It's nothing personal and we aren't into banning people here. Instead, there are some glitches that arise every once in a while that cause you to get messages saying you can't post for whatever reason --- I get them trying to publish these entries. When that happens, just keep trying. The only time we delete posts are for reasons of profanity, libel, personal attack, etc., as described at the bottom of the comment form.

This is starting to look like a real "what might have been'' season for the Huskies.

Consider the Pac-10 standings after today's play:

1, UCLA 12-2
2, WSU 11-3
3, USC 9-4
4, Stanford 9-5
5, Oregon 8-7
Arizona 8-7
7, Washington 6-8
Cal 6 -8
9, Oregon State 2-13
10, Arizona State 0-14

If the Huskies had been able to beat WSU --- they didn't, they didn't deserve to, and I understand it's all hypothetical --- but still, they were four points away and had their chances.

And if they had won that game (or one of the others they tossed along the way), look how close they'd be to being right back in the hunt for an NCAA tournament bid.

In fact, consider that the Huskies still have a chance to pass Oregon next week. if UW beats Oregon State Thursday while WSU beats Oregon --- and that's how the oddsmakers will probably expect it to happen. If that happens, UW will play at Oregon Saturday with a chance to pass the Ducks in the standings and take the tiebreaker on them.

I bring it up only to point out that for as many times as we've all painted the Huskies as dead this year, they're just a few points away from really being in it. And to point out that with four games left, there is still life.

It's a faint pulse, to be sure, as UW will have to sweep in Oregon --- never easy in any circumstance and a lot to ask of a team that's won just one road game this season --- then beat USC and UCLA at home, two of the three best teams in the conference. So the odds would say it won't happen.

But if it does, and given the freefalls going on in Tucson and Eugene, the Huskies might just still have a chance.

If not, they'll have lots of cause to wonder what might have been.

And kudos to Stanford for getting two needed wins without Anthony Goods, who sprained his ankle against UW last Sunday. Stanford now looks like a sure thing to get into the tournament.

Meanwhile, there's Arizona, which still had an RPI of 10 as of Friday, but now has lost eight of its last 13 games and now has to play its final three games on the road --- at Arizona State next Sunday and then Cal and Stanford. Obviously it will be interesting to see how the Wildcats respond now. Those of us who picked Arizona to win the Pac-10 this season are wondering what the heck is going on ---- and wondering what the heck we were ever thinking.

--- As for my thoughts on the officiating against Pitt, I wouldn't say the Huskies lost the game because of it if only because I'm not one of those to ever blame anything solely on the refs --- officiating is so much a matter of perspective, and I think that if it's looked at with an objective eye it usually turns out to have been pretty even.

But the free throw disparity is worth pointing out in a game where the Huskies were the ones going inside all the time while Pitt was the team doing more from the perimeter. That said, UW's guards got beat a lot off the dribble, which is what led to a lot of the fouls. Quincy Pondexter picked up four fouls in 17 minutes, for instance, largely because he had trouble keeping his man in front of him. I was just passing along that there were some who thought it odd that Jon Brockman and Spencer Hawes shot a combined two free throws despite taking a combined 29 shots from the field (both free throws by Brockman).

As for what crews work games, it's usually decided upon at the time of scheduling. Given that a Big East crew worked this game, I'm sure that means a Pac-10 crew will work the game when Pitt comes to Seattle next Dec. 8.

A few more notes and quotes before I wrap it up from the arena for a while:

--- Two of the three officials were from the Big East, including the head referee, so that can be safely called a Big East crew (no one seemed to know where the third official was from). UW coach Lorenzo Romar tried to be tactful afterward when asked about the officiating and UW's 25-8 disadvantage at the free throw line, but assistant Cameron Dollar was a little more forthcoming.

"Twenty five to eight and we're going inside every time,'' Dollar said. "But that's what happens on the road.''

--- Dollar was particularly enthusiastic about the way the Huskies played afterward despite the end result. "We were just playing right,'' he said. "We played with a purpose on both ends of the floor.''

Asked what, in particular, UW is doing well now that it wasn't a little while ago, Dollar said "we're starting to eliminate the stuff we can control. We're starting to make the other teams do what we want them to do.''

In other words, starting to follow the game plan. Dollar said the Huskies didn't want to let Aaron Gray beat them "and every time he got the ball, we had two guys on him.'' That meant other Pitt players, who the UW coaches wanted to see shoot the ball instead of Gray, indeed shot the ball a lot more than Gray.

"And when they were shooting, they were doing it with a hand in their face,'' he said. "We were making them shoot over us.''

Unfortunately, Pitt hit just a few too many of those. Maybe the most painful was a long three-pointer by Pitt guard Ronald Ramon as the shot clock was running out over the outstretched hand of Ryan Appleby with about eight minutes left.

"I had a hand in his face, so there's not much you can do about that,'' said Appleby.

Said Dollar: "At least we put ourselves where they had to make plays like that to win.''

The Huskies also followed the offensive game plan with Hawes and Brockman taking 29 of UW's 56 shots. "We were going inside-out a great portion of the game and we eliminated runs due to our negligance rather than them making great plays,'' Dollar said.

This should get posted on-line soon. But until then, here is a story I filed a short time ago from the game:

The standings will show it as simply another loss, something the Washington Huskies can ill afford right now.

But in the quiet of Washington's locker room following a 65-61 loss to the No. 7-rated Pitt Panthers here Saturday, there was also a sense that the young Huskies are starting to grow up.

For the first time on the road this season against a ranked team, the Huskies hung tough until the end, with the outcome in doubt until the final minutes.

"I wish we had another month to play,'' said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "Hopefully we've turned the corner. I don't think three weeks ago we would have been able to do what we did tonight.''

The loss dropped UW's overall record to 16-10 and made it likely that the Huskies will now have to win their remaining four regular-season games to have any chance at making the NCAA Tournament.

It also dropped UW's road record to 1-8.

But unlike a 30-point loss at Arizona just 14 days ago, or a 28-point loss at Washington State, or a 22-point loss at UCLA, the Huskies could point to a play here, a call there, that might have made all the difference.

"We came out and fought,'' said UW guard Adrian Oliver.

The Huskies, in fact, led by seven in the first half, and never trailed by more than six against a team that is 79-8 at home since the Petersen Events Center opened in 2002.

But the Panthers used a 16-6 edge in turnovers and a big advantage at the free throw line (19-25 compared to UW's 6-8) to ultimately pull away.

"It's a 40-minute game and unfortunately we didn't get it done just like (a loss by the identical score of 65-61 to Washington State on Wednesday),'' said UW center Spencer Hawes. "It's been tough having so many opportunities and it just didn't go our way.''

Hawes scored just 12 points but held Pitt's 7-foot senior center Aaron Gray â€" a possible lottery pick this June â€" to five points, tying a season-low. Hawes also tied a career-high with 12 rebounds and had three blocked shots.

"I thought he held his own,'' Romar said of Hawes.
Gray suffered a sprained ankle late in the game when he collided with Jon Brockman while going for a rebound. It was unknown how soon Gray will be back, with Pitt coach Jamie Dixon saying "it could be worse'' than previous sprained ankles Gray has had. "I hope I'm wrong.''

Brockman led UW with 13 points and added nine rebounds as the Huskies outboarded the Panthers 42-32. Ryan Appleby added 11 points as the Huskies hit 7-11 three-pointers, their most since making eight against Arizona State on Jan. 6.

But much like the loss to Washington State on Wednesday, the Huskies couldn't close the deal late.

After Hawes hit a jumper to make it 58-57 with 3:08 left, UW went cold. Gray made a lay-in on the other end in front of Hawes â€" his only field goal of the game on a set play with the other coming on a rebound putback â€" to put Pitt ahead 60-57 with 2:45 remaining.

Brockman missed a jumper on the other end, and after a Pitt turnover, Hawes missed a jumper from the
corner after a time out.

Pitt's Levance Fields made two free throws to put Pitt ahead 62-57 with 1:39 left.
Hawes hit a rebound putback with 1:24 left to put the Huskies within 62-59. Fields then missed a jumper with 47 seconds left, but Sam Young won the scramble for the loose ball giving Pitt another chance. Ronald Ramon was fouled with 29 seconds left and hit both free throws to put Pitt up 64-59 and that was enough to allow the Panthers to hold on.

"We responded the right way,'' said Dixon, whose team had suffered its worst loss at Petersen Events Center on Monday, a 66-53 defeat to Louisville.

Pitt is now 23-4 overall.

The Huskies return to action Thursday at Oregon State, knowing that they are in must-win mode from here on out, but also feeling again like that might just be possible.

"There are still a lot of positives we can take out of this game,'' Hawes said. "Hopefully we can take those and channel them in the right direction and benefit from this.''

A nice effort by the Huskies today, but unfortunately they are past the stage where that does them much good.

Interestingly, the second straight game UW has lost to a top 10 team by the score of 65-61.

But this game merely inspires a lot of wondering what might have been had Spencer Hawes been able to play that way all season. He didn't score well, but his rebounding, defense and shot blocking were superb and made the Huskies a different team today.

The free throw differential is easy to point to (Pitt made 18-23 to UW's 6-8) but the Huskies hurt themselves in the second half getting beat off the dribble too much on the perimeter.

Turnovers once again played a big role, as well, as UW lost 16 to just six for Pitt and the Huskies just couldn't get enough shots to fall.

More later.

The Huskies just keep hanging in. There's 11:09 left and the game is tied. Pitt looked ready to go on a little run early in the half, taking a five-point lead, but UW has used rebounding to steady things.

After Pitt got seven of the first eight rebounds of the second half, UW came right back to get eight of the next nine and the Huskies now have a 32-24 edge on the boards.

UW is also 6-8 on three-pointers, already the most three-pointers they've made in a game since beating Oregon on Jan. 25.

A couple other quick notes:

--- Adrian Oliver's two three-pointers in the first half equals his total of the last nine games.

--- And Justin Dentmon has just one field goal attempt, that a tip-in, in 15 minutes. As someone said "it looks like Justin had a nice talking to about his shot selection.'' But he also has four rebounds and just one TO in 18 minutes, that the five-second call.

UW fans have to be encouraged by that half.

The Huskies have stood toe-to-toe with Pitt for a half, trailing 31-28 largely due to Pitt's large edge at the free throw line --- the Panthers have hit 11-13 to UW's 2-2.

I'm not big on ripping the refs, but I would say that UW doesn't seem to be getting much benefit of the doubt so far. There have been four charge-block situations and all four have gone against the Huskies. And Jon Brockman got two fouls and had to sit out the last six-plus minutes of the half.

Still, the Huskies are playing the way they have to play against a team like this. They have outrebounded Pitt 21-14 with Hawes getting five, and they are hitting a few shots --- 4-6 from the three-point line with Adrian Oliver making 2-3. UW has as many offensive rebounds (eight) as Pitt does defensive rebounds.

A sign that this team may be growing up was Oliver's staredown with Pitt's Mike Cook after the two got tangled going for a rebound. For once, the Huskies didn't seem intimidated on the road.

We'll see if it lasts.

We're at the second media time out and the Huskies lead 14-8 --- and that's a good indicator of how the game has gone as UW has been the better and more aggressive team so far.

Hawes is just 1-4 shooting but he has three rebounds, a block and a nice pass to set up a UW field goal.

Contrary to what was thought, Hawes and Aaron Gray have matched up quite a bit --- it was a Gray shot that Hawes blocked.

And while this is a real nice arena, there isn't much energy in here. This is a real quiet place so far --- not even a lot of noise from the Oakland Zoo student section. The most noise is coming from the Husky bench as the UW contingent seems to have a lot of life --- as much as I have seen for a road game in quite a while.

It's a good start.

A couple other tidbits from the Petersen Events Center:

--- Word is that Gray and Hawes won't match up directly much, if at all, with Pitt likely using Levon Kendall to defend Hawes while putting Gray on Brockman, with UW doing the same on the other end.

--- Among those in the UW section are former Husky Jason Hartman, who played a few years during the Bender era before transferring to Portland State and now lives in this area; and Ray Horton, the former UW football player who is now an assistant with the Steelers.

--- This arena is built on top of where the football stadium used to be, where Dan Marino, Tony Dorsett, Mike Ditka and others played. The cabbie who drove me here lamented that Pitt football has never been the same, that the focus of the school shifted from football to basketball when that happened --- the football team now plays at Heinz Field, the home of the Steelers, with students being bused down there for the games.

And what a place the Petersen Events Center is. This is nicer than any Pac-10 arena and on par with most things I've seen in the NBA.

But it's also still about 15 degrees outside with snow everywhere, meaning a snazzy arena isn't everything.

This column from Ron Cook in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette today laments that the school hasn't been able to attract a better claiber of recruit and is the one thing that may keep the team away from a run to the Final Four this season.

Aaron Gray, remember, was a Ben Howland recruit.

This story from the same paper previews the game in traditional fashion with some good thoughts on UW's big men.

There was also an interesting anecdote in one of the papers today about Romar trying to hire Jamie Dixon as an assistant at UW when he took over in 2002 --- Dixon was then an assistant at Pitt. As I wrote the other day, the two have known each other for more than 20 years, with Dixon saying that his performance against Romar in a summer league team helped him get his scholarship to TCU --- Dixon was then in high school and Romar in the NBA.

Speaking of the NBA, there are roughly 20 NBA scouts here today to see the matchup of Gray and Spencer Hawes. I wrote about that matchup today in our preview in the Times.

It's likely, however, that Jon Brockman will begin the game guarding Gray, though Gray figures to defend Hawes on the other end.

For those of you concerned the team was out late watching the Rookie Challenge, I should have been more clear that they went there for dinner and to begin watching it, but they were back at their hotel (which was only a few minutes away) early on.

Finally. the lineup will stay the same for today's game.

I made it here after about nine hours in the air and in Pittsburgh traffic from the airport and all I can say is that UW fans had better hope the Huskies are in better shape to play the game tomorrow than I am to write about it.

At least the hour or so it took to get from the airport to my hotel gave me a lot of time to read the Pittsburgh papers.

There were two interesting stories.

One was this column by Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in which he writes 20 or so inches about how fans shouldn't worry about Pitt bouncing back from the loss to Louisville Monday night yet never even mentions the fact that the Panthers are playing Washington Saturday. Kind of a sign how much luster this game has lost due to UW's struggles this season from the shine it figured to have when it was scheduled last July.

Smizik points out that Pitt has struggled against teams with quick guards, which unfortunately doesn't really define what the Huskies are right now.

There was also this from the Tribune-Review giving a Pitt's eye view of the Huskies and much praise for Spencer Hawes and Jon Brockman.

I was on a radio show here today and they were pretty eager to hear about Hawes and to see him match up with Aaron Gray Saturday.

As for the Huskies, they practiced here for about two hours and then had study table and other activities in the afternoon. They were slated to have dinner at a Hard Rock Cafe tonight where they would be able to watch Brandon Roy play in the Rookie Challenge tonight.

And as you can see by the post time of this blog, I had quite the early flight. Heard a lot of horror stories of traveling back east this week so hoping it all goes okay. But I may have no time for quite a while to post so figured I'd do this now.

Here's our story from today setting up Saturday's game with a little of the history of how it came together. The Huskies don't plan to make a regular habit of playing non-conference games during the conference season but didn't have much choice with this one.

Here, also, is a look at Pitt coach Jamie Dixon and how he is handling the loss of his sister, Maggie,
who died suddenly last April of heart failure at age 28 after coaching Army into the NCAA Tournament.

Watching the action tonight had to make UW fans feel that much worse about what happened against the Cougars.

Look at the conference standings after tonight's' games, including Oregon's upset loss to Cal and Arizona's defeat at home at the hands of USC:

1, UCLA 11-2
2, WSU 11-3
3, USC 9-4
4, Stanford 8-5
5, Oregon 8-6
Arizona 8-6
7, Washington 6-8
8, Cal 5-8
9, Oregon State 2-12
10, Arizona State 0-14

Had the Huskies been able to beat the Cougars, they might have been able to make a serious run at passing Oregon since the Ducks are the one team that UW could earn the tiebreaker on.

Instead, UW's loss to WSU gave the Ducks a little wiggle room despite their sudden skid --- Oregon has now lost five of its past seven games starting with the defeat at Washington.

But with a 20-6 record and an RPI of 25, the Ducks are safe as long as they can get two more wins and even one may be enough, particularly if they finish in the top five in the conference.

Arizona, on the other hand, is making things a little uncomfortable for itself. The Wildcats are just 17-8 and have lost seven of their last 12 games, which seems more than just a little bad spell but a sign of some serious issues. That Arizona is struggling so much makes it even that much harder to fathom the way the Wildcats blew out the Huskies in Tucson a couple of weeks ago.

Arizona's high RPI (No. 7 entering the week) gives the Wildcats some wiggle room as well. But Arizona's schedule the rest of the way isn't easy --- home to UCLA Saturday then on the road to Arizona State (due to beat somebody at some point) and Cal and Stanford.

All of which points out just how in it the Huskies could have been.

Instead, UW now has to worry about staving off Cal for seventh place.

And if you've noticed, if the season ended today, UW would play Arizona State in the first round of the Pac-10 Tournament. If the Huskies won that game, they would then get a third shot at beating Washington State this season in the second round.

It's easy to point to Justin Dentmon's 0-5 shooting in the final three minutes of the game as UW went scoreless and pin the whole loss on him.

But I reviewed the game on tape this afternoon, specificially the end, and decided that Dentmon might be getting just a little bit more heat than is maybe deserved.

This isn't to defend his play for the season --- he is now down to 41.4 percent shooting overall and 28.6 percent from the three-point line, and has only 97 assists against 77 turnovers, none of which are close to good enough.

That said, let's review those five shots Dentmon took at the end.

The first was an off-balance three-pointer as the shot clock was running out and 2:35 left on the game clock. It was a tough shot to make, but he had no choice but to take it. This shot came after the whole team basically passed the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds finding nothing else open. As the PG, Dentmon shares responsbility for that, no doubt. But as for the shot itself, hard to see what else he could have done there. Maybe he could have driven to the hoop, but he seems pretty out of options by the time he gets the ball.

Dentmon then got the offensive rebound and put back a little finger roll that was short. You could blame him for hurrying that shot, maybe, but on the other hand, he's a couple feet away from the basket. It was as high percentage a shot as the Huskies were likely to get there considering the way WSU was playing defense. The fault there, it seems, is in the execution, not in the decision.

His third shot then comes at the end of the sequence. After Dentmon missed his putback, Brockman missed a putback but Oliver got the rebound and UW called time out to set up a play.

Here, things fell apart a little bit. Brockman jumped out high to get the ball at the top of the key, but nothing was open and Dentmon ended up with the ball near the three-point line with the shot clock at eight seconds. He then shot a jumper that missed.

On the telecast, Bob Weiss says that both Brockman and Appleby were open, and Appleby does appear to have been wide open a few seconds earlier but Dentmon didn't get him the ball. This is the first shot were Dentmon deserves healthy blame, in my estimation, for both exection and decision, the latter of which is the most critical. With eight seconds left, he still had time to find someone else, or even better, drive to the hoop and create something. But in his defense on this point, no one else was doing anything, either. This was another possession where the ball was basically passed around for 25 seconds before Dentmon finally decided to do something.

Dentmon's next shot comes with 23.8 seconds left, a drive to the hoop after UW called time out, still down 62-61. Dentmon misses the shot and it goes out of bounds off UW. Both Dentmon and Romar thought he got fouled by Robbie Cowgill, and in looking at the replay, I've certainly seen less contact called. Weiss even says at first it's a foul before backtracking when he sees the replay. On execution, you can maybe fault him for not being stronger to the hoop. But as a decision, it wasn't a bad one and with how quickly he went to the hoop, was likely one of the main options on the play.

Dentmon's final shot is a 3-pointer with seven seconds left after WSU had taken a three-point lead. This is the play where Hawes originally pops out to the three-point line, likely ready to take a three --- as he had done successfully against USC --- only to be well covered by Ivory Clark. This entire play seems a little messed up, however, as it seems rather late developing all the way around, the reason Clark was able to quickly get up on Hawes. By the time Dentmon got the ball, there was little else to do but fire up a three and hope, and that's what he did.

My point, I guess, is that I would really fault Dentmon for his decision to shoot on only one of the five shots --- the jumper with eight seconds left on the shot clock. One came at the end of the shot clock, another was a close-in putback on a rebound, the other is the drive to the hoop where a foul certainly could have been called, and then the three-pointer at the end.

The only other shots in the 3:31 span were the putback by Brockman, the missed three by Oliver with 1:19 left and then the three-pointer by Appleby with three seconds left after WSU went ahead by four.

Interesting to note in all of his is how the Cougars kept giving UW chances. WSU was 0-1 from the field with two turnovers and gave up three offensive rebounds from the 4:03 mark until there were 17 seconds left.

Lots of questions after this one, so I'll try to provide a few answers (though answers are admittedly hard to find right now).

WHAT'S WITH JUSTIN DENTMON? For starters, I will point out to those of you saying he is young, in terms of age, he's older than most as he is 21 years old --- remember, he attended prep school for a year out of high school. It was hoped he would come to UW with a little added maturity because of that, and coaches cited that at times last year when Dentmon played well as a freshman.

His comments after the game last night really weren't a lot different than what he has said at other times this year --- he has said several times that he is struggling to adjust to a new role and at times confused by whether he's supposed to be a playmaker or a scorer.

UW coaches want him to be both.

A few of you have asked why the Huskies have no "true'' point guard. It's largely a choice. Any of you who have read this for long know that Lorenzo Romar wants his guards to be able to do everything equally. He resists labels and would never refer to Conroy was the point, and Nate as the shooting guard, saying both were each equally, though obviously they settled into those roles as their careers progressed.

Romar feels point guards who aren't good scorers are easier to defend, so in recruiting, they typically look for guards who can do both. Dentmon, for what it's worth, was the No. 10-rated point guard in the country by Rivals.com in 2005, so the Huskies weren't the only ones thinking he could play the point.

I still think a lot of this team's problem down the stretch is a lack of familiarity with each other's game, which is in part a product of the sporadic practice time they've had together this year, mostly due to Hawes' various ailments. The Cougars, especially the four main guys, have been together for three years --- that experience and cohesiveness showed down the stretch.

But as I wrote a few weeks ago, the Huskies tried to address point guard depth after the season by recruiting some JC players. They went hard after Blake Young, a JC transfer from Florida who instead landed at Kansas State where he was the starter early in the year before suffering a knee injury.

ARE THE HUSKIES TAKING A CHARTER TO PITTSBURGH? No. The Huskies fly commercial to regular season games and they are going through Minnesota on thei