Huskies season ends in heartbreak to Tar Heels 86-83 in round of 32

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(24-11,11-7) season comes to a disappointing end to the second seeded North Carolina Tar Heels(28-7,14-2) 86-83. The Huskies had high hopes to begin the year which you can read here. There was talks of Final Fours and this being finally the year. Instead the Huskies fail to reach the sweet 16. The Huskies lost a close game to a tough opponent in which was basically a road game. The Huskies blew an 11 point lead and never trailed by more than two points until two minutes left in the game. Due to costly decision making down the stretch the Huskies season is over. The Tar Heels were led by Tyler Zeller who scored 23 points and Harrison Barnes who scored 22 points. The Huskies were led by freshman Terrence Ross who scored 19 points. The Huskies bench once again was the strength outscoring the Tar Heels bench 41-5 but the Tar Heels starters overcame that by scoring 81 points to the Huskies 42. In the end the season will be viewed as a disappointment to some fans while others are just happy to make the tournament. The Huskies played hard and came out on fire to start the game.

The first half was a high scoring run and gun half for both teams. The Huskies were trailing 15-14 went on a 12-0 run to lead 26-15 over the second seeded Tar Heels. The Tar Heels then responded to even take the lead. Both teams fought back and forth in the first half ultimately ending with the Huskies taking a 45-44 halftime lead over the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels were led Harrison Barnes who scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting including two three's. Tyler Zeller scored 12 points on four for eight shooting and was perfect from his four free throw attempts. The Tar Heels shot 16-36(44.4%) from the field and made three for eight three pointers. The Heels also shot 9-13(69.2%) from the foul line. The Huskies were actually out playing the Tar Heels most of the half.

For the Huskies they were led by freshman Terrence Ross. Ross who didn't score in his first tournament game came out with 12 points on four for five shooting including two three pointers. Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored eight points on four for eight shooting with seven rebounds. Darnell Gant scored six points hitting two three pointers. Isaiah Thomas slumped scoring just four points on two for eight shooting but had three assists. Aziz N'Diaye who was inserted back in the lineup dominated the glass. N'Diaye scored two points but grabbed eight rebounds. The Huskies shot 18-40(45.0%) from the field, 6-13(46.2%) from three point range and were perfect in their three free throws. The Huskies dominated the glass 24-15 despite the Tar Heels height advantage. The Tar Heels in the second started to dominate the paint and closed the gap on the rebounds.

In the second half saw both teams take turns having momentum. The Huskies led 74-69 with under six minutes to go. The Huskies then had a 76-73 lead which saw the Tar Heels go on a 7-0 run to take a 80-76 lead. After a crucial N'Diaye putback to pull the Huskies within 80-78 the Tar Heels went up six with under two minutes to go. After a Huskies bucket to pull within 84-80 with under 30 seconds left Thomas found a wide open Scott Suggs who drilled the three pointer to pull the Huskies within 84-83. The Huskies then fouled Kendall Marshall who was going to shoot a one and one free throw. Marshall missed the free throw and the Huskies got the rebound. Instead of calling their last timeout the Huskies let Venoy Overton take the ball to the hoop as he got his lay up swatted with 10 seconds. Fighting for the rebound the ball went out of bounds with seven seconds remaining. Justin Holiday's inbound pass was tipped and Dexter Strickland was then fouled. He made both free throws to give the Tar Heels an 86-83 lead. Once again Overton made a poor decision as he was expectating a Tar Heel to foul him he threw up a half court shot with 1.2 seconds on the clock. The Huskies caught a break as the ball went off a Tar Heel. So with 0.5 seconds left the Huskies inbounded the ball to Thomas for three and he missed it. The shot could have been called goaltending but on the review Thomas foot was on the line so it didn't matter. The Huskies lost 86-83 ending their season short of expectations.

The Huskies lose a tough close game despite shooting 33-72(45.8%) from the field and 10-19(52.6%) from three point range. The Huskies were even perfect on seven free throw attempts. Despite giving up the size advantage the Huskies outrebounded the Tar Heels 38-33 including 13 offensive rebounds. In the end that wasn't enough for the Huskies as the Tar Heels were led by their five starters who scored 81 points. Led by Zeller with 23 and Barnes with 22. Marshall scored 13 points while dishing out 14 assists. For the Huskies they were led by Ross who scored 19 points on 7-10 shooting including three three pointers and six rebounds. Bryan-Amaning finished his career with 14 points on 7-14 shooting with eight rebounds. Thomas scored just 12 points on 5-15 shooting but did have eight assists. C.J.Wilcox came alive in the second half to score 11 points on four for nine shooting including three three's. Scott Suggs added eight points on two three pointers. Gant scored six points and six rebounds. Overton finished his career with five points and two assists. Justin Holiday continued his shooting slump scoring just four points on two for six shooting. Then N'Diaye provided a lift scoring four points on two for three shooting with 11 rebounds including five offensive. The Huskies played a good game but five bad minutes down the stretch can offset 35 great minutes which is the sad reality of sports.

Overall the Huskies played a good but they just simply lost to the better team. The Huskies now you could argue if they had taken care of business in the regular season they wouldn't be in this position. As for the game itself it was a clean game which the Huskies battled hard. Now the cold reality is three guys on this Huskies team will never wear that Huskies uniform again. The Huskies will be returning six guys from this team along with Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten coming in should be in a position to make some noise next season. As for this year the year that started off with so much promise including at one time a top 10 ranking is over suddenly. Nobody would have accepted a round 32 loss at the start of the year or even three weeks ago. The Huskies didn't achieve their goals and now must always wonder what could have been?

Observations:

- Years from now people will look back at this game as an instant classic. Unfortunately for Huskies fans they seem to be on the wrong side of those games. In this game you'll notice a young freshman who kept his team in it. No I'm not talking about Harrison Barnes who played great I might add.

Instead I'm talking about Terrence Ross. Ross who showed you why he is still a freshman at times but also showed how the sky is the limit for him. Given the situation of the game and the opponent I'd say this was Ross finest game of his freshman year. Ross started off hot in Pac-10 play averaging 16.0 points per game in his first four games. Then Ross like most freshman hit a wall. It was so bad he played four minutes against UCLA the second to last regular season game then didn't play against USC. Ross rebounded by averaging 15.3 PPG in the Pac-10 tournament being named first team all tournament team.

Then Ross took a big step backwards scoring zero points on 0-5 shooting in 10 lousy minutes against the Georgia Bulldogs. Ross found himself removed from the starting lineup today. Ross hit his first three point attempt in the first half. Ross, unlike Wilcox who can catch fire at any moment, you know what you are getting. Typically with Ross you can tell the game he will have in the first five minutes. Well today Ross grabbed six rebounds and made some nice athletic moves. He also showed he is a good shooter as well. Ross finished the year averaging 8.0 PPG while shooting 44.3% from the field, 35.2% from three's and 75.8% from free throw's. The future is bright with Ross and Wilcox being only freshman.

- The picture to my right is of Thomas giving support to teammate Justin Holiday who made a costly mistake on the inbound pass. Holiday has gone MIA the last seven games. Holiday who worked so hard to improve his scoring all year long. In the team's first 28 games Holiday averaged 11.9 PPG, shot 124-249(49.8%) from the field and 46-115(40.0%) from three point range. As you can see Holiday made great strides in his career but then in the last seven games he reverted back to how he was early in his junior season.

In Holiday's final seven games in a Huskies uniform he averaged just 4.9 PPG while shooting 14-48(29.1%) from the field and was 1-16(6.3%) from three point range. In four of those games Holiday played over 30 minutes despite slumping so badly. One can question why Holiday was even on the floor with those numbers down the stretch. I openly question that as well since as you can see Holiday has been an offensive liability. It is truly a shame Holiday's career ended the way it did. Hopefully the fans can remember the good he did for this school.

- Venoy Overton's career ends with two costly mistakes. Overton played just 12 minutes while scoring five points on one for three shooting. Romar smartly didn't play Overton much instead playing his three wings of Ross, Wilcox and Suggs. Yet with the season on the line on the two most important possessions the season was decided by Overton. Even Overton himself questioned that move after the game.

I'll talk about both plays and one play wasn't Overton's fault in my opinion. Down by one with 17 seconds left Overton chose to push the ball which I hated the decision. Even if he makes the bucket the Tar Heels still have 10 seconds to score the game winning shot. Now some may say Lorenzo Romar trusted his senior to make the right decision but that is just stupid. What makes Overton so great and so frustrating is how reckless he plays. Having said that with the game on the line you don't want that. Romar should have taken a timeout and put the ball in Thomas hands to let him decide the season.

On the half court shot Overton messed up big time. Up three with less than five seconds to go the Huskies expected the Tar Heels to foul them. Overton hoping they would foul him as he threw up that desperation three to earn three free throw's. What Overton should have done is not worry about them fouling him. Overton should have pushed the ball up court and quickly find a shooter. If they foul him simply make the first free throw then miss the second for a tip in or tip out three for the win. Once again remember this was after a made free throw why Overton brought the ball up the court instead of their best player and decision maker Thomas is a bit mind boggling. Once again hopefully the fans remember all the good that Overton did because like Holiday he didn't end his career on a high note at all.

- Pretty amazing the Huskies only lost by three points with Isaiah Thomas shooting 5-15 making zero three pointers. Thomas had just 12 points but did dish out eight assists. Most people figured if the Huskies were to win Thomas would have to have a big game which he didn't. Even with Thomas struggles you have to wonder why wasn't the ball in his hands with the game on the line. I know technically he took the last shot of the season but that was a catch and shoot situation.

Thomas the final time he brought the ball up faked a three and dished to an open Suggs who drilled the three to pull within one. Unlike last week where Romar put the ball in Thomas hands to win the game he elected to go with Overton. That decision fans will debate all offseason as they should. Thomas made great strides as an overall great player. Thomas was once again named first team all pac-10 finished his year averaging 16.8 PPG on 44.5% shooting from the field and 34.9% from three point range. The most important part is Thomas averaged 6.1 assists on the year the highest since Will Conroy averaged 6.5 assists in the 2004-05 season.

- Lorenzo Romar is a good coach for the Washington Huskies. That has been established with taking the team to the tournament in six of his eight seasons. He has a winning tournament record too at 8-6. He has won the Pac-10 tournament three times and the regular season once. He has also failed to take that next step in this program. It is becoming more painfully obvious he might not ever be able to take that step.

Now I felt for the first 35 minutes Romar coached great. There wasn't many stupid plays, the rotation was just fine. Then in the last five minutes just basic fundamental plays the Huskies couldn't make. The two Overton plays, Holiday inbound, Ross getting his pocket picked, having both Overton and Holiday on the court, etc. This seems to be a theme in the Romar era on tough losses that the Huskies don't lose because the other team beat them. They are losing by making stupid decisions late in games. This isn't to take away from North Carolina at all they were the better team playing basically a home game.

The Huskies are in a weird spot with Romar they truly are. Some fans and a certain KJR host seem to think he can do no wrong and are just happy with making the NCAA tournament. Those fans adjust expectations as the season goes on. Other fans know this program can do so much more with all that talent in the Seattle/Tacoma area. Romar is a great program builder as typically all his seniors get better. Only Mike Jensen and Venoy Overton appeared to have taken a step back throughout their careers. The Huskies need to land a big time recruit. I'm not talking about a player either I'm talking about scouting the country for an X's and O's geru at some D-2 or D-3 school. Ken Bone was a head coach at Seattle Pacific for 14 years and he left to Washington knowing he could move on from there. The question comes down to will Romar finally admit he needs help on offense or will the Huskies simply accept being a top tier team in a weak conference?

All in all this loss was probably the second toughest in the Romar era. I don't think any loss will top that Uconn game in 2006 but if there was a game this was it. This loss became even more depressing as 11th seeded Marquette(same team UW beat last year in tournament) upset 3rd seeded Syracuse. So the Huskies most likely would have been the favorites in a sweet 16 game instead their season is over. The Huskies future appears very bright but after seeing them underachieve in the regular season the last two years can you trust them?

The Huskies had to play basically a road game because they lost to Washington State twice, Oregon, Oregon State and Stanford. Win at worst four of those games the Huskies would have a 28-10 record going into this game and most likely would have been in Tucson. Instead for the second straight year the Huskies lost seven conference games in a weak conference. The Pac-10 has sent just three teams out of 48 teams to the sweet 16 the last three years. There is no excuse to lose that many games in a crappy conference like that. The Huskies if they wish to advance in the tournament must take care of the regular season. Look at North Carolina they won the ACC regular season and now their path to elite 8 looks pretty good. Win in the regular season and you obviously get rewarded with easier opponents and are closer to home. The Huskies hopefully next year finally play up to their capabilities. As for this year well it wasn't a failure but it wasn't a success either. I guess there is always next year which is the typical Seattle saying unfortunately.

Huskies win NCAA first game over Bulldogs 68-65

By Kshell

The 7th seeded Washington Huskies(24-10,11-7) survived a late rally by the 10th seeded Georgia Bulldogs(21-12,9-7) to win 68-65 in the first game of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies also set school history making this the first time they have won an NCAA tournament game three years in a row. The Huskies were once again led by Pac-10 tournament MVP Isaiah Thomas who scored 19 points while dishing out seven assists. The Huskies also received a big boost from their bench as the Huskies reserves outscored the Bulldogs reserves 28-0. The Huskies overcame a big game by Trey Thompkins who scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. The Huskies also overcame an early seven point deficit to the Bulldogs. The Huskies with this win have now won at least one tournament game in Lorenzo Romar's last five appearances in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies also won on the east coast for the first time in over a decade. The Huskies took care of business which is all you want in the tournament.

The first half saw the Huskies struggle making their shots. The Huskies found themselves trailing 23-16 after the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run. The season was in danger of ending if the Bulldogs had went on another run. Instead the Huskies closed the half out on a 12-5 run led by Thomas attacking the hole and setting up his teammates. Despite being dominated in the first half the Huskies rallied to tie it at 28-28 at halftime. The Bulldogs had shot 11-27(40.7%) from the field and made three of six three pointers. They were led by Thompkins who scored 15 points on six for eight shooting with six rebounds. The Huskies had shot 12-38(31.6%) from the field and a disasterous 2-14(14.3%) from three point range. The Huskies were led by Scott Suggs who scored seven points on three for seven shooting with a three pointer. Matthew Bryan-Amaning added six points on three for seven shooting with four rebounds. Thomas scored just four points on two for eight shooting but had four assists. The Huskies bench outscored the Bulldogs 14-0.

In the second half the Huskies after giving up the lead went on a 12-2 run to go up 40-32. The Huskies the rest of the half led by Thomas controlled the half being up by 8-10 points the entire half. The Huskies also shot better shooting 14-22(63.6%) and made two for four from three point range. The Huskies also were 10-12(83.3%) from the free throw line in the second half. The Bulldogs did make the game interesting trailing by 10 inside two minutes the Huskies tried to give the game away. With turnovers, dumb fouls and missed free throws the Huskies found themselves up just two points with 3.7 seconds left. Freshman C.J. Wilcox hit the first free throw to put the Huskies up three. Wilcox missed the second free throw which was rebounded by Jeremy Price who threw an outlet pass which was broken up by Thomas. Thomas leaped up like Nate Robinson to deflect the pass forcing the Bulldogs to take a tough three point shot which was missed. The Huskies had survived to win the tournament game over the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were led by Thompkins who scored 26 points on 11-14 shooting including two three pointers and 11 rebounds.

The Huskies were led by Isaiah Thomas once again. Thomas finished 6-14 shooting but a perfect seven for seven at the foul line. Thomas scored 19 points and dished out seven assists. The Huskies received great team scoring today as their bench outscored the Bulldogs 28-0. Leading the reserves was Scott Suggs who scored 10 points on four for seven shooting including two three's. Matthew Bryan-Amaning is still struggling scoring just eight points on three for eight shooting with just six rebounds. Darnell Gant who made the start this game overcame two quick fouls to score seven points on three for five shooting including a three. Then the Huskies had Justin Holiday, Aziz N'Diaye, Venoy Overton and C.J. Wilcox all score six points. The Huskies for the game shot 12-14(85.7%) from the foul line for the game. For the Huskies it was business as usual winning an NCAA tournament game. This is the fourth win for the Huskies in the last three years.

Overall the Huskies won an NCAA tournament game but that wasn't the goal. The goal heading into the year wasn't to win just one tournament game. The Huskies will now take on the University of North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday. The Huskies took care of business when they had to in the second half to stretch the lead. That was mainly because of Thomas who scored 15 points in the second half on four for six shooting. Thomas was electric in the second half and then saved the game with his defense at the end. The Huskies won't have much time to enjoy this win. In just 36 hours after the game the Huskies will be taking on North Carolina. The opportunity the Huskies have in this game will be huge. Just don't forget to enjoy this win for at least a day.

Observations:

- Thomas playing in his sixth career tournament game was big once again. After a slow start Thomas finished with 19 points and seven assists. In the process Thomas passed Huskies Honks Eldridge Recasner for sixth all-time in Huskies history in points. Thomas is just 35 points away from fifth place so if the Huskies were to win on Sunday he could pass it this year.

Thomas in the NCAA tournament has played pretty well scoring in double figures in five straight games. For the tournament Thomas is averaging 16.5 points per game on 34-85(40.0%) from the field. He has also averaged 5.7 assists per game. Thomas isn't a player who freezes up in big games. Thomas along with Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Venoy Overton, Darnell Gant and Justin Holiday will tie Brandon Roy, Mike Jensen and Bobby Jones in playing in their seventh tournament game this Sunday. That will be a Huskies record for most tournament games played.

- The Huskies defense played really well after trailing early on 23-16. Thompkins scored 26 of the Bulldogs 65 points. The Huskies in the second half denied Thompkins the ball in long stretches at a time. The Huskies had six steals. Thomas and Holiday each had two steals while Bryan-Amaning and Terrence Ross each had a steal.

The stats are a bit skewed since the Huskies fell apart in the final two minutes. In the first 18 minutes of that half the Huskies really put the pressure on the Bulldogs. The defense pressure is what got the Huskies back into the game and then gave them the nice lead in the second half. The Huskies will need to apply that same pressure to North Carolina who played sloppy yet still scored 102 points. The Huskies won the Pac-10 tournament because they shot lights out. They won due to their great defensive play.

- Nice win for Lorenzo Romar as he improves to 8-5(8-6 overall) as Huskies head coach in the NCAA tournament. Romar once again changed the starting lineup starting Darnell Gant in place of C.J. Wilcox to defend the Bulldogs size. Romar also played Venoy Overton more minutes than Scott Suggs, C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross. Romar isn't afraid of being second guessed and made some head scratching moves that worked well.

The Huskies also won because of the trademark for Romar teams which is good defense and hustle. The Huskies shot terrible from three point range. The Huskies due to choking at the end against the Bulldogs have now won three straight games by five points or less after losing their first six. Romar has an experience tournament team which features five guys playing in their seventh tournament game and another guy playing in his sixth game this Sunday against North Carolina. Romar is the only coach to lead the Huskies to the NCAA tournament three years in a row has done that now twice. Well Romar is the first Huskies coach to win an NCAA tournament game three years in a row.

All in all the Huskies were favored and won the game they were supposed to win. In the NCAA tournament it doesn't matter how you look just as long as you advance. The Huskies have some area's to clean up as does North Carolina. The Huskies after playing in this gym should start having their shots fall. The Huskies also won a game in which they couldn't shoot well and only Thomas scored more than 11 points. This was a total team effort as eight guys scored over six points. Now the Huskies should enjoy this win as they set history winning a tournament game three years in a row. The Huskies will have a chance to achieve their biggest win in the last 50 years for this program. The Huskies have a chance to beat a historic program in their backyard. Just don't forget to enjoy this win is all. The upperclassman have done a great job leaving their mark at the University of Washington. It would be nice if they could provide the biggest victory of the Lorenzo Romar era this sunday.

Huskies freshman come up big in 69-51 win over Oregon in Pac-10 semi's

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(22-10,11-7) held off the pesky Oregon Ducks(16-17,7-11) to win 69-51. The Huskies led basically the entire game over the Ducks but the Ducks just wouldn't go away. Unlike the loss in Eugene where the Huskies didn't play defense the Huskies played terrific defense today. Just like the win in Seattle freshman Terrence Ross who is from Portland, Oregon made his home state team pay. Ross made his second consecutive start had some highlight reel dunks on the Ducks as he scored 13 points. Fellow freshman C.J. Wilcox scored 14 points for the Huskies as the Huskies won in spite of their two first team all Pac-10 players Isaiah Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning combining to shoot 4-20. The Huskies proved why they are a good team in the Pac-10 they can win in different ways. The Huskies will now look to defend their Pac-10 tournament championship tomorrow against the Arizona Wildcats. Isaiah Thomas for the second straight game recorded a double-double and is looking to win back to back tournament MVP's. The Huskies are finally playing well as a team at the right time of the year.

The Huskies had another sloppy first half but the Ducks had an even worse first half. The Huskies did receive great play from their bench as their bench scored 15 points in the first half. The Huskies played terrific defense on the Ducks holding the Ducks to 9-26(34.6%) shooting from the field and 2-10(20.0%) from three point range. The Huskies shot the ball all right shooting 10-24(41.7%) from the field but struggled from three point range making just 3-12(25.0%). The Huskies were 7-10(70.0%) from the foul line. The Huskies took a 30-21 halftime lead over the Ducks. Their first halftime lead since playing Seattle University over five games ago.

The Huskies did have some nice highlights as Thomas threw a perfect alley-oop to Ross for the dunk. The Huskies were led by Scott Suggs who scored eight points on three for three shooting including two three's. The Huskies also received good play from another reserve in Darnell Gant who scored six points on three for four shooting including grabbing six rebounds. Thomas had struggled in the first half with six points on just one for five shooting but did dish out five assists. The Huskies Matthew Bryan-Amaning had just two points and one rebound as he didn't even attempt a single field goal. The Huskies like yesterday received great play from Wilcox in the second half.

The Huskies came out in the second half determined to put the Ducks away. Wilcox began the half with a three pointer. The Huskies then stretched their lead to 44-30. The Ducks tighten up their defense and held the Huskies scoreless for over five minutes as they went on a 10-0 run to close within 44-40. Thomas would hit only his second shot of the game but it was huge. With two on the shot clock Thomas drilled a three pointer to give the Huskies a 47-40 lead. Then later in the game Wilcox provided the dagger as he drilled a three pointer and was fouled. After he hit the free throw the Huskies had a commanding 14 point lead. Then in the final minute as the Ducks were pressing, Ross crossed up his defender with a behind the back move then tomahawk jam on the Ducks. Ross who won the Oregon State player of the year as a sophomore at Jefferson High School is a reminder what the Ducks have been missing out on talent wise. When the horn sounded the Huskies had won 69-51 over the Ducks. For the fourth time since 2004 the Huskies will be in the Pac-10 championship game.

The Huskies won this game with defense. They held the Ducks to 18-56(32.1%) shooting from the field and just 4-24(16.7%) from three point range. The Huskies didn't exactly shoot lights out but shot well enough. The Huskies shot 24-59(40.7%) from the field, 7-22(31.8%) from three point range but made 14-18(77.8%) from the free throw line. The star of the game was Isaiah Thomas who played 38 minutes after playing 40 minutes the previous day. Thomas scored 10 points on 2-11 shooting but had 12 assists with three steals. The other stars were the freshman as C.J. Wilcox led the team in scoring with 14 points on four for nine shooting including three three pointers and making all three free throws. Terrence Ross scored 13 points on 6-12 shooting including a three pointer. Scott Suggs off the bench scored 10 points on three for six shooting including two three pointers. Darnell Gant scored eight points but pulled down a career high 10 rebounds with a block shot. Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a quiet game scoring just six points on two for nine shooting but had seven rebounds and two blocks. Justin Holiday added seven points on three for five shooting with six rebounds. Overall it was a good team effort for the Huskies.

Overall the Huskies accomplished their goal this week. The Huskies of course want to win the Pac-10 tournament for the second straight year and third time under Lorenzo Romar. The Huskies are playing some great ball and when Thomas is getting assists like he has been they are a tough team to beat. The Huskies are getting great games from their shooters recently with Wilcox, Ross and Suggs playing well. If the Huskies can get more production from their seniors they should be fine in the tournament. The Huskies prove once again when they want to they can be the premiere team in the conference. Most importantly the Huskies have proven to themselves they are still capable of playing good basketball. The Huskies will try and complete this great run with another Pac-10 championship. With the way this team is playing right now I'm not going to bet against them that is for sure. It is good to see the Huskies playing good basketball once again.

Observations:

- The picture to your right is of Isaiah Thomas hugging former Sonics legend Gary Payton. Payton is at the game cheering on the Huskies although he is an Oregon State Beavers alum. Payton has stated he is going to work out Thomas this offseason in Las Vegas. Payton also was in the Huskies locker room after the game to give them congratulations.

Thomas is playing like a point guard once again which is good to see. Thomas although he scored just 10 points did dish out 12 assists. The Huskies are now 4-1 when he has 10+ assists in a game. The Huskies are 9-1 when Thomas has 8+ assists. The only loss was a one point loss at Arizona who the Huskies have a chance to seek revenge on. Thomas for this tournament has played in 78 minutes out of 80 possible minutes. So far he is averaging 15.5 points per game and 11.5 assists which means if the Huskies win the tournament he should be the conference tournament MVP.

- Teams don't win conference tournament championships without strong play from their role players. With Bryan-Amaning having an off game and Aziz N'Diaye appearing to be lost Darnell Gant provided the Huskies with strong inside play. Gant scored eight points and grabbed a career high 10 rebounds on the game. In the first half Gant had six points and six rebounds to set the tone.

When people complain about Gant they don't understand the whole story. Gant provides good athletic defense, has improved on his rebounding and can still knock down that open jumper. Gant has improved quite a bit since his freshman year. Today was proof of that as Gant pulled down 10 rebounds while scoring eight points. Gant also didn't attempt a single three pointer which he has fallen in love with. Today was a great game from Gant and the Huskies needed that in the first half.

- The picture to the right is of Thomas congratulating Wilcox after he drilled a three pointer to ice the game. Usually in big games the freshman freeze up and the older guys take over but this year the freshman are stepping up. Wilcox and Ross combined to score 27 points on 10-21(47.6%) from the field and hit four three pointers. Once again Wilcox struggled in the first half but came on in the second half hitting two three pointers. Ross came on strong in the second half scoring nine points as well.

For this tournament Ross is averaging 15.0 PPG while shooting 12-23(52.1%)from the field, has hit four three pointers. Ross has provided several great highlight reel dunks in this tournament already. Wilcox is also averaging 15.0 PPG while shooting 9-19(47.3%) from the field and is shooting 8-16(50.0%) from three point range so far. The freshman are certainly pulling their weight in this pac-10 tournament that is for sure.

- Lorenzo Romar is advancing to the championship game for the fourth time since 2004. Overall Romar is 12-5(.705) in the Pac-10 tournament. To say Romar has been very successful in this tournament would be an understatement. This is the second time in Romar's career the Huskies have reached the championship game in back to back years(2004 & 2005). This shows Romar typically has deep teams as in a three games in three days tournament you need some depth.

The Huskies are managing this run with only eight guys on scholarship and Thomas is your only point guard on scholarship. Romar took a risk by totally shuffling his starting lineup for this tournament. A team full of upperclassman and yet the Huskies find themselves starting two freshman. The Huskies have had 10 different guys start multiple games now. Romar I'll give him praise for making the gutsy decision to suspend Venoy Overton. Romar has the team playing their best ball in the Pac-10 tournament. I'll give Romar credit when his teams have their backs against the wall they almost always respond.

All in all, the Huskies are going back to the championship game. The Huskies are receiving great play so far from Isaiah Thomas, Terrence Ross and C.J. Wilcox. The Huskies will need their seniors like Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday to step up to defeat the Arizona Wildcats. Romar is 2-1 all-time in the championship game including a win over the Arizona Wildcats in 2005. The Huskies have taken care of two Northwest foes who started their decline in the middle of the season. Now the Huskies get a chance to seek some revenge on the Wildcats. The Huskies are 7-6 against the Wildcats in their last 13 games showing this is a tight series. Should be a fun Pac-10 championship game tomorrow with two of the elite teams in the conference over the past couple of seasons. The Huskies have always had a rivalry with the Arizona Wildcats this decade much like the football team did with the USC Trojans in the 1980's and 90's. Everyone expected these two teams to meet in the championship just nobody expected the path the Huskies would have had to take to ge there is all. With Thomas playing good basketball the Huskies are in good shape. Most importantly the confidence is back at Montlake which is key for the NCAA tournament next week.

Huskies overcome big game from Thompson to win 89-87 over Cougars!

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(21-10,11-7) had a huge come from behind victory over their cross state rivals Washington State Cougars(19-12,9-9) 89-87 at the 2011 Pac-10 tournament. The Huskies are the defending tournament champions and just like last year they overcame a double digit deficit to win their first round game. The Huskies unlike last year when they defeated Oregon State Beavers had to win in spite of Klay Thompson's record setting performance. Thompson hit a Pac-10 tournament record eight three pointers while scoring a tournament record 43 points. The Cougars were feeling confident early as they had beaten the Huskies earlier in the year in Pullman and in Seattle. The Huskies overcame all that by having big games from their stars. They were led by last years Pac-10 tournament MVP Isaiah Thomas who scored 21 points while dishing out 11 assists. The Huskies were also helped by both freshman C.J. Wilcox and Terrence Ross. The Huskies also with this win most likely wrapped up their place in the 2011 NCAA tournament. As for the Cougars they are most likely headed to the NIT for the second time in three years.

The Huskies got off to a slow start once again. Just like the previous two meetings the Huskies found themselves trailing at halftime. The Huskies in fact have trailed in their last five Pac-10 games. The Huskies were down by early 20-9 but battled back to within 20-17. Then the Cougars went on a 10-0 run to stretch the lead to 30-17. The Huskies battled back to pull within 40-32 at halftime as Klay Thompson was proving to be too much for the Huskies. Thompson led all scorers with 18 points on 6-14 shooting including four three pointers. The Cougars shot 14-34(41.2%) from the field but just 4-15(26.7%) from three pointers. The Cougars did outrebound the Huskies 18-15. The Huskies were struggling offensively shooting 12-31(38.7%) from the field, 5-15(33.3%) from three point range. The Huskies were saved by Terrence Ross who was making his first career start. Ross scored 13 points on five for eight shooting including three three pointers.

Other notable Huskies in the first half were Matthew Bryan-Amaning who had struggled the previous two games against the Cougars. Bryan-Amaning overcame two early fouls to score eight points on three for five shooting while grabbing four rebounds. Isaiah Thomas scored five points on two for six shooting including a three pointer. Thomas did dish out six assists in the first half. Justin Holiday continued this struggles scoring just three points on one for four shooting but did pull down six rebounds. The Huskies bench was held scoreless which was pretty thin. The Huskies would respond in the second half to make the second half a barn burner.

In the second half the Huskies came out with a 10-0 to take their first second half lead of the year on the Cougars 42-40. Then after that it was was the Huskies five starters trading punches with Thompson who was a one man show in the second half for the Cougars. A key sequence took place with the Huskies up 73-67. After a Cougars three pointer, Thompson hit a three to tie up the score at 73-73. Then the Huskies freshman C.J. Wilcox drilled back to back three pointers to give the Huskies a 79-73 lead. At the end of the game with the Huskies lead 88-85 with less than 10 seconds to go Lorenzo Romar finally did the smart thing. He had the Huskies foul Reggie Moore with under five seconds left. Moore then missed the front end of the one and one but Thompson got the rebound to score his final points of the night cutting the lead to 88-87. The Cougars headcoach Ken Bone then called a timeout but the Cougars had none. Wilcox made one of two free throw's. With 0.4 seconds left the Huskies threw the ball at midcourt and hung on to an important 89-87 win to open up this tournament. Thompson finished with 43 points on 15-29 shooting and 8-14 from three point range. In the second half Thompson was 9-15 shooting and 4-6 from three pointers to score 25 points. That wasn't enough for the Cougars though as they fell to the Huskies.

The Huskies in the second half shot lights out. In the second half the Huskies shot 22-36(61.1%) from the field, 6-13(46.1%) from three point range and even made seven of nine free throws. The Huskies were led by Thomas who scored 21 points on 8-13 shooting including three for five from three point range. Thomas played every single second of this game while dishing out 11 assists and recording three steals. He looked like the first half version of Thomas. The Huskies then had 17 points from freshman Terrence Ross who didn't even play the last game. Ross score 17 points on 6-11 shooting including three three pointers. C.J. Wilcox was also huge scoring 16 points on 5-10 shooting including 5-9 from three point range. Wilcox caught fire in the second half drilling four three pointers. Matthew Bryan-Amaning exorcised his Cougar demons by scoring 16 points on 7-11 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. Then Justin Holiday finally came on with scrappy putbacks scoring 12 points on 5-13 shooting but grabbing a game high 10 rebounds. The five Huskies starters combined to score 82 points on 31-58(53.4%) shooting from the field. Thomas and the two freshman combined to shoot 11-21(52.3%) from three point range.

Overall this was a good win for the Huskies. The Huskies overcame a big deficit and beat an opponent who historically recently has given them problems. The Huskies also needed this win for confidence as they haven't had a good win in a while. The UCLA game was good for Wilcox but nobody else. While this felt like a team win as five Huskies score in double figures. Six Huskies played more than 20 minutes as well. The Huskies most likely stamped their ticket to the dance next week. Now the Huskies have a chance to get some revenge on the Oregon Ducks who were a major part of the Huskies second half unraveling a bit. The Huskies can go on a run if Thomas plays like he did today. As I've documented before the team goes where Thomas takes them. Well for today Thomas took them far and in his Husky career the Huskies are now 5-1 in the Pac-10 tournament. This marks the first time in Lorenzo Romar's career he has won at least one Pac-10 tournament game in three consecutive seasons. The Huskies overcame a great performance by Thompson and now will advance in this Pac-10 tournament. Most importantly next week they'll be playing in the NCAA tournament.

Observations:

- Thomas was money today when the Huskies need him. Just like when Abdul Gaddy went down Thomas stepped his game up with Venoy Overton being suspended. Thomas hit some big three point shots to break out of his horrific 6-29 three point shooting slump that he was in. Thomas also dished out 11 assists.

When Thomas is dishing out assists the main guy to benefit is Bryan-Amaning who catches the ball and dunks the ball. That is why when Thomas has bad games the Huskies lose because the opponent by shutting down Thomas is taking away two first team all pac-10 players. Thomas in the second half was six for seven shooting with 16 points and five assists. Thomas won the tournament MVP last year and since Thompson is eliminated is on the short list of players who can win it this year.

- The freshman grew up today that is for sure. At the start of the year the Huskies were so deep and returned seven guys I wondered if these freshman would even make an impact. I was wrong as they have made an impact but there has been some bumps on the road. Wilcox in the middle of the season was a no show while recently as of last week Ross played just four minutes.

Today both guys starting(first time two true freshman have started since 2007) played great. First let's start with Ross who had played just four minutes the previous week. Ross wasn't rusty at all scoring 13 of his 17 points in the first half including three three pointers. He also made some terrific athletic moves on the baseline.

As for Wilcox he scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half hitting four three pointers. Wilcox made first team all freshman team while Ross was second team all freshman team. The Huskies will have a bright future with these two. For the game these two freshman combined to score 33 points on 11-21 shooting from the field and 8-16 from three point range. The freshman took turns carrying the Huskies showing that the present and future is still bright at Montlake.

- It was nice to see Matthew Bryan-Amaning break out with a good shooting performance. Partly because of Thomas penetration Bryan-Amaning was allowed to have easy looks but recently he has been missing those. In the last three games Bryan-Amaning has shot 11-33(33.3%) from the field and against the Cougars 4-19(21.1%) from the field.

Well today was a different story as Bryan-Amaning shot 7-11(63.6%) from the field. Bryan-Amaning has had better games but scoring 16 points while shooting 7-11 was big for him to regain his confidence. Bryan-Amaning recently won the most improved player award and was awarded with making first team all pac-10. He is also the only post player on the Huskies roster as Aziz N'Diaye continues to struggle. The Huskies will need more performances like this from Bryan-Amaning. Hopefully this was just the start of good things to come.

- What feels like a decade ago there was once a time when the Huskies owned Klay Thompson. Those days are of course over. Thompson prior to this year was 0-4 against the Huskies and scored just 7.3 points per game while shooting 10-47(21.2%) from the field. As Thompson is showing to the Huskies and NBA scouts he has improved greatly on offense.

After dropping a Pac-10 tournament record 43 points on the Huskies Thompson on the year against the Huskies is averaging 31.3 points per game. He is also shooting 29-60(48.3%) from the field while making 14-27(51.9%) from three point range. To say Thompson has killed the Huskies this year would be an understatement. Luckily for the Huskies by Thompson going off in Los Angeles good chance he turns pro after this year. Thompson showed he is a great scorer. On the year Thompson is averaging 22.1 points per game while shooting 44.7% from the field and 42.3% from three point range. He is also making an average of three three pointers a game so there is some weight to that. Should be interesting how Cougars fans will remember Thompson because if he leaves he will have never played in an NCAA tournament game.

- Last night on facebook and twitter in the middle of talking crap about each other's schools it suddenly stopped. That is when Huskies and Cougars fans realized there is more to life than sports. If you haven't heard by now last night Japan was hit by a bad tsunami. The images on CNN were just horrible and that stopped all sports talk.

To makes matters even worse this is spreading to Hawaii and even the Oregon coast. To my fans in Japan who are reading this, fans in Hawaii and of course those close to home my thoughts and prayers are with you guys. I hope we all realize sports is just entertainment. There are folks in Japan right now who would love to trade places with us and "suffer" with our sports teams ASAP. Keep that in mind tonight as the Huskies take on the Ducks.

- This is a hard transition after my last observation but I'll try it anyways. When the team loses I'm often seen getting on Lorenzo Romar well the team won today. I will give credit where credit is due and today Romar deserves some credit. First he didn't let the team panic when they trailed by 13 points and eight points at halftime. I also will give Romar credit because he showed he learned from previous mistakes.

Take the starting lineup for an example. Romar thought outside the box today by starting Ross(who Romar didn't even play last game) over Aziz N'Diaye. The Cougars start basically one big guy and the rest are forwards or guards. So why start N'Diaye to get in the way? Thankfully Romar did that as the Huskies trailed by eight but Ross had 13 points so it could have been a lot worse.

Romar also at the end of the game doesn't like to foul up three with less than 10 seconds to go in the game. Today he did just that and that won the Huskies the game. By doing that he took away the chance Thompson hits another miracle three(with how he was shooting he probably hits it too) instead he made the Cougars perform under pressure. The Cougars would have to make the first free throw, miss the second free throw, get the rebound and put the ball in. Sounds a lot harder than Thompson hitting a three right? Exactly. Reggie Moore missed the first free throw and although Thompson scored on the putback it didn't matter. Those key coaching decisions by Romar won the game for the Huskies. I will gladly give him credit for when he is coaching like that.

All in all, this was a great win for the Huskies. The Huskies needed some much needed confidence. The Huskies now can't get complicent they still need to impress the tournament committee to get a good draw. The Huskies will be favored to beat the 7th seeded Oregon Ducks tonight. The Huskies have a chance to go back to the Pac-10 championship game with a win over the Ducks. If Thomas and Bryan-Amaning played like they did today the Huskies should have no problems advancing deep. The Huskies unlike last year have a thin bench due to injuries and suspensions. The Huskies will need more than just seven bench points if they expect to keep advancing. I'm glad the Huskies pulled this much needed win out for their mental sakes going forward. It was nice to see the freshman step up in a big time moment. It was especially nice to see two first team all pac-10 guys play well today. Thomas was the MVP of last year's tournament and was the MVP for the Huskies today. Now the Huskies must turn around 24 hours later to try and grab another victory. Just remember guys to enjoy the game no matter the outcome as you saw on CNN last night it could be a lot worst.

Struggling Huskies lose on senior night to Trojans 62-60

The Washington Huskies for only the second time in the Lorenzo Romar era lost on senior night. The Huskies(20-10,11-7) fell to the Trojans(18-13,10-8) 62-60 in a game that wasn't that close. The Huskies were never within one possession the entire game. A season that once started off with so much promise is in serious trouble of missing the NCAA tournament. The Huskies who defeated the Trojans earlier in the year are struggling big time. The Huskies started the year off 7-1 in Pac-10 player but limp into the Pac-10 tournament losers of 6 out of 10 pac-10 games. To make things even worse the Huskies will have to face the Washington State Cougars who swept them this year. The Huskies can still salvage this season and are very capable of doing so.

In the first half the Huskies struggled for the third straight game which were all at home. Before last Sunday's loss to the Cougars the Huskies low for a half was 28 points. In the past three games they have scored 17 points, 24 points and against the Trojans 26 points. The Huskies found themselves trailing 36-26 at halftime. Huskies shot just 12-27(44.4%) from the field but just one for three from free throws. The Huskies were also one for six from three point range. The Trojans had shot 14-28(50.0%) from the field and a perfect six for six from free throw's. The Trojans were dominating the rebounds outrebounding the Huskies 19-10 in the first half.

The Huskies were led by Scott Suggs who scored nine points off the bench and hit the only three pointer for the Huskies. Then Venoy Overton provided a spark off the bench scoring five points. The Huskies big three continued to struggle as Isaiah Thomas scored just six points, Matthew Bryan-Amaning had just four points and Justin Holiday was held scoreless. The Huskies were playing like they didn't even want to be there. Despite the game being senior night the Huskies were playing like a team who had already clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament.

In the second half just like the previous two games the Huskies made a push. Unfortunetly just like the Cougars game when you dig yourself a deep hole that won't make a difference. The Huskies ultimately lost 62-60 as they scored some cheap points at the end. The Huskies simply could never hit that big three pointer when they were trailing by five points. The Trojans dictated the style of play. The Trojans prevailed for the third time in four years at Hec Ed over the Huskies. The Trojans were led by Jio Fontan scoring 20 points including 10-12 from the foul line. Nikola Vucevic also dominated for the Trojans scoring 19 points on 7-11 shooting pulling down 10 rebounds. The Trojans didn't shoot lights out shooting just 20-48(41.7%) from the field, 3-15(20.0%) from three's and 19-25(76.0%) from the free throw line. The Trojans did dominate the glass outrebounding the Huskies 36-25. The Huskies shot just 21-53(39.6%) from the field, 2-16(12.5%) from three point range and 16-22(72.7%) from the foul line. The Huskies struggled for the third straight game to generate offense.

In the losing effort the Huskies were led by Thomas who scored 16 points but shot just 5-13(38.4%)from the field and failed to connect on all three three point attempts. Thomas also had just three assists to two turnovers but hit six of eight free throws. Overton playing in his final home game did all he could do to help the Huskies complete the comeback. He scored 15 points on four for six shooting, seven for nine from the foul line. He also grabbed five rebounds, dished out four assists, didn't turn the ball over and recorded a steal. Suggs had a nice game off the bench scoring 14 points on six for eight shooting including hitting the Huskies only two three pointers. Bryan-Amaning in his final home game struggled once again scoring just 11 points on 5-11(45.4%) shooting from the field. Bryan-Amaning also had just six rebounds but had three blocks and two steals. Then Holiday playing in his final home game was held scoreless first time all season long. He missed all six field goal attempts but did have five rebounds, a steal and two blocks.

Overall the Huskies have to look long and hard in the mirror. The great thing and sad thing about college basketball is your season is defined by what you do in the NCAA tournament. Last year's squad that barely made the tournament as an 11th seed will be more remembered than two years ago team that won the Pac-10 regular season title. The reason is last year team made the sweet 16 while two years ago they lost in the second round. Nobody will remember these type of losses if the Huskies can turn their season around. Time is ticking on them and a loss to the Cougars on Thursday could end everything. This team had so much promise and hope. This team has six upperclassmen and plenty of talent. There is no excuse for these type of performances. Time for the players and coaches to re-evaluate how they are going about things. The Huskies can still turn their season around but time is ticking. Like the slogan the 1999 Seattle Seahawks had "It's now time!". Well Huskies it's now time no more messing around.

Observations:

- Overton played his heart out in a loss to the Trojans. I felt bad for him as KIRO tried their best to ruin his senior season. I also felt bad for Overton because when he struggled most of the fan base turned on him and wanted him kicked off the team. Overton is playing extremely well right now and has been outplaying Thomas of late.

Overton scored 15 points, grabbed one less rebound than Bryan-Amaning with five and dished out four assists. Overton is the Pac-10 active leader in career assists and steals. Unlike everyone else on the team his play has improved as the year has gone on. For the year Overton is averaging 6.0 points per game, 3.4 assists, 1.2 steals and shooting 42.8% from the field.

Now in the last seven Pac-10 games Overton has been averaging 9.9 points per game, 3.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds and six steals during that span. He has also shot 20-38(52.6%) from the field. Overton has been attacking the hole. Overton has been the only Husky lately driving the lane instead of settling on three pointers. Overton although in a losing effort ending his Husky career at Hec Ed in style.

- Thomas was looking like the clear cut Pac-10 player of the year when the Huskies were 7-1. Now he has been struggling ever since winning Pac-10 player of the week against the Bay Area schools. At least Thomas snapped his five game streak of 60.0% from the free throw line or worst. Thomas scored just 16 points on 5-13 shooting and had just 3 assists. Thomas is averaging just 3.8 assists per game the last four games.

Since winning Pac-10 player of the week Thomas in the last six games(3-3,2-3) is averaging 14.8 points per game, 5.2 assists per game, 2.7 turnovers a game. Thomas is also shooting 31-74(41.9%) from the field, 6-29(20.6%) from three point range, 21-38(55.2%) from the free throw line. When Thomas struggles the Huskies struggle that is just the facts.

In the teams 10 losses this year Thomas is averaging just 14.3 points per game, 5.1 assists per game to 3.8 turnovers a game. He is also shooting 42-116(36.2%) from the field and 11-47(23.4%) from three point range. Pretty easy to see why the Huskies were winning in the first half of the season and losing now. The season goes where Isaiah Thomas goes. Hopefully for the Huskies sake Thomas can turn his game around fast or the Huskies are in trouble.

- For this game I took my dad for his birthday. His 50th birthday was actually on March 3rd in a win over the UCLA Bruins. I wish the Huskies could have won as that would be been great. Before the game we checked out the Huskies hall of fame which was pretty special. I also bought some Holiday Bowl champions shirts at the team store.

Games are always fun to go to even the losses. I love the atmosphere and checking out cool exhibits like the Huskies hall of fame. Pretty neat to see all the football history, basketball and Tim Lincecum's Cy Young award. Overall had a good experience going to the game with my dad on his 50th birthday present.

- I'm going to focus on the other two seniors who played their last game at Hec Ed. Both players although had bad games had great senior seasons at Washington.

First I'll start with Matthew Bryan-Amaning who has been struggling lately. On the year Bryan-Amaning is averaging 16.0 points per game, 8.3 rebounds per game, 1.7 blocks, 1.0 steals while shooting 56.4% from the field. Now those are good numbers he is the active pac-10 leader in rebounds and blocks. He will most likely make the first team all Pac-10 team which is something to be proud of.

Now the bad in the last three games Bryan-Amaning is averaging 10.7 points per game, 9.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 1.3 blocks per game. So as you can see he is doing well in the hustle stats so he is playing hard just not producing like he is capable of. That is mainly because his field goal percentage has taken a huge hit. He has shot just 11-33(33.3%) from the field. When you factor in that all his shots are within five feet that makes that percentage even worse. The Huskies can't afford to have all three big guns struggle. Which brings me to my next senior who had a rough game.

When you look up hard worker you'll see Justin Holiday's picture. Holiday just 0.7 points as a freshman and 2.1 points as a sophomore has worked on his game a lot. Holiday a co-captain along with Thomas this year is averaging 11.3 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocks. Holiday is also shooting 47.5% from the field and 39.2% from three point range making an average of 1.6 a game.

Now the bad which was shooting 0-6 on senior night. Holiday showing his value was the only guy who could defend Trojans big man Nikola Vucevic as he was held to just four points in the second half. Holiday is shooting 5-25(20.0%) from the field the last three games. He is 4-12(33.3%) from three point range during that stretch. Holiday is averaging 5.3 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 blocks. He is playing like Holiday as a junior not the Senior version.

As you can see why the Huskies are struggling when their big three is averaging a combined 31.3 points per game while shooting just 32-99(32.3%) from the field and 7-26(26.9%) from three point range. Hard to win when your three leading scorers all slump at the same time three games in a row. Just amazing the Huskies even won a game on the homestand with those stats.

- I'm not surprised the Huskies lost this game. In fact I told many friends that the Huskies would beat UCLA but lose to USC. Sadly I was right once again. The Trojans are the type of team that always gives Lorenzo Romar teams fits. The last time the Huskies beat the Trojans by double digits was March 1st, 2007. In the last five years the Huskies are just 4-6 against the Trojans with all four wins being in single digits.

The Trojans feature an offense that is very slow, a big frontline and doesn't allow you to run. On all 25 free throw attempts by the Trojans they had all four guys stand past the mid court line. I've never seen a team have zero rebounders. They were not going to let the Huskies run which shuts down all Romar teams. They have figured out Romar's one play that the Huskies ran a lot. Teams are on to the pick and roll where Thomas has Bryan-Amaning set a screen and he drives past them only to pass to Bryan-Amaning for an easy dunk.

Now it is up to Romar to make the adjustment. If he doesn't adjust this year then the Huskies are going nowhere. Even if the Huskies sneak into the big dance they'll quickly go one and done. Hopes of a final four heading into the year derailed by the same things year in and year out. Teams who slow the pace down, have a good halfcourt offense and don't allow the Huskies to run will beat the Huskies seven times out of ten. I also think Romar needs to get after these guys as the team is struggling three games in a row coming out. The Huskies need to jump out on the Cougars this Thursday and show everyone they are ready to repeat as Pac-10 tournament champions.

All in all, the Huskies are struggling at the worst time. Only Venoy Overton is playing better as the season has gone on. The Huskies big three of Thomas, Bryan-Amaning and Holiday are struggling. The freshman are playing like freshman which is great one night then a no show then next. The Huskies bigs of Darnell Gant and Aziz N'Diaye have been horrible the last few games as well. The Huskies aren't looking like a team that 34 of 36 media members picked to win the Pac-10 conference. The Huskies are struggling right now at the worst possible time. Nobody ever imagined at 7-1 that the Huskies would be 11-7 sitting in third place thinking what just happened? Time is ticking for the Huskies and hopefully in staples center the thought of good memories from last year pops up again. The Huskies are very capable of winning the tournament but things must change in a hurry. Romar has one week to turn this mess around or fans might start to whisper about his coaching ability. One week to turn this around and hopefully forget about what just happened. One week that is all to fix what seems like an unfixable mess. One week to decide if this season is a success or a failure.

Wilcox huge second half leads Huskies in season sweep over Bruins 70-63

By Kshell

With the Washington Huskies NCAA tournament hopes looking like they were fading redshirt freshman C.J.Wilcox scored a career high 24 points in the second half to keep those hopes alive. In what has to be the greatest display in decades given the situation in a single half Wilcox scored 24 points in the second half to lead his Washington Huskies(20-9,11-6) to a season sweep over the UCLA Bruins(21-9,12-5) 70-63. This is the Huskies seventh consecutive home win over the Bruins. If the Huskies can beat the USC Trojans on Saturday with the Bruins losing to the Washington State Cougars the Huskies would be in second place due to tiebreakers from a season sweep. The Huskies were led by the freshman Wilcox who was on fire in the second half hitting seven of his eight shots while being perfect from all six free throw attempts. This is why the Huskies were picked to win the conference because they are so deep. Wilcox a guy who played just four minutes in the previous meeting was the hero today. With the Huskies season possibly hanging in the balance Wilcox saved the day for the Huskies.

The first half just like the previous game against the Cougars saw a very sloppy first half. The Huskies for the second straight game weren't lighting up the scoreboard which is rare at Hec Ed. The Bruins led the sloppy first half 25-24 as both teams shot horribly. The Bruins shot just 10-27(37.0%) from the field and made just one of four three point attempts. The Huskies were even worse shooting 7-33(21.2%) from the field making just two of seven from three point range. The Bruins were led by Reeves Nelson who scored 10 points while grabbing five rebounds. Freshman Josh Smith who is from Kentwood High School in Kent, Washington scored four points but had nine rebounds.

The Huskies leading scorer was Venoy Overton who scored six points making both field goal attempts. Justin Holiday added five points making a three pointer while grabbing four rebounds. Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored four points but was just two for eight shooting but did pull down seven rebounds. Aziz N'Diaye had four points on just one for four shooting but did pull down six rebounds. One player who was shutout was Isaiah Thomas who scored zero points while missing all six field goal attempts. He only had two assists as he was pretty much ineffective in the first half.

In the second half it was all C.J. Wilcox for the Huskies and Jerime Anderson for the Bruins. These two players traded three for three in trying to get the win. For the Huskies who were struggling offensively C.J. Wilcox provided that lift scoring 12 of the team's first 15 points in the second half. To keep pace Anderson for the Bruins made his first five field goal attempts including four three pointers. Not to be outshined Wilcox had the finishing touches on the Bruins. With the shot clock winding down and the Huskies up 56-52 with a little over two minutes left in the game Wilcox hitting a running two point shot as he was fouled. Of course the shot went in and he sunk the free throw to put the game away. Wilcox finished the second half seven for eight shooting while making four of five three pointers. Wilcox scored a career high 24 points as the Huskies won 70-63 over the Bruins. The Huskies led by Wilcox shot 15-28(53.5%) from the field and made half of their eight three point attempts. The Huskies also shot 12-17(70.5%) from the foul line. If not for Wilcox this blog write up would of course be completely different as is there is still hope for the NCAA tournament.

The Huskies were led by Wilcox who scored 24 points on 7-10(70.0%) shooting and 4-7(57.1%) from three point range. Wilcox also was perfect six for six from the foul line and blocked two shots. The next leading scorer for the Huskies was Overton off the bench scoring 10 points while being perfect from three field goal attempts. Thomas then scored just nine points on 3-12 shooting with just three assists but did have two steals. Bryan-Amaning for the second straight game shot horrible scoring just seven points on 3-11 shooting but he did pull down 13 rebounds including seven offensive. N'Diaye scored six points on two for seven shooting but did have eight rebounds including five offensive. Holiday filled up the stat sheet to make up for his poor shooting effort. Holiday had just five points on one for eight shooting but did grab six rebounds, dished out a team leading five assists and also blocked a shot. The Huskies will obviously need more from their upperclassmen going forward. Wilcox saved the team today scoring 34% of the teams points.

All in all, the Huskies went out and got an important win. The Huskies won a close game when their NCAA tournament hopes for the first time all season long was in jeopardy. The Huskies overcame a strong game by Bruins freshman Josh Smith who scored 12 points while pulling down 16 rebounds including eight offensive. The Huskies overcame a combined 7-31(22.5%) from their three best players Isaiah Thomas, Matthew Bryan-Amaning and Justin Holiday. In a big game usually a freshman will freeze up and the older guys will have to carry the team. Not today as the Huskies older guys appeared to have been frozen so Wilcox had to take over. Wilcox was injured most of the Pac-10 season and is a streaky shooter. Wilcox is only a freshman but eventually will be a better version of Tre Simmons. Simmons was first team all pac-10 his Senior year. Just watch out for Wilcox when he is a Junior and Senior. Thankfully for the Huskies and their current season Wilcox is healthy right now. If not for Wilcox it would be all gloom and doom for the Huskies. As is the Huskies live to see another day and in two weeks hopefully playing their best ball.

Observations:

- For the second straight game Venoy Overton looked like his old self. For games were sloppy as the Huskies scored a combined 41 points. Overton helped the Huskies in both games with his attacking defense, quickness to the hole and just getting under his opponents skin.

Overton scored 10 points while making all three lay ups. Overton in his last six Pac-10 games is averaing 9.0 points per game, 3.5 assists to 1.8 turnovers a game. Overton during that six game stretch is shooting 16-32(50.0%) from the field. It's nice to see Overton is back to being that spark off the bench. Now if the starting point guard can start playing better which brings me to my next point.

- Unlike the previous meeting where Isaiah Thomas played lights out he was pretty bad today. Thomas the last game destroyed the Bruins on pick and rolls but the Bruins stopped that which ultimately stopped Thomas and Matthew Bryan-Amaning from having a good game. Thomas has also the last two games got off to horrible starts shooting a combined 2-13 from the field in the first halves the last two games.

Thomas for only the third time all season long scored in single digits. Showing how great of a scorer he is all three games he scored nine points. In fact Thomas has been pretty boring as his low on the year is nine points and his high is 27 points. Some alarming stats to point since Thomas shot 10-18 from three point range against the Bay Area schools I correctly pointed out it was fools gold. Since then Thomas is shooting just 6-26(23.1%) from three point range. Thomas wasn't as good as his 10-18 but also isn't as bad as 6-26 either. Thomas from the free throw line has been terrible as well shooting just 15-30(50.0%) in the last five games. I'm not worried about Thomas though he has proven he will rise up in the NCAA tournament the past two years.

- When Lorenzo Romar made the decision to redshirt C.J. Wilcox last year he said that move will cost the Huskies a game or two. He also said it will pay off big time when he is a senior. Well if Wilcox realizes his potential hopefully we don't see a senior year from Wilcox. The only Husky who comes close to comparison to Wilcox to me is Simmons who I think Wilcox can be better than.

Remember Simmons we only saw as a junior and senior. We never saw Simmons as a freshman like we have with Wilcox. For a stretch of 11 games Wilcox was a no show lost out of the rotation. Well he is back now and when one guy gets injured that opens up time for another player. Scott Suggs was coming around but then he was injured which opened up playing time for Wilcox and allowed Wilcox to start.

Since Suggs injury Wilcox is averaging 13.4 points per game in five games(I'm counting the Arizona State game since Suggs played just three minutes) while shooting 22-46(47.8%) from the field including 14-34(41.1%) from three point range. Wilcox is also 9-10(90.0%) from the free throw line during that stretch. Wilcox overcame the last two games(his first two career starts) where he shot just 2-14 including 2-10 from three's to shoot 7-10 making 4-7 from three's today for a career high 24 points.

Another aspect that shouldn't go unnoticed is the improved play of Wilcox defense. Wilcox has five blocks and three steals during that five game stretch while grabbing 3.8 rebounds a game. Wilcox has developed into a nice all around player recently which will only help him earn more playing time. Wilcox has made at least one three pointer in 10 consecutive games which including four games where he made four three pointers. Wilcox began his Husky career making at least one three pointer in nine consecutive games. For the year Wilcox has nailed 50 three pointers on the year while shooting 41.0% in the process. He's going to be first team all pac-10 someday for the Huskies. If he somehow really improves his shooting he could eventually be an all-american even. The sky is the limit on Wilcox who is 6'5" and might be the Huskies be three point shooter they've ever had.

- Big win for Lorenzo Romar. Funny how the Huskies can beat the Bruins and Arizona Wildcats but can't beat the Cougars. Romar has a winning record against Ben Howland who has taken his Bruins teams to three straight finals fours(2006-08). Romar all-time against Howland improves to 9-5 all-time against Howland. Overall Romar is 10-9 against the Bruins in his nine years as head coach. Considering the Huskies history against the Bruins that is pretty much amazing and the fact the Huskies went 4-2 against the Bruins when they went to three straight final fours shows the Huskies have their number especially at Hec Ed.

This win was important as this was win #20 on the year for the Huskies. This is the fifth time in the Romar era the Huskies have won 20+ games while in two other seasons the Huskies won 19 games. Put things in perspective the Huskies previous legendary coach Marv Harshman had just four seasons where the team won 20+ games in 14 seasons. Romar has definately brought the Huskies program to great heights.

Now the question is will Romar be the guy who can take them even further. The team played well today when they had to but remember the Huskies were picked to run away with conference this year. The Huskies weren't supposed to be in this situation two years in a row where they have to win the last week or their NCAA tournament hopes are dashed. Romar did show faith in a freshman when the game was on the line with under three minutes to go. Most coaches would have tried to feature their stars instead Romar rode the hot hand. I guess that is why the majority of Pac-10 players called him the coach they would most want to play for. Hopefully between now and NCAA tournament Romar can figure out how to defeat that tough zone defense. Having a streaky shooter like Wilcox going off will make him look smarter against the zone that is for sure.

Overall, the Huskies feel better about their NCAA tournament hopes than they did on Sunday or even this time last year for that matter. The Huskies beat the Trojans on Senior night while winning a single Pac-10 tournament game they will wake up on Sunday feeling good about themselves. This Huskies team is very capable of winning against the Trojans then winning the Pac-10 tournament. Just like last year this team is inconsistent just like I can see this team laying an egg against the Trojans and going one and done in the Pac-10 tournament. The Huskies will have to get better play from their big three if they wish to advance to second week of the NCAA tournament. The Huskies received a huge performance from their X-Factor today in Wilcox now the Huskies will have to have their stars carry them home. Role players are nice to have but they aren't to be counted on. You only go as far as your stars will take you. The good news for the Huskies is on senior night games Romar is 7-1 including wins over #8 Arizona Wildcats in 2005 and #1 Stanford Cardinals in 2004 and #2 UCLA Bruins in 2007. The Huskies win by an average score of 75.9-66.4. The Huskies have always struggled against the Trojans since 2007 going 4-5 against the Trojans. The Huskies aren't in the clear quite yet but this win thanks to Wilcox sure helps. The Huskies are now back in position to make the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in eight years.