I had a brief note earlier today on the status of Joe Wolfinger, whose recovery from a foot injury has apparently taken a turn for the better, and I'll expand on that here.

It was thought a few weeks ago that Wolfinger might finally need surgery to repair a stress fracture that has kept him out all season.

But UW coach Lorenzo Romar said Friday that the foot has responded well recently and surgery may not be necessary.

Romar said he made the comments about surgery being possible because Wolfinger's bone still showed a break when the boot was removed a few weeks ago.

"But as he began to become more active, there was no pain,'' Romar said. "As he continues to be pain free and activity has increased, there is a chance he won't have to have surgery.''

Romar said Wolfinger is doing the stairmaster, shooting flat-footed and even some light jumping.

Romar said Wolfinger may begin jogging next week.

"We're trying to increase it more and more and see if he can pass each mini-test so that he can eventually run on it,'' Romar said.

The 7-foot Wolfinger redshirted last season to add a little bulk, weighing 230 pounds when he showed up at UW in the fall of 2005.

Ironically, he now needs to lose a little weight as he is up to about 275 pounds. But Romar said the weight isn't a real concern.

"When he is really able to start running, I think he'll top off at about 260-265, which he can carry just fine,'' Romar said. "You see him at 275, he just looks good. He doesn't look too big or too skinny.''

The return to full health of Wolfinger is critical as the Huskies may need another big body next season should Spencer Hawes turn pro. Either way, Wolfinger figures to have a key role next year.

USC or WSU in second round?

Posted by Bob Condotta at 1:16 PM

Tomorrow's game against UCLA is now just window dressing for both teams, with seeds for the Pac-10 tournament decided for both.

The intrigue for the Huskies is on the other side of the state.

UW clinched a No. 7 seed last night and will play Arizona State in the first round Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

Should UW win that game, it would then play the No. 2 seed on Thursday. And that will be either USC or WSU depending on which team wins tomorrow in Pullman.

WSU is a game ahead of USC but USC would hold the tiebreaker if it beats the Cougars. Essentially, the two teams would have split against each other, and USC has a win against a higher-seeded team in the conference than WSU, having beaten Oregon twice while the Cougars were swept by the Ducks.

So for the Huskies, the question is which team would be a better fit in the second round.

I actually think it's hard to tell than it might appear on paper.

UW obviously matches up pretty well with USC given the way the two have played this year --- the Huskies could have won in Los Angeles and pretty much dominated last night.

WSU, meanwhile, has won four in a row against the Huskies, suggesting that's the last team UW would want to face.

But USC would have a little of a homecourt advantage at the Staples Center (I think it's overstated as that place is so cavernous it never really feels like anyone has much of an edge, but certainly the Trojans would have a lot more fans there) while the Huskies might be due to finally beat the Cougars.

Certainly, UW would feel a lot better about playing the Cougs now after the tight loss two weeks ago than it would have earlier in the season.

Course, a loss to ASU will make it all moot, but fun to speculate about for now.

On Floyd

Posted by Bob Condotta at 9:01 AM

A few of you have commented on how Tim Floyd reacted after the game and wondered why.

I can tell you he was pretty upset with his team afterward based on the comments on the official quote sheet.

"It was not one of our better defensive efforts,'' he said. "I thought we didn't get back defensively for our perimeter players in defensive transition. We made some real mistakes as far as location and they made us pay for it.''

There was a timeout with about six minutes to go in the first half after Ryan Appleby hit a three-pointer when Floyd lit into Lodrick Stewart and Daniel Hackett.

"Defensive transition was the key,'' Floyd said. "There was a timeout that we called about that. We needed guys to get back, rotate, run the floor and find a guy. We have been pretty good at it all year long, that is why we have been able to rob people, but we didn't do a good job tonight.''

At another point, Floyd said simply that "we didn't get into the game.''

Floyd was also obviously upset with the officiating.