Cal defeats Huskies 69-66 as comeback falls just short

By Kshell

For the second straight game the Washington Huskies(11-7, 4-2) had a slow first half only this team they couldn't quite overcome it losing to the California Golden Bears(16-4,5-1) 69-66. The Huskies fell behind by 10 points at halftime as they scored only 25 points for the second straight game. In the second half Lorenzo Romar received another technical which sparked a Huskies comeback finally pulling within one possession. When senior captain Darnell Gant's three pointer was short at the buzzer the Golden Bears had survived with a win over the Huskies snapping the Huskies streak of three wins in a row and four out of five against the Golden Bears. The Huskies were again without C.J. Wilcox and this game it showed as they simply don't have enough guys ready to play quality minutes in this conference.


In the first half the Huskies struggled offensively. Neither team could hit a three point shot at all combining to hit 3-16 from three pointers. The Huskies only offense was actually Aziz N'Diaye in the first half as the Huskies just couldn't find any offense for the second straight game in the first half. The Golden Bears shot 13-26(50.0%) from the field, two for nine(22.2%) from three point range and 7-10(70.0%) from free throws. They were led by Allen Crabbe who scored 10 points on three for seven shooting including two three poitners. Robert Thurman off the bench who had only averaged less than three points per game coming into the game scored 12 points on five for seven shooting. Minnesota transfer Justin Cobbs scored six points on two for four shooting.

For the Huskies they struggled in the first half shooting 10-29(34.5%) from the field, one for seven(14.3%) from three point range and four for eight(50.0%) from the free throw line. They were led by N'Diaye who scored eight points on four for five shooting while pulling down seven rebounds. Tony Wroten scored six points on two for seven shooting but made both of his free throw attempts. Terrence Ross for the second straight game would struggle in the first half scoring just two points on one for five shooting while missing both three point attempts.

For the second straight game Ross came alive in the second half for the Huskies. With under 10 seconds left in the game Ross hit a three pointer to pull the Huskies within two points. After the Golden Bears made just one of two free throws they took a timeout. Romar then designed the play to go to Darnell Gant who at that time was 0-8 shooting including 0-5 from three pointers. Abdul Gaddy took the ball up court and then passed to a trailing Gant who was open but missed the shot short like he had all game long. The Huskies missed out on a chance to be in first place and are instead tied with five other teams in conference with two losses.

The Bears won the game as they were led by Crabbe scoring 16 points on 5-11 shooting with two three pointers and grabbing 10 rebounds. Thurman scored 16 points on 7-11 shooting with seven rebounds. Cobbs scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting including a three pointer. Meanwhile for the Huskies they shot 26-64(40.6%) from the field, 5-21(23.8%) from three point range and just 9-14(64.3%) from free throws. They were led by Terrence Ross who scored 15 points on 6-15 shooting including three for eight from three point range with five rebounds. Aziz N'Diaye scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting while grabbing 12 rebounds. Tony Wroten added 14 points on 4-11 shooting with a three pointer and was pefect on all five free throw attempts. He also added three steals. Abdul Gaddy scored 12 points on five for nine shooting with a three pointer. Desmond Simmons scored eight points on three for five shooting with three rebounds. Then Darnell Gant off the bench scored just one point on 0-9 shooting including 0-6 from three pointers while grabbing just two rebounds in 28 minutes. The Huskies need more production from him if they expect to win.

This was a tough loss for the Huskies who had a chance to be in first place in the conference despite being down two key players(Scott Suggs for the season and now C.J. Wilcox). Both those players are great three point shooters and when Gant is ice cold as he is that leaves only Terrence Ross to carry the load from the outside which makes it very easy to defend the Huskies. Despite having two future first round draft picks this team is struggling as Lorenzo Romar didn't recruit any depth. It is quite obvious that this latest recruiting class with the exception of Wroten has been a complete dud that is going to haunt this program for a while. The Huskies lack depth for the first time in the Romar years and this loss was a big reason for it.

Observations:

- The Huskies bench was terrible against the Cal Bears. They scored just three points on 1-13 shooting in 42 minutes played. With Wilcox down Gant is the only bench player that can play. Outside of Gant not other bench player is even averaging two points per game. Which makes Romar's decision to redshirt Scott Suggs even more perplexing. I understand Suggs wanted an entire senior year but by doing that the Huskies most likely won't make the NCAA tournament. This is a game the Huskies win with Suggs who would have been ready to play by now. This last game everyone knew the Golden Bears were going to cover Ross tightly on that last play so Romar went to a guy who hadn't made a shot all game. Also with a healthy Suggs you can rotate him in more with the guards so the Huskies aren't forced to play Gaddy 38 minutes a game.

- Speaking of Gaddy he is really holding this team back. He can't hit a shot from the outside, doesn't do any penetrating and doesn't bring much to the table on defense. Why Romar insists on playing him the most minutes on the team is a mystery to everyone. This past game if you look at the box score you'd think Gaddy had a good game scoring 12 points on five for nine shooting. What you don't see is that Gaddy miss two open layups that started a transition for the Golden Bears who went on a run. If he makes either layup the fans aren't riding Gant right now as the Huskies win the game.

Gaddy the former five-star recruit #2 point guard in the country is now a junior. With Suggs out and Gant being limited he was supposed to have the big season to carry the Huskies. Instead despite averaging 33.1 minutes per game he is only averaging 8.8 PPG and 4.7 APG. He is shooting a terrible 42.5% from the field and an even worse 32.7% from three point range. In Pac-12 play Gaddy is averaging 9.1 PPG, 4.0 APG in 33.5 minutes per game. Especially now with Wilcox out and already with Suggs redshirting Gaddy has to provide the leadership for this team. Hard to be a team leader when you are constantly holding the team back. He looks nothing like a guy who was once so hyped coming out of high school.

-  This loss summed up Romar as a coach really well I thought. The Huskies are playing a first place team who was picked to win the conference without their third best player in C.J. Wilcox and already out their fourth best player in Scott Suggs for the season. Despite that the Huskies battled and pulled within one possession showing heart which is a Romar trait. Then the final possession also summed up Romar as a coach. Instead of putting the ball in his best players hands Terrence Ross he decided to once again out think himself and put the ball in his senior's hands despite not making a shot all game.

Another Romar trait is he always goes with experience over talent. Gant played 28 minutes while missing all nine of his shots and grabbing just two rebounds while the younger Desmond Simmons played only 19 minutes despite scoring eight points with three rebounds. Gaddy played the most minutes with 38. Recruiting young studs like Ross and Wroten does you know good if you don't know how to use them properly. At Kentucky those two would be dominating while with Romar they take a back seat to guys like Gaddy and Gant. The Huskies program will never take the next step until Romar realizes college basketball has evolved and goes with talent over experience.

At the end of the day this was a tough loss for the Huskies because they played so hard. The Huskies had no business being in this game with the way Gant shot and being down Wilcox. The heart is there which earlier in the year it was not which is a good sign. Unfortunately the Huskies just aren't that good this year. They aren't very deep unlike last year when they could afford to lose Gaddy(back when he was good) and have Overton suspended for the Pac-10 tournament they still survived. Last year the Huskies going into the year had 10 guys on scholarship they liked a lot not counting Tyrese Breshers who was injured for his career. This year they have just seven guys so when Wilcox goes down, Gant isn't making a shot and Gaddy is still ineffective that leaves Romar to playing at least one struggling player all game. The decision to redshirt Suggs may have ruined this season more than we thought. Won't matter next year if he is back if that means both Ross and Wroten are gone. This was a great opportunity for the Huskies that came up just short which is probably how their season is going to end up.

Scott Suggs will redshirt this season

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(4-3,0-0) announced that senior captain shooting guard Scott Suggs will redshirt this season. Suggs who has yet to play in a game decided when meeting with head coach Lorenzo Romar that it would be best for him to redshirt. For the Huskies this season this is quite the blow as Suggs provided veteran leadership which this team is lacking and would provide another shooter to help defeat the zone defense. For Suggs he decided to redshirt so he can have a full senior season and remember this was Suggs decision so don't read too much into this. As is next year with Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten being so talented there could be a chance both players leave after this season so having Suggs back next year would be nice.

For this season well Suggs redshirting hurts in a lot of ways. The Huskies will now have just one senior on their roster in Darnell Gant. The guard play this year has been fine but the Huskies are only have four consistent scorers a game. Typically of the big four of Abdul Gaddy, Terrence Ross, C.J. Wilcox and Tony Wroten one player is having a night off as well. Suggs redshirting will help next season out as on paper the Huskies are only losing Gant this season but for this season this is a huge blow to the Huskies who are looking to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year first time in program history.

What the Huskies lose in Suggs is a hard worker who has improved each season. After not playing much as a freshman he cracked the rotation on the sweet 16 team as a sophomore. During that season Suggs 4.7 PPG in 13.7 minutes. He shot 38.3% from the field while making 37.4% of his three pointers which he made 1.1 three pointers a game. His junior year he became more stable as he averaged 7.4 PPG in 18.3 minutes. He also started for the first time in his career during his junior year starting in 10 games. He shot 48.5% from the field and shot an incredible 45.0% from three pointers making 1.6 three's a game. Suggs last year played well in the Pac-10 tournament averaging 6.0 PPG while shooting 37.5% from the field and making one three pointer a game while shooting 37.5% from three point range. In the NCAA tournament Suggs stepped his game up averaging 9.0 PPG while shooting 53.8% from the field and making two three pointers a game shooting 44.4% from three point range. The Huskies this season are going to miss that postseason experience that Suggs has provided in the last couple of seasons.

In conclusion, this is a big setback for this season for Lorenzo Romar and the Washington Huskies. For next season though if Ross and Wroten were to return this should make the Huskies the league favorites to win the Pac-12. The Huskies are going to miss Suggs who rarely makes dumb mistakes and one of their better free throw shooters the past two seasons. Suggs is automatic from three point range and having another shooter would have been nice. It's a shame to see one of the hardest workers in the Romar era go down to injury like this. At least this was in the preseason so Suggs can have another crack at his senior year next year. Today is bittersweet day for Suggs and the Huskies program as the Huskies take a major step back this year while next year appears even more bright.

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.

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.

Bryan-Amaning dominates Sun Devils again as Huskies earn season sweep 79-62!

By Kshell

The Washington Huskies(18-7,10-4) led by Matthew Bryan-Amaning who had another strong performance proved to be to much against the struggling Arizona State Sun Devils(9-16,1-12). The Huskies took care of business winning on the road 79-62 despite having early troubles. The Huskies overcame an early eight point deficit and the injury to starter Scott Suggs to cruise to an easy win on the road. Just like the last game where these two teams played Bryan-Amaning was just simply to much for the Sun Devils. Bryan-Amaning led the Huskies in scoring and rebounding with 22 points and 12 rebounds to go along with four block shots. The Huskies were also helped out by the resurgent C.J. Wilcox and Venoy Overton who both played their third consecutive good game. The Huskies will now travel to Arizona short handed but the roster appears to be playing well at the right time just like they did last year.

The Huskies began the game pretty slow to the struggling Sun Devils. Remember back in January the Huskies led over the Sun Devils at home by just one point. To make matters worst starting Junior guard Scott Suggs suffered an MCL sprain in the first three minutes and will miss two to three weeks. The Huskies also found themselves trailing 15-7 that is when Bryan-Amaning and C.J. Wilcox took over. The Huskies went on a 16-4 run to take a 23-19 lead. The Huskies continued that run into halftime leading 43-33. The Huskies after struggling offensively ended up shooting 15-32(46.9%) on field goals and 5-15(33.3%) on three pointers. The Huskies were actually attacking the basket and making their free throws shooting 8-11(72.7%) from the charity stripe. The Huskies outrebounded the Sun Devils 20-15 and played better three point defense allowing the Sun Devils to only shoot 3-10(30.0%) from three point range.

The Huskies were led in the first half by Matthew Bryan-Amaning who took a while to get going but once he did it was all over for the Sun Devils. Bryan-Amaning scored 13 points on four for eight shooting and five of six shooting from the foul line. Bryan-Amaning also had a team leading six rebounds in the first half. The Huskies also got a big boost from C.J. Wilcox who filled in great for the injured Scott Suggs. Wilcox scored 11 points on four for seven shooting including three three pointers. Isaiah Thomas struggled in the first half scoring just seven points but had four assists. He only shot three for nine and just one of five from three's. Venoy Overton provided good minutes off the bench scoring five points but grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists. Once against Ty Abbott kept Arizona State in the ball game scoring 13 points on 6-11 shooting including a three pointer. The Huskies used that first half momentum and carried it over to the second half.

The Huskies in the second half played terrific defense to wrap up the victory. The Huskies held the Sun Devils to 13-36(36.1%) shooting from the field and just 1-7(14.3%) from three point range. The Sun Devils also hurt themselves shooting just 2-12(16.6%) from the free throw line. The Huskies also slowed down Abbott holding him to four points on just one for three shooting. The Huskies also went to the free throw line 19 times in the second half as well. The Huskies outscored the Sun Devils 36-29 and led by more than 20 points throughout the second the half. The Huskies ended the season sweep of the Sun Devils with a 79-62 win over the Sun Devils. The Huskies shot well from the field making 25-56(44.6%) of their field goals including eight three pointers. The Huskies won by getting to the free throw line making 21-30 free throws(70.0%) and also recording 10 block shots to go with 21 assists on the game. The Huskies played one of their best road games in years even though the opponent wasn't very good.

You can't talk about this game without talking about Matthew Bryan-Amaning. Bryan-Amaning like he did in the first meeting destroyed the Sun Devils. Bryan-Amaning scored 22 points on 7-11 shooting and 8-11 from the foul line. Bryan-Amaning grabbed 12 rebounds including six offensive he also blocked four shots on the game showing he was a man amongst boys. Considering this was a conference game this was probably C.J. Wilcox's best game as a Husky. When Suggs went down someone had to step up and Wilcox did just that scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting including four for nine from three point range. Wilcox also grabbed eight rebounds, dished out three assists and blocked two shots. An all around great game by Wilcox which the Huskies will need in the next coming weeks. Isaiah Thomas struggled this game scoring just 11 points on 4-12 shooting including two for eight from three point range. Thomas did dish out six assists to just one turnover though. Venoy Overton continuing his strong play scored 10 points on two for four shooting including a three pointer grabbed eight rebounds and dished out five assists to just one turnover while recording a steal. Then Justin Holiday for the second straight game struggled scoring just nine points on three for seven shooting including a three pointer. The Huskies took care of business and now must hope this three game winning streak carries over to Tucson where they take on the 13th ranked Arizona Wildcats.

The Huskies showed some good things today for the third straight game. The Huskies attacked the rim and went to the free throw line. The Huskies are also featuring Bryan-Amaning and not becoming so dependent on Thomas and Holiday. The Huskies are getting good play from their bench especially Overton and Wilcox which one will have to start this Saturday. The Huskies have now appeared to have rebounded from that rough patch at Oregon and must show they can beat a quality opponent away from Seattle. With the way the Huskies manhandled the Wild Cats up in Seattle and with the way the Huskies are playing I think they have a shot. The Huskies lost a great three point shooter in Suggs but they have Overton and Wilcox playing well now. Lorenzo Romar's team appears to be making that late season surge as they typically do. This team unless they lose out will be going to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year. They have turned it around and have one last chance to still win the Pac-10 regular season title this Saturday in Arizona.

Observations:

- It wasn't all smiles in the Huskies win over the Sun Devils as they lost junior guard Scott Suggs for 2-3 weeks due to an MCL sprain. That is a shame as Suggs was playing well as of late and for the year. For the year Suggs has made nine starts and is averaging 7.3 points per game in only 17.8 minutes on the year. Suggs is a terrific shooter too as he is shooting 45.5% from three point range making an average of 1.7 three's a game.

Suggs was playing really well the last six games too. In the last six games Suggs has averaged 10.2 points per game while shooting 14-32(43.7%) from three point range which is an average of 2.3 three pointers a game. Since Suggs has been in the starting lineup the Huskies are 6-3 on the year. Now someone like C.J. Wilcox today or Terrence Ross will have to step up. For the next 2-3 weeks the Huskies will only have eight scholarship players who are active. This isn't a killing loss but this loss will hurt more than people can even imagine especially if the Huskies get in foul trouble.

- Beware Pac-10 Venoy Overton appears to be back. Overton who had struggled terribly in a 10 game stretch in the bulk of the Pac-10 schedule appears to have turned it around. Overton after scoring in double figures just once in the first 12 Pac-10 games has scored in double figures back to back games. Overton was struggling and we can all speculate why which I don't feel like talking about.

Overton the last three games has been producing averaging 10.0 points per game, 5.3 assists to 1.0 turnovers a game. Overton is also shooting 8-18(44.4%) including hitting a three pointer in three straight games. Overton has also gone to the free throw line 16 times the last two games showing he has been agressive. He has also recorded a steal the last three games as well.

The Huskies getting production out of the active conference leader in assists and steals is so huge. He was a guy the Huskies were counting on as he was the fourth leading scorer last year and third in minutes. With Overton playing like the Huskies expected they could make a run.

- The Huskies have also received great play from C.J.Wilcox and given Suggs injury they'll need him to continue that. Wilcox in the first 11 games of the Pac-10 season was shooting just 4-21(19.0%) from three point range. Wilcox only played in nine of those games scoring just 22 points combined which was an average of 2.4 points per game.

Well in the last three games Wilcox has turned it around. He is averaging 13.3 points per game and made 10-23(43.4%) from three point range. He is averaging 3.3 three pointers a game during that stretch. Wilcox overall is shooting 13-26(50.0%) from the field and perfect on his four free throw attempts. He also has three blocks and two steals during that stretch. It appears Wilcox has turned it around. Sometimes hitting some garbage time three pointers can be the start of good things to come. Wilcox only played 13 minutes in that blowout win over California last week but he hit four three pointers and has played himself back in the rotation. He'll be asked to duplicate Suggs terrific three point shooting.

- Matthew Bryan-Amaning dominated the Sun Devils once again. For the year against the Sun Devils Bryan-Amaning is averaging 26.0 points per game, 10.5 rebounds a game, 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 18-27(66.7%) from the field and 16-19(84.2%) from the free throw line. Now Bryan-Amaning isn't a guy who just dominates the worst team in the Pac-10. After a mini two game slump he appears back on track.

In the last four games Bryan-Amaning has shot over 60.0% in all four games. During that four game stretch Bryan-Amaning is averaging 19.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds a game, 2.3 blocks per game while shooting 32-50(64.0%) from the field. The Huskies are starting to finally featuring Bryan-Amaning again and he is starting to connect on his field goal attempts.

On the year Bryan-Amaning is having a first team all pac-10 type of season. Bryan-Amaning is averaging 16.0 points per game, 8.0 rebounds a game, 0.9 steals a game and 1.6 blocks a game. He is shooting 57.7% from the field on the year. In Pac-10 play Bryan-Amaning is averaging 17.7 points per game, 9.1 rebounds a game, 0.57 steals a game and 1.7 blocks a game. He is shooting 100-171(58.4%) from the field during this 14 game stretch for the Huskies. Bryan-Amaning is a Senior and I feel as if our fan base doesn't appreciate how well he is playing this season.

- The Arizona State Sun Devils probably wish Lorenzo Romar would be fired. Since Romar has arrived at Washington the Huskies have dominated the Sun Devils. Romar began his career getting swept by the Sun Devils but ever since then he has only lost to the Sun Devils just three times which is tied for the fewest losses to any Pac-10 opponent. Romar in nine seasons against Arizona State is 7-2 at home, 7-2 on the road and 2-1 in the Pac-10 tournament against them. Add it all up and Romar is 16-5(.761%) against the Sun Devils. Romar winning percentage against the Sun Devils is the best amongst all Pac-10 teams. To say he has their number would be a slight understatement.

All in all the Huskies blew out a pretty crappy team on the road. The Huskies current three game winning streak has been against the seventh, eighth and now last place team in the Pac-10. The Huskies aren't exactly beating stiff competition but they were swept down in Oregon to the current ninth and sixth place teams. The Huskies took care of business and did what they had to do. By winning this game they avoided another black eye and unless they lose their remaining Pac-10 games or to Seattle U they will go back to the NCAA tournament. This Saturday is huge because if the Huskies lose they won't realistictally have a chance to win the Pac-10 regular season championship. The Huskies win or lose this Saturday showed they are moving in the right direction on the season. The slump appears to be over and the Huskies are playing well as a team. Should be fun this Saturday as the Huskies hope to win in Tucson for the first time since 2006 when Brandon Roy was a senior. The Huskies are playing good ball and if they win this Saturday it should surprise nobody.