Huskies remain winless on the road; Buffaloes win in blowout 87-69

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(8-6,2-1) failed yet another road test losing to the Colorado Buffaloes(10-4,2-0) in Boulder, Colorado 87-69. In a game which the Huskies led by a score of 14-5 the Buffaloes ended the half outscoring the Huskies 35-16. The Huskies once again on the road failed to make their shots, failed to make defensive stops and just seemed liked they didn't even want to be there.

With just three Huskies scoring in double figures while allowing 49% shooting from the Buffaloes the Huskies were once again no match on the road as they now fall to 0-5 on the season away from home. This young talented squad appears to be suffering a similar fate as the 2006-07 team which had young freshman Spencer Hawes and Quincy Pondexter along with sophomore Jon Brockman all of which are playing in the NBA currently. Lorenzo Romar must figure out a way to maximize the talent of a team that features two lottery picks and another player who could be playing in the NBA as well.

In the Huskies first trip to Boulder since 1996 when freshman superstar Tony Wroten was only three years the Huskies got off to a terrific start leading 14-5. That is when everything started to fall apart as the Buffaloes started to outhustle the Huskies on both ends of the floor and the Huskies simply stop making their shots. Then Romar put in freshman Martin Bruenig is when the Buffaloes went on a run. While Bruenig's stint was short it left an impact as he missed a dunk and two layups while also giving up two three pointers and a few offensive rebounds. Before you knew it the Buffaloes had ended the half on a 35-16 run leading the Huskies 40-30 at halftime.

The Buffaloes shot 16-38(.421) from the field while draining three for six three pointers. They were led by Carlon Brown who scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting including two three pointers. Andre Roberson added six points on three for three shooting with eight rebounds and Sabatino Chen scored six points on three for six shooting as well. For the Huskies they shot miserable shooting 13-41(.317) from the field while making just 2-10 three pointers. They were led by C.J. Wilcox who scored nine points on 4-10 shooting but just one for seven on three pointers. Terrence Ross added seven points on three for seven shooting including a three pointer and seven rebounds. Tony Wroten scored six points on three for seven shooting but missed both free throws while adding three steals. The Huskies had an uphill mountain to climb in the second half.

The Huskies were outscored 47-39 in the second half to ultimately lose 87-69 in a game that wasn't even that close. The Buffaloes shot 27-55(49.1%) from the field making 8-14(57.1%) of their three pointers and 25-28(89.3%) from their free throws. The Buffaloes had five guys in scoring figures and another score eight points. They were led by Brown who scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting including a perfect three for three on three pointers. For the Huskies they shot miserable making only 27-72(37.5%) of their field goals, 4-20(20.0%) of their three pointers and 11-16(68.8%) of their free throws. They were led by Wroten who scored 21 points on 9-16 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and seven steals. He also turned the ball over five times and shot just three for eight on free throws. Wilcox scored 19 points off the bench on 6-16 shooting including three for nine on three pointers but was a perfect four for four on free throws. The last Husky to score in double figures was Terrence Ross who scored 13 points on 6-15 shooting with a three pointer while adding 10 rebounds. The Huskies had too many other no shows as they had three other starters combine score eight points. Desmond Simmons had a nice game scoring six points on three for seven shooting with five rebounds as he continues to be the Huskies only productive big man.

All in all, this was another long list of bad losses for this years Huskies team. This was your standard Romar loss which featured poor substitutions, poor big man play, too many turnovers and nothing that resembles a half court offense. What doesn't resemble a Romar team is the piss poor defensive effort which is becoming a bad trend for this particular team in losses. The Huskies also need some of their upperclassman to step up and take control. Pretty hard to be a leader when you aren't playing well. This was the second straight game Darnell Gant was a complete non factor while Abdul Gaddy pulled a no show this game as well. The Huskies inside play was terrible on both ends of the court while Wroten is being asked to do too much. This Huskies team is at a crossroads right now which is they can simply play it out and go to the CBI despite three guys who appear to be NBA talent or they can focus and try to make something out of this season that appears headed down the drains very quickly.