GAME: Washington (4-4 overall, 0-0, Pac-12) at Seattle University (3-3 overall, 0-0, Western Athletic Conference. WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m., KeyArena. TYPE: Non-conference. MEETING: 28th (Washington leads 23-4). STREAKS: UW L 1; Seattle U. W 1. RANKINGS: Neither ranked. COACHES: Lorenzo Romar, Washington; Cameron Dollar, Seattle U. TV: Root Sports. RADIO: KJR 950 AM; 770 KTTH.
The Washington Huskies and Seattle University Redhawks, who first faced each other in a basketball game nearly 60 years ago, tangle Thursday night in front of some of the greatest players ever to represent the both programs, including Bob Houbregs of the Huskies and Johnny and Eddie O’Brien of Seattle U.
Houbregs and the O’Brien twins, who battled for the first time March 13, 1953 in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regionals in Corvallis, OR., will be among several former players from those 1953 UW and Seattle U. teams who will be honored in a 15-minute halftime ceremony to commemorate the initial matchup of the schools.
The latest editions of the Huskies and Redhawks will meet for the fifth consecutive year since Seattle U. returned to Division I status. The Redhawks have yet win, although they came close last year, falling 91-83 to a UW team that went on the capture the Pac-12’s regular-season championship.
The current UW team is not nearly as good as last year’s and has already lost three times at home, surpassing the season total in each of the last four years (UW last lost more than three at home in 2008 when it went 12-7).
Injuries have played a part in that with just five players having made appearances in all games (freshman point guard Andrew Andrews is doubtful with a sprained ankle). But slow starts and sloppy play have also characterized the Huskies.
The Huskies allowed 43 first-half points to Cal State Fullerton and 34 to Nevada, which knocked off UW on its home court.
“It’s (slow starts) an issue that we met and talked about,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said during his press briefing this week. “We watched film (Monday). We discussed it at length as a team. I do think our guys are aware of it and I do think we have been committed as a team not to let that happen again.
“I’m still pretty optimistic that we’re going to get this together and right the ship and come out playing with more fire and turn this around.”
Under former Romar assistant Cameron Dollar, Seattle U. is coming off a 75-69 victory at Eastern Washington, its first road win of the year. The Redhawks do two things well that the Huskies do poorly.
The Redhawks are tied for 19th in the country in rebounds per game (42.2), while the Huskies are second-to-last in the Pac-12 at 34.6 per game, which represents UW’s lowest rebound average since 2003. Also, Seattle U is tied for 10th in Division I in steals per game (10.7). The Huskies have the ball stolen from them nearly twice as many times — 51-27 — as they steal it.
For more on Washington vs. Seattle U see Thiel: Upset Time? Huskies Ripe For Seattle U.
SERIES: Dates to March 13, 1953, when the Huskies defeated the then-Chieftains 92-70 in the NCAA West Regionals in Corvallis. The Huskies have dominated the series, winning 23 while losing only four. Washington has won seven in a row over the Redhawks, including a 91-83 decision last year at Alaska Airlines Arena in a game in which C.J. Wilcox scored 25 points and Tony Wroten 24. Aaron Broussard led Seattle U. with 20 points.
UW STATS / NOTES
- SEASON SUMMARY: Record: 4-4. Home: 3-3. Road: 0-0. Neutral: 1-1. Vs. Pac-12: 0-0. Vs. Pac-12 North: 0-0. Vs. Pac-12 South: 0-0. Vs. Non-Conference: 4-4. Points: 565 (70.6). Field Goal Pct.: 45.8. 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 39.8. Free Throw Pct.: 68.2. Rebounds: 277 (34.6). Assists: 91 (11.4). Turnovers: 104 (13.0). Steals: 27 (3.4). Blocks: 35 (4.4). Points Against: 558 (69.8). Opp. FG Pct.: 43.5. Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 37.3. Opp FT Pct.: 63.4. Opp. Rebounds: 275 (34.4) : Opp. Assists: 104 (13.0). Opp. Turnovers: 97 (12.1). Opp. Steals: 51 (6.4). Opp. Blocks: 26 (3.3). Ratings Percentage Index (RPI): Ranked 106th (down from 28th).
- PAC-12 RANKINGS: Scoring Offense — 8th (70.6). Scoring Defense — 11th (69.8). Scoring Margin –11th (+0.9). FG Pct. — 6th (45.8). FT Pct. — 9th (68.2). 3-Pt FG Pct. — 2nd (39.6). Rebound Margin — 11th (+0.2). Blocked Shots — 6th (4.4). Assists — 10th (10.4). Steals — 12th (3.4). Turnover Margin — 8th (-0.88).
- C.J. Wilcox (19.9) ranks 2nd in Pac-12 scoring and Abdul Gaddy is 12th at 14.3. Wilcox also makes 2.8 3-pointers per game, T2. Wilcox ranks 5th in 3-point percentage at 44.0.
- Wilcox has scored 97 points over his past four games and has reached 20-plus in four straight games for the first time in his career. Terrence Ross was the last Husky to score 20 or more in four straight. Brandon Roy scored 20-plus in nine straight during the 2006 season, the last streak over four games.
- Desmond Simmons ranks T11 (78.6) in free throw percentage and has 31 rebounds over the last two games. His 18 against Fullerton were the most by a Husky since Jon Brockman pulled down 18 March 21, 2009 vs. Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
- Senior Aziz N’Diaye ranks 3rd in rebounding at 9.4 per game. N’Diaye, who also ranks 1st in offensive rebounds (3.6), is 2nd in field-goal percentage (63.0) and 10th in blocked shots (1.4).
- Washington’s 14-point halftime rally vs. Cal-State Fullerton was the team’s largest comeback at the half since Dec. 29, 2007 at LSU. The Huskies trailed in that game 41-27 and won 74-65.
- The 18 rebounds by Desmond Simmons against Fullerton were the most by a Husky since Jon Brockman pulled down 18 March 21, 2009 vs. Purdue in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
- Washington has finished first in conference rebounding for four straight years and has first or second in each of the last eight. So far, UW is 11th in the Pac-12 in rebounding at 34.6 per game, the school’s lowest average since 1995.
UW HEAD COACH: Lorenzo Romar (316-205 overall, 223-117 UW) is coming off a year in which the Huskies won the Pac-12 regular-season title. Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament six times and won three Pac-10 Tournament titles (2005, 2010, 2011). Romar, who signed a 10-year contract extension in April 2011, won his his 200th game at Washington Dec. 16, 2011. He had his 300th career victory and his 100th as a conference coach on Jan. 21, 2012. Romar was selected the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
Romar played for the Huskies under head coach Marv Harshman during the 1979-80 seasons (served as team captain his senior year), and had a five-year NBA career with Golden State (1981-84), Milwaukee (1984) and Detroit (1984-85). He became a college head coach at Pepperdine in 1997, where he coached for three seasons, then spent three years (1999-02) at St. Louis University before taking the Washington job in 2002-03.
2012-13 Washington Statistics
| Player | G | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Wilcox | 8 | 48.8 | 44.0 | 88.2 | 4.3 | 1.5 | 19.9 |
| Abdul Gaddy | 8 | 44.9 | 37.9 | 69.7 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 14.3 |
| Scott Suggs | 5 | 45.8 | 55.0 | 83.3 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 12.0 |
| Aziz N’Diaye | 8 | 63.0 | 0.00 | 48.9 | 9.4 | 0.4 | 11.4 |
| Andrew Andrews | 7 | 24.4 | 22.2 | 71.4 | 1.1 | 3.3 | 7.0 |
| Desmond Simmons | 8 | 40.0 | 50.0 | 78.6 | 8.1 | 0.8 | 6.4 |
| Shawn Kemp Jr. | 1 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
| Jenard Jarreau | 8 | 50.0 | 0.00 | 62.5 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 4.1 |
| Hikeem Stewart | 6 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| Martin Bruenig | 4 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Q. Sterling | 2 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| D. Overstreet | 1 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 8 | 45.8 | 39.8 | 68.2 | 34.6 | 11.4 | 70.6 |
| Opponents | 8 | 43.5 | 37.3 | 63.4 | 34.4 | 13.0 | 69.8 |
SEATTLE U. NOTES: Seattle U. has recorded wins over Montana State (87-72), Pacific Lutheran (58-49) and Eastern Washington (75-69); and lost to Virginia (83-43), Stanford (68-57) and Boise State (87-64) . . . Clarence Trent, a UW transfer, leads Seattle U. with 11.2 points per game and is tied for the team lead with 7.2 rebounds per game. DeShaun Sunderhaus is second in scoring at 10.8 and, like Trent, averages 7.2 rpg. They are the only Redhawks averaging double-figure points . . . Sterling Carter has already moved into second place on Seattle U’s all-time list for made three-pointers with 161, sitting behind only Aaron Waite (1988-92) with 239.
SEATTLE U. HEAD COACH: Cameron Dollar, a former assistant under Lorenzo Romar at Washington, is in his fourth season as head coach. Dollar, a former star player at UCLA, got his coaching start at UC-Irvine in 1997. He worked under Romar at St. Louis for three years before moving to Washington, where he was part of back-to-back Sweet Sixteen appearances.
COMING UP: The Huskies play three consecutive games at Alaska Airlines Arena, starting with Jackson State Saturday, before heading back to Connecticut to face UConn.
University of Washington 2012-13 Schedule
(Rankings From Associated Press)
| Date | Opponent | UW Rnk | Opp Rnk | W/L | Score | Rec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/11/12 | @vs. W. Washington | — | — | W | 88-78 | 0-0 |
| 11/11/12 | *vs. Loyola-MD. | — | — | W | 85-63 | 1-0 |
| 11/13/12 | *vs. Albany | — | — | L | 63-62 | 1-1 |
| 11/17/12 | *vs. Seton Hall | — | — | W | 84-73 | 2-1 |
| 11/18/12 | *vs. Ohio St. | — | 4 | L | 77-66 | 2-2 |
| 11/24/12 | vs. Colo. St. | — | — | L | 73-55 | 2-3 |
| 11/28/12 | vs. Saint Louis | — | — | W | 66-61 | 3-3 |
| 12/2/12 | vs. Cal-Fuller. | — | — | W | 74-72 | 4-3 |
| 12/8/12 | vs. Nevada | — | — | L | 76-73 | 4-4 |
| 12/13/12 | at Seattle U. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12/15/12 | vs. Jackson St. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12/20/12 | vs. Cal Poly | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12/22/12 | vs. N. Illinois | — | — | — | — | — |
| 12/29/12 | at Connecticut | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/5/13 | at WSU | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/9/13 | at California | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/16/13 | vs. Colorado | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/19/13 | vs. Utah | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/23/13 | at Oregon St. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/26/13 | at Oregon | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1/31/13 | vs. Arizona | — | 8 | — | — | — |
| 2/2/13 | vs. ASU | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2/7/13 | at UCLA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2/10/13 | at USC | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2/13/13 | vs. Oregon | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2/16/13 | vs. Oregon St. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2/20/13 | at Arizona | — | 8 | — | — | — |
| 2/23/13 | at ASU | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/3/13 | vs. WSU | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/6/13 | vs. USC | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/9/13 | vs. UCLA | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/13/13 | ^First Round | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/14/13 | ^Quarterfinal | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/15/13 | ^Semifinal | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/16/13 | ^Championship | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/19/13 | #1st Four | — | — | — | — | |
| 3/21/13 | #2nd-3rd Rnds. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/28/13 | #Regionals | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4/6/13 | #Final 4 Semi | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4/8/13 | #Final 4 Champ. | — | — | — | — | — |
@=Exhibition; *=Hall of Fame Classic; ^=Pac-12 Tournament; #=NCAA Tournament