Huskies Beat Down Sun Devils UW/79-56

Washington got 17 points from Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas and another great defensive effort from defensive specialist Justin Holiday, as the Dawgs beat Arizona State at Hec-Ed in Seattle, WA on Saturday night 79-56.

It was a game that was never close as the Huskies rolled out to a 27-7 lead with 7:43 left in the 1st half and never looked back. The eye-popping stats of the game for UW were 71 field goal attempts compared to 49 for ASU and 44 rebounds to 25 for the Sun Devils.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning had a strong night for the Dawgs with 12 points, but if not for a number of missed shots close in that just missed, "MBA" could have easily had over 20. Holiday led the Dawgs on the glass with 10 boards, followed by Matt with 9, but that was only a small part of what Holiday, who strongly considered Arizona State, did for his team.

Justin's dad Shawn Holiday and his and mom Toya were former ASU scholarship basketball players and Head Coach Herb Sendek focused hard on Justin but came short to the Dawgs. What difference could that have made (had he chosen ASU), as Holiday was all over not only one but both of ASU's top guns Rihards Kuksiks and Ty Abbott?

At Tempe Kuksiks went for a career high 27 and Abbott kicked in 17 points with Holiday in Seattle on an academic "Technicality", according to Husky Coach Lorenzo Romar, but in Seattle Rihards scored only 8 and Ty 10, while Holiday led the defensive charge. Romar coined the term "Defensive captain" to describe Holiday in the post game press conference and acknowledged the huge difference that Justin makes in games of late.

"His arms just extend, there's always a threat that his arm is there. He doesn't let you get away. He's quick, he anticipates, he's smart, he's physically tougher than you think and it's just hard to get away from him."

Meanwhile Venoy Overton had yet another solid game with 9 points and teamed with Thomas and Abdul Gaddy to literally render senior PG Derek Glasser and fellow ASU PG Jamelle McMillan useless on Saturday. Freshman guard Demetrius Walker snuck off the bench to lead the way for the Sun Devils with 14 points, much of it with the game out of reach. Scott Suggs had another solid game for UW with 8 points and a decent contribution towards the defensive effort.

Now the Dawgs travel to Berkeley, CA for a 6PM (PST) tip-off with Cal on Thursday. The Huskies are 0-5 on the road and have shown little ability to come back from deficits or even close very winnable games away from home. Pondexter remained optimistic that his team is getting it though.

"We have a lot of momentum and I think we know what's at stake to be right up there at the top. That's something we've all wanted and won't count ourselves out. To be in the position that we are in right now to be back in it is fortunate because sometimes you lose a few and the season is over. We still have a good chance at winning the championship and that's our goal. We're the defending champions and we need to redeem ourselves."

We'll have to see what Quincy and the Dawgs can do against the 1st place Bears, who pounded UCLA at Pauley 72-58.

Cougars Beat Arizona with 2nd half Burst 78-60

(Courtesy of Heath Harshman)

The Washington State Cougars bounced back from a three game losing streak, their longest such streak of the season, to beat the Arizona Wildcats in convincing fashion, 78-60 Saturday night in Pullman.

DeAngelo Casto led the way for the Cougs, scoring a career high 19 points while snatching nine rebounds and swatting three blocks. Saturday's win was Casto's first double digit scoring game since the last meeting against the Wildcats where he scored 16, including the game winning bucket in the final seconds. Casto provided much needed energy throughout, playing 33 minutes in total.

"We all understood we had to get this win in order to compete in the Pac-10", said Casto post-game.

The win puts WSU at 15-8 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-10, still just two games behind first place. WSU shot 26-51 (51%) from the field in the game, including a scorching 14-21 (66.7%) in the second half. The Cougs were getting high percentage shots in the post for the majority of the game.

Casto and Australian born freshman Brock Motum both shot well inside, combining for 29 points on 12-19 shooting. Motum, who played a career high 17 minutes, also scored his career high 10 points in the game.

The Cougs also rebounded very well against one of the top rebounding teams in the Pac-10, Arizona averages just over 35 rebounds per game. But, WSU won the rebound battle in the last meeting 34-22, and came close to replicating that dominance Saturday, out rebounding the Wildcats 32-23.

Another factor that propelled the Cougs to victory was getting to the charity stripe. The Cougs, led by Reggie Moore's nine, got to the line 28 times, converting 23 of them for a solid 82.1%. Moore was 6-6, while everyone else in the starting lineup got to the line at least four times. Moore finished with 12 points.

WSU's leading scorer didn't torch 'Zona, but sophomore Klay Thompson had an efficient and well rounded game, going 5-11 from the floor for 14 points. He also grabbed three rebounds and dished out four assists.

But it was the defense that set the tone and provided the energy for Head Coach Ken Bone's squad. After turning the ball over 20 times Thursday at Washington, the Cougs forced Arizona into 14 turnovers, plus seven blocks. The Wildcats were 22-52 (42.3%) from the field, and apart from starting the game on a 12-4 run, could never get a hot shooting streak going.

The Cougs attempt to fully take advantage of the swamped conference standings next weekend away to Stanford and Cal. WSU face the Cardinal on Thursday at 7PM (PST). Despite not making a great push for a top conference spot just yet, wins against the last and first place teams in the upcoming weekend would be the perfect way to precede a three game home-stand.

Zags Get Rock Solid Road Win In Memphis 66-58:

(Courtesy of Alex Dissing)

Memphis and Gonzaga, two powerhouse basketball programs, have been consistent opponents on each others schedule for the past 5 years. The Zags snapped their 4-game losing streak to Memphis by defeating the Tigers 66-58 in front of a national audience at the Fed-Ex Forum in Memphis, Tennessee.

This marked the first time in the six ever games between the two teams that Memphis wasn't ranked in the top 20.

Memphis Guard Wesley Witherspoon let everybody know that he came to play early with a dunk and a block, which helped the Tigers take an early 12-5 lead. Gonzaga appeared sluggish from their quick turn-around from Thursday's game against Portland, as they were 1-10 from the field at the 12:30 mark.

Freshman Elias Harris scored the first four points for Gonzaga but would struggle the rest of the game, failing to get in the groove that has allowed him to average 16 points a game this season. The German product ended up with only 6 points on a dismal 2-14 from the field.

The Bulldogs finally seemed to gain their legs back with around six minutes remaining in the first half. Senior guard Matt Bouldin, who hit his first bucket with more than 10 minutes elapsed into the game, finally got going as he took control of the game. A classic Bouldin sequence occurred with 2:50 left in the half when he recorded a steal, spun away from a defender on the fast break and hit a step back 3 pointer, giving Gonzaga a 24-20 lead.

Bouldin ended up with a team high 19 points on 5-9 shooting. In the final minute of the half, Bouldin made an accurate bounce pass to senior center Will Foster who slammed it home.

Gonzaga struggled to find a defensive rhythm through much of the first half but found success when Coach Mark Few made the switch to the zone with Will Foster in the paint. At 7-feet-5 inches tall, Foster played an expanded role in an attempt to take advantage of his size inside. Foster ended up with 8 points, improving upon his career high of 6 that he recorded in the recent victory over Portland.

A 9-0 Gonzaga run was interrupted as Memphis guard Elliot Williams hit a three-pointer as time expired in the first half. Both teams shot under 40% from the field in the half, leading to a low 28-23 score.

Coming out of the locker room, Elias Harris was a focal point in the Gonzaga offense. As alluded to earlier however, he struggled, and soon Memphis was back in the game. Two slam dunks by Foster and another clutch shot by Bouldin as the shot clock expired put Gonzaga up nine with 10:55 left.

Young guard Demetri Goodson, who finished with only six points, was an unsung hero during the contest. Although he struggled on offense with four turnovers, Goodson hustled for loose balls and stood his ground on defense, being the recipient of four offensive fouls.

Memphis Head Coach Josh Pastner wasn't particularly pleased after one of those offensive fouls and let the referees know about it. The heated discussion seemed to fire up his players and with 4:44 remaining, Memphis took the lead at 53-51, their first lead since the score was 20-19 with 11 minutes left in the first half.

Gonzaga guard Steven Gray hit a big three pointer with 3:35 remaining, putting Gonzaga up 56-53. Gray would finish with 12 points. The game then turned into a free throw contest, much to Gonzaga's favor. The Tigers shot only 14-26 (54%) from the line while Gonzaga had an improved 13-19 (69%) performance. In their full-court pressure, Memphis made the mistake of
fouling Bouldin, who hit 4-4 free throws in the final minute of play, leading to the eight point victory.

Memphis had a rough day shooting the ball finishing up 19-48 from the field and only 6-21 (29%) from the three point line. Witherspoon was the lone bright spot as he was almost half of the team's offensive production with 26 points.

The Bulldogs didn't necessarily shoot well either going 23-56 (41%) from the field, but timely shooting bailed them out in the end. Center Robert Sacre, who finished with 13 points, helped bring up that percentage by going 5-8 from the field.

The Zags now look towards the much anticipated game against Saint Mary's on Thursday Feb 11th at 8PM (PST) for control of the WCC.

The Huskies battled a tough, hard-nosed Arizona team down to the wire Thursday night in the Bank of America Arena. Quincy Pondexter put the team on his back and scored a game high 30 points as the Dawgs withstood a 'Cats comeback late in the game winning 81-75.

The Huskies made this game hard on themselves by having Quincy do much of the work for the majority of the game, while Arizona got great play out of their young stars. Freshmen Lamont "Momo" Jones and Solomon Hill along with sophomore Brendan Lavender put up double digits off the bench for the Wildcats. Jones led the way for 'Zona with 14 points, followed by starting guard Kyle Fogg with 13.

Hill and senior star guard Nic Wise, who was for the most part bottled up by a strong defensive effort from Venoy Overton and Isaiah Thomas, kicked in 12. Husky Head Coach Lorenzo Romar acknowledged that by saying, "I thought our guys; Isaiah and Venoy did a great, great job of contesting everything that Nic Wise threw up".

Lavender scored 11, 9 of them on three straight three pointers that were the better part of an 13-2 run that allowed 'Zona to go from a 29-24 deficit to a 37-31 lead at half time in the last three minutes of the 1st half.

Pondexter got some help in the scoring column from Scott Suggs (who finished with 13 points) and Venoy Overton with 12. Overton was arguably the difference maker in the win for Washington, as he made 9-10 from the free throw line, including 8-8 in the last 3:51 of the contest when the game was clearly in question for the Dawgs. That said Justin Holiday continues to be a major factor in games for Washington and his blanket coverage of Horne and others was right along side Venoy's foul shooting down the stretch as you break down Washington's key winning factors.

Justin also was a factor on offense, not so much in scoring (though he had 5 points), but in making good decisions with the ball and setting up his team mates. He led the Dawgs in assists with 4, all during the key UW run to start off the 2nd half.

Thomas was nowhere to be found in the 1st half and he struggled for the whole game, though his ability to make defensive plays and smart plays within the offensive sets helped UW win the game. Isaiah finished with 7 points 3-10 from the field and 0-4 from the free throw line and committed a major blunder in allowing Kyle Fogg to make a three point play the old fashioned way with the Huskies up 5 and 10 seconds to go.

Washington came out strong in the first ten minutes of the game, forcing turnovers and making the Wildcats look frustrated. Pondexter had 10 points in the first ten minutes, showing his ability to take over a game, while Tyreese Breshers had a good first half scoring and playing defense. Breshers had the crowd on their feet with 2 huge back to back blocks and finished the game with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Quincy led both teams on the glass with 12 boards. Breshers had a good game offensively showing continued signs of improvement.

Arizona didn't get much help from veteran leader Nic Wise in the first half, but later as the game tightened at the end Wise started finding better looks and helped the 'Cats to keep it close at the end. Wise scored all of his points in the 2nd half, including a huge three pointer that tied the game with 2:02 to go. Both Head Coach Lorenzo Romar and Sean Miller deserve a ton of credit, but Romar out coached Miller in the game. Washington executed an excellent game plan to force contact and get the young and not as deep 'Cats in foul trouble, especially across their front line.

Freshman sensation Derrick Williams was plagued with foul trouble, held to 3 points and only played 8 minutes in the game. Jamelle Horne, who set a career high against Washington earlier in the year at Tucson, was held to 2 points in 18 foul trouble plagued minutes. Off the bench Kyryl Natyazhko led the 'Cats on the glass with 7 boards, but also was sat on the bench for much of the game in foul trouble, as did Hill who had 4 fouls and freshman starting forward Kevin Parrom, who also fouled out with 0:17 to go in the game.

Washington's strategy worked, but Arizona was able to stay close to the end because of a consistent boost off the bench. Miller showed a lot of why he has people projecting him as Pac-10 coach of the year by getting strong play from his team that is other than Wise and Horne all underclassmen and really other than sophomore Kyle Fogg most of the damage has been and was done last night by freshmen.

"Momo" Jones got to the rim with ease showing an array of difficult shots, Solomon Hill muscled his way to the rim well for an undersized power forward and Kevin Parrom was a tough, mature looking defensive minded player who has enough game to score too when he gets open looks. He may have been a bit too tough though last night as he nearly got technical for a cheap shot to Pondexter in the sternum that looked intentional on film and put Quincy on the deck with the wind knocked out of his chest.

Martial arts are a wonderful discipline, but they have no place on the basketball court. Parrom is going to get his if he continues that sort of play on guys like Pondexter who are the heart of their team and did nothing to warrant that sort of move. I wasn't born yesterday and I've seen a few sneaky punches that knocked guys down when no one was looking and that one was a text book case of a slyly cloaked rabbit punch styled elbow move.

It was also another night the refs seemed like they missed a lot of fouls and made a number of bad calls both ways. Both benches received technical fouls with 7:53 to play in the first half. The Husky fans at best disagreed with the refereeing. A Washington fan threw a plastic water bottle on the court and was escorted out the building.

The game was decided in the 2nd half, as the Huskies outscored and out scrapped the 'Cats 50-38. It may have been the result of a half-time pep talk as the Dawgs came out the gates with some quick baskets from Breshers and Pondexter and some more quick fouls on Arizona.

Venoy started the 2nd half, which put Thomas on the bench. Romar felt that the team needed to move the ball faster and that Venoy and Abdul Gaddy were the best combination to achieve that.

"We wanted to get the ball moving tonight and Venoy and Abdul probably tonight did a better job at moving the basketball. We were looking for answers in the second half. We came out and I think we had four or five assists in the first four minutes."

Pondexter got a little help in the second half from Suggs, Overton and Breshers who scored 7 of his 9 points after the intermission. Suggs is looking like a realizable shooter lately and hit some huge shots for the Dawgs.

Pondexter, who played 36 of the 40-minute slugfest, seemed like his fuel was running on empty towards the end and that could have been a factor in the Wildcats ability to not only come back but go ahead bring them within two at 71-69 with 1:19 left and again at 10 seconds to go at 77-75. It was at that point that Overton hit 4-4 free throws to seal the win for the Dawgs.

The Dawgs pulled off the win but it wasn't so great and they were fortunate in doing so, in no small way indebted to Venoy and Suggs's ability to seal the deal at the line. Scott also hit a pair to put the Dawgs up five with 18 seconds to go. Though Isaiah carelessly allowed Fogg to score "and one" on the next play, Romar seemed to echo that in his post game comments.

"We didn't shoot fouls very well until they were needed down the stretch. When the game was on the line our guys did a great job with that. I am just happy to move the chains."

Arizona was plagued by losing their big man and Wise having a lackluster game and Pondexter had to carry the team on his back literally the whole game. It was a case of two great efforts by two teams contending for a Pac-10 title, but what was also of note was that Arizona did it on the road and UW fans all saw what that same 'Zona team did to the Huskies at their place.

It was a good win for the Dawgs none the less, but they cannot afford to feel that good about them selves going into a difficult match-up Saturday against the Arizona State Sun Devils at 7:30 PM (PST). ASU defeated the WSU Cougs in Pullman 81-70 and could give the Dawgs fits with their well executed zone defense that give teams that don't have trouble with zones fits, let alone a Washington team that looked really inept trying to attack it down in Tempe where they lost to Herb Sendek's team 87-70.

Pondexter seemed to understand where his team is and what they need to do.

"We felt good about ourselves, but not that great because we didn't play as best as we could. We could have cleaned up some stuff that we did on both ends of the floor. We have a great Arizona State team coming in on Saturday. We can't be satisfied with anything, especially with the hole that we're in right now."

Washington is now 15-7 overall, 5-5 in Pac-10 play and in a tie with USC for 2nd place in the Pac-10 one game behind Arizona, UCLA, Cal and ASU, all tied for 1st at 6-4. Washington has to win Saturday to stay in contention, especially in light of the fact that it must play five of its last seven games on the road where they are 0-5 this season.

Husky/Arizona Notes

Fox Sports Jeff Goodman reported on Thursday that according to sources, "Arizona is expected to self-impose sanctions on its men's basketball program that includes a loss of a future scholarship as well as a reduction of recruiting days in July and on-campus official visits because of recruiting violations tied to an AAU basketball tournament held on its campus".

The report was not immediately confirmed by the UA Athletic Department, but they did confirm that a report had been sent to the NCAA, but did not feel it was appropriate to divulge its contents until it had been confirmed that it had been received.

Finally ESPN blogger Diamond Leung reported that Arizona had indeed submitted notice to the NCAA of self-imposed sanctions. Leung reprinted part of the a press release from the Arizona Athletic Department that was circulated later in the day.

"The UA announced it will place its basketball program on probation for the 2010-11 and the 2011-12 seasons, relinquish one scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year, reduce the number of days coaches are allowed to recruit for the next two seasons, reduce the number of official campus visits allowed by prospects and reduce the number of coaches allowed to recruit off campus at one time for summer 2010 recruiting. The NCAA may modify these self-imposed sanctions. Additionally, the University has disbanded the Rebounders Board of Directors and undertaken a number of administrative and rules education changes."

This could be the beginning of a much greater investigation by the NCAA of the Arizona Men's Basketball program, especially into the area of boosters. Pac-10 fans will now have to wait to see what if anything the NCAA does in response.

Quincy's Story Featured on ESPN

Pondexter was the subject of a front page story on ESPN.com about him and his family. Both his father Roscoe and his uncle Cliff played hoops for the great Jerry Tarkanian at Long Beach State in the early 70's and the article focused on the council and support that they have given him in pursuing his hoop dreams.

Quincy is a very smart and talented young man with a boundless future. He entered the UW campus as a freshman with a class that included Spencer Hawes, Adrian Oliver and Phil Nelson. Those three moved on and he stuck it out and seasoned a game that is now grabbing attention from NBA scouts and fans around the country. Spencer left to prematurely pursue an NBA career, a decision which would have proved disastrous for Q, but has worked out OK for Hawes.

I believe that Spence would have made a better choice to play at least one more year, as I feel that his legacy at Washington could have been a great advantage to him in his home town later in life and that his value to the NBA would have been enhanced by more consistent success in college.

Adrian Oliver is setting the WAC on fire at San Jose State, but he arguably made a mistake by leaving a team where he would have to earn his minutes, as Quincy did in a sophomore campaign in which he came off the bench for mush of the time, for a team where he was a big fish in a small pond. Oliver could have helped UW win an outright Pac-10 title last season and his presence during that hard 16-17 year before could have made a very big difference.

He left reportedly because of playing time, but instead of stepping up to the challenge he gave up on UW and being a Dawg. So did Phil Nelson, who has not had as much success as Oliver at Portland State or as Hawes has had (now in his 3rd and most successful year in Sacramento), in the NBA. All that said I wish Phil a speedy recovery from his season ending injury and for he and Adrian to have great senior year.

I also root for Spencer and his former Husky team mate Jon Brockman every time they score a bucket or grab a rebound, but you have to admire the kind of loyalty and acceptance of the responsibility to improve and mature before moving on that Quincy has shown. It is a case of good things happening for those who wait and also grow up and UW fans are very lucky to have witnessed it up close with Pondexter at Washington.

Quincy is now one bucket away from passing James Edwards for 6th on the all-time scoring list for the Dawgs. He is 153 points short of Eldridge Recasner in 5th place, a milestone he should break with at least 9 games remaining. If he does pass Recasner, he will be on a list in which the four guys behind him and the 4 guys ahead of him were all NBA players. I'm pretty sure that Quincy will not only make the league but do very well there, in no small part because of the decision to stick it out in college and especially at Washington.

Husky Recruiting Updates

2010 UW wing recruit Dwayne Polee, according to Rivals, still has offers from Arizona State, Oregon, UNLV and Washington.

Polee seems a bit small for a post player, as Washington in my opinion needs a guy like seven-foot shot blocker and rebounder Aziz N'Diaye or six-foot-nine Terrence Jones

Washington faces Arizona in a must win, as almost all of their games will be for the remainder of this year if they are lucky enough to keep winning. Arizona offers up a major question in looking at the rest of this season. Is Washington that much better at home or are the teams that they beat just better match-ups than the ones that blew them out on the road? Oregon beat Washington at home and could that result be more because of the fact that the Ducks have experienced guards that can penetrate and a very talented big man that can cash in when their man rotates?

It will be interesting to see what happens down the road, but if Washington struggles against the Arizona schools, as it did down in the desert and makes it close perhaps even getting a split, I would not be that surprised if they went down to the bay area next week and got a rare sweep. I think that the home crowd will be a difference maker against UCLA, but the USC team that had the big athletes to quiet Quincy Pondexter and make the UW guards look either too small, too young or both just may be able to do it to some degree in Seattle.

Conversely in Oregon, UW could very well be able to only get a split, as they did in Seattle and the mismatch that exists between Pondexter and anyone that the Cougs put on him could be so great that the Dawgs could get another road win there. If all of that happens, UW finishes the year 10-8 in the conference and 20-10 overall. In a normal Pac-10 that would get a team in the big dance, but UW would likely have to at least get to the Pac-10 Tournament Final to have any kind of a chance.

I think that UW could have the home mojo to beat ASU this weekend, but don't expect the Arizona game to be any kind of blow out, other than perhaps the other type like UW fans saw in the Oregon game. Nic Wise is a bulldog and it just as on fire as Quincy is for the Dawgs. He also is experienced enough to do it on the road.

Derrick Williams is a player that UW does not have, a legitimate low post scorer with a versatile game and plenty of quickness and athleticism. He's a very likely NBA draft pick, as soon as this June, but there is some talk in NBA circles that he may be a bit small to be a one and done natural NBA PF.

The same type of problems that Quincy had with USC and that he had down in Tucson, could very well be part of the mix at Hec-Ed on Thursday. I know there is good reason to believe that this 'Zona game will be another Brendan Sherrer, "Dancing' Dawgs" kind of night, but I feel that it could very easily be that Washington may be getting a bit too confident at home and could be ripe for the picking for a well coached bunch of young, deep and talented 'Cats.

That "Dancin' Dawgs" video has been a topic of great discussion and for good reason. It's very good and entertaining. Both ESPN's and Rivals' Dagger Blog made mention of it, but it remains to be seen if the obvious good natured chemistry of the UW team will translate into the serious win streak that it will take to win the Pac-10 or at least come close enough to get into the NCAA tournament.

Teams like Lorenzo Romar's 1st UW NCAA team that won 12-14 games down the stretch to get in or a senior Brandon Roy's veteran team that methodically came back from a poor start to finish a close 2nd and continue to the Sweet-16 were not anything more than scary. There was an element of fun, but guys like Will Conroy, Nate Robinson, Bobby Jones and Mike Jensen were very seriously on a mission, at least on the court.

Is this team mean enough and with enough of a killer instinct to finish the season that way? I'm not sure, though I do feel that the potential is there, I just haven't seen it come together into something as tangible as those teams. Admittedly the addition of Justin Holiday into the mix (from the game at Arizona) could help UW and the home crowd too, but this one could very well be a game in which a slow Husky start could turn into a complete game by the visitors that an inspired come back cannot eclipse, unlike some of Dawgs recent home runaway blow outs.

Montlake Madness' Josh Anderson, who was mentioned in the ESPN blog post on the "Dancin' Dawgs", feels that the game will be close, but that being at home will do it for the Dub.

'Zona fans don't seem to believe as I do that their team has a great chance to win on Thursday. This thread on GOAZCats show UA fans to be hopeful, but mostly in the corner that winning at Hec-Ed in unlikely.

The national press is taking notice though of this young 'Zona team. Andrew Bagnato of the AP gushes about this year's team being very good despite their youth.

'Cat Head Coach Sean Miller really did a job in putting this team together in the wake of Lute Olson's retirement. Just this week he scored another recruit in 2010 combo guard Jordin Mayes.

Mayes is high school team mates with 2010 UW forward recruit Dwayne Polee, who is also looking hard at Arizona.

ASU Banged Up

Stan Holt the USC team manager who was fired for getting a technical foul at Oregon was not the only team manager to screw up in the Pac-10 last Saturday. Senior guard Derek Glasser stepped on a team manager and sprained his ankle. It is not known whether the severity will hold him out of the WSU game in Thursday, let alone hamper his effort at UW on Saturday, but this along with Jamelle McMillan just getting back from injury and having not yet practiced can't help the Sun Devils. I doubt this manager got fired for being stepped on though.

Though the 17 point beat down at ASU (68-51) may have been more about a 27 point effort by Rihards Kuksiks, which could be augmented by the presence of Holiday, lack of production from both Glasser and McMillan could be even more important. That said it will take a very strong effort to get a win over a mature and efficient ASU club. Ty Abbott scored 17 against the Dawgs and is just off a 29 point career high effort against Stanford, but a poor showing by Jamelle and Derek will also affect his ability to get good looks.

One the other hand, if Glasser toughs it out, McMillan raises it up in front of his home town and UW has a let down after what should be a huge challenge win or lose against 'Zona, ASU could just gut it out. Like I said earlier, UW had a tough match-up with these guys and all of their problem may not be remedied by being at home.

Venoy Cools It

Venoy Overton has been playing well this season, which has been a very nice development for Washington. Coach Romar spoke about Venoy's increased ability to change speeds effectively this year on Tuesday.

"I think he's beginning to learn how to switch gears. There's a case to be made for someone that is constantly going full speed that you can prepare yourself for that. When you have the speed he has and when you change gears, it's hard to prepare for that really high gear. He's done much better at picking his spot. I thought he did a really good job of picking his spots on defense. Sometimes he can reach a little too much and he anticipates steals."

I liken Venoy's development this year to that of Quincy last year. In my opinion Q was doing things better early in the year, but did not really start to shine until the game came to him. With Quincy leading the way and Isaiah picking his spots and either following or leading the way depending on what's there, Venoy has been providing the spark off the bench and along with Holiday doing a solid job of helping to quiet the other team's biggest guns.

In doing that the offensive side of the game has sort of come to him. Though teams have let him shoot the three to mostly positive results, his much more careful ball handling and game management has allowed others to thrive. At the same time he has been able to "Sneak" his quick aggressive slashing game and nice touch around the basket to produce some pretty formidable scoring numbers quietly.

Romar also remarked that Venoy's offense has benefited from his new more controlled style, at least for him.

"I don't think he's looking maybe to score points as much and it's ironic. I don't think he's looking to score as much and yet he's scoring more. It's funny how that works. A lot of times scoring can be like being handcuffed. The harder you try to take them off, the tighter they get. Sometimes scoring is like that."

Quincy Breaking Records

Pondexter is having a great year and it would also be nice to see it end with his team having success, as I'm sure is most important to him. That said Quincy needs 31 points to tie James Edwards for 6th place all-time on the UW scoring list, 183 to tie Eldridge Recasner for 5th place, 226 to tie Todd MacCulloch at 4th and 257 to tie Houbregs for 3rd place right behind his old team mate Jon Brockman.

With nine games left in the regular season, plus at least one postseason game in the Pac-10 tournament, Pondexter would have to average at the most 25.7 points per game the rest of the way to eclipse Houbregs. It's possible and it will certainly be nice for UW fans to see him do it in concert with a successful run to success for his team. If you look at the last couple games, he is right there at a rate where he could possibly even threaten Jon, but that will be very hard to do, unless he keeps that red-hot pace and the Dawgs get a couple more post season opportunities.

In all likelihood Quincy will finish as one of the top-5 scorers in UW history, one of the all-time greats and a great candidate for the Husky Hall of Fame. He is not doing as well in the eyes of the national media, very much driven by the perception of the conference and his team that has fallen from the national spotlight. Rivals has him listed as the #6 SF, though this weekend's performance and especially next weekend's where he has another chance to go up against the #5 guy in Landry Fields could push him more into the limelight for post-season national honors.

Mid-Season Awards

The Seattle Times Percy Allen and Bud Withers took a shot at giving out hardware for "Mid-Season" Pac-10 awards and a variety of other comments.

I don't differ with both of them enough to do my own, but I will say that I think that Justin Holiday deserves to be on the All-Defensive Team and that Oregon's Malcolm Armstead, Michael Dunigan and Tajuan Porter may work their way into the discussion as well.

Husky Recruiting

There have been reports around the internet that 2010 forward Terrence Ross is going to return home to Portland OR in an attempt to right his academic ship after a couple of years at Montrose Christian, an elite hoops factory. According to Rivals he is also now opening up his recruiting and is being looked at by Washington.

2010 UW recruit Terrence Jones severely outclassed UCLA signee Josh Smith on ESPN2 on Tuesday night. In fairness, Josh has been out with an injury and is a very different player than Jones who approaches the game more from the perimeter. Smith was impressive in protecting the rim with 9 blocks despite being out of shape and rebounded well with 11, but Jones was marvelous and looked to be the perfect fit for a Washington team that will need to replace Pondexter.

It doesn't take a crystal ball to see the similarities in the type of approach that both T-Jones and QPon bring to the court and I can envision Terrence logging long minutes at both the 3 and 4 spots on next year's Husky team. Jones could also be a great fit for UCLA in a mix with long athletic players like Tyler Honeycutt, Malcolm Lee (if he's still there) and bruisers like Smith and Reeves Nelson.

The Seattle Times covered the game, which was defensive struggle with Jones' team coming out on top 42-39.

Scout reported that 2012 UW wing recruit Jordan Tebbutt has offers from, USC, UCLA, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Portland and Virginia.

Redhawks Soar Past Eagles 68-62

Garrett Lever, son of NBA great Lafayette "Fat" Lever (a contemporary of Washington coaches Lorenzo Romar and Paul Fortier), led the Redhawks who evened their season slate with the Eastern Washington Eagles 68-62 at the Key Arena in Seattle WA on Monday night.

Lever also led Seattle U in scoring with 13 points including 3 big threes. It was a nip and tuck affair, but whenever the Eagles seemed to be surging Lever hit a big shot, usually a three in this defensive struggle. Charles Garcia, who once again was slowed by foul trouble, followed Garrett with 11 points and Aaron Broussard chipped in 10 while leading the Redhawks on the glass with 8 boards.

Former Puget Sounds Area Prep Stars Jeffrey Forbes from Federal Way, Glen Dean from Roosevelt and Bethel's Brandon Moore led the Eagles respectively with 14, 13 and 10 points. Brandon also nabbed 10 boards. Seattle U next travels to Portland for a 12 Noon (PST) tilt with the PSU Vikings this Sunday.

Cougars Gear Up For Sendek and his ASU Crew

(This WSU preview courtesy of Heath Harshman)

Hoping to not have their first three game losing streak of the season, WSU welcomes Arizona State to Beasley Coliseum Thursday night at 7pm PST (not televised).

The Cougs are sitting at 4-5 in conference play and are coming off of a tough loss away to UW last Saturday. Meanwhile, Arizona State are coming off of a 1-1 weekend at home, losing to Cal but beating Stanford. The Sun Devils are a game ahead of WSU at 5-4 in conference play and will be confident of their chances after the 71-46 whooping they put on Wazzu in Tempe just under a month ago.

The Cougs were down just eight at halftime, bu

Coug's Fast Start Falls Flat in Seattle

(This WSU/UW game Story from a Cougar perspective courtesy of Heath Harshman)

If there were ever a game that summed up the 2009-10 version of the WSU men's basketball team, it was Saturday's at Washington. All the things that have come to characterize Ken Bone's squad this season, good and bad, reared their head at some point during those forty minutes.

Unfortunately for Cougar nation, the bad far outweighed the good.

The Cougs showed glimpses of how well they can play, but not enough of them to overcome a talented Husky team that improved to 14-1 at home with the 92-64 victory. The result of the game puts WSU and UW even at 14-7 on the year and tied in the Pac-10 as well at 4-5.

Coach Bone kept to his word from his weekly press conference, starting out in a 2-3 match-up zone and utilizing it for the majority of the game. It worked great for the majority of the first half as the Huskies shot just 12-36 (33.3%) from the field and 2-10 from three-point range. Only the steady scoring of senior Quincy Pondexter, the team's leading scorer, kept UW in it, scoring 19 of his game high 29 in the first half.

Pondexter's 29 were his most since the Huskies December third loss to Texas Tech, where he put up 31. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, five of which were offensive, and went 9-10 from the free throw line. The senior stepped up into the limelight and paced his squad to victory. His efficient and steady play was one of, if not the, reason that the Huskies hung around and kept it close throughout the first half and dominated in the second.

Venoy Overton came off the bench for UW and had a great game in almost every fashion. Overton had six points on a poor 2-10 shooting, but the junior guard from Seattle rounded out his performance with six rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers.

On the other side, WSU leading scorer sophomore Klay Thompson struggled to find his shot throughout the game, going just 2-15 and not making his first bucket until there were 49 seconds remaining in the first half. His 20+ point per game average was sorely missed by the Cougs, especially in the second half.

Thompson's seven points Saturday tied his season low against Oregon State earlier this season. Thompson didn't start either, as he was a few minutes late for the bus Friday, his replacement in the starting lineup, Freshman Xavier Thames, took full advantage to impress Coach Bone.

Thames played a season high 26 minutes and went 6-8 from the floor scoring a career high 15 points, almost three times his season average. Thames also went 2-3 from beyond the arc; something that not many people could've expected after Thames had made just four of 17 from three-point range all season.

Lone Coug senior Nikola Koprivica also stepped up, scoring 13 points, all of which coming in the first half, on 4-8 shooting and grabbing 11 rebounds. Koprivica's three point shooting rallied WSU in the opening minutes, as he made back-to-back threes to extend the Coug's lead to 14-3, but it was all downhill from there for WSU.

An old fashioned three-point play by Husky forward Justin Holiday gave UW a 43-41 lead with 16:50 left in the game, they never looked back. Key for the Dawgs in the second half was the stellar play of sophomore stud Isaiah Thomas.

Wazzu held Thomas, who was out sick for last Tuesday's game against Seattle, to just two points on 0-3 shooting in the first half. But Thomas figured out the Cougs 2-3 zone early in the second and was one of many Dawgs who took advantage of WSU's weak penetration defense. Thomas went off for 17 points in the second half and led UW to a 22-4 run to open the second half.

Along with Thompson struggling with his shot for the second half, freshman Reggie Moore struggled with his shot, going 0-6 in the final 20 minutes. Combined in the second half Thompson and Moore, the Cougs only two players averaging double-digit points per game, shot a hideous 1-11. Moore also committed eight turnovers in the game.

But, the entire WSU team deserves "credit" for the performance in the second half. After hitting six threes and shooting 44.4% in the first half, Wazzu shot 22.9% in the second half and missing all 10 three point attempts.

The shot that really epitomized the game for the Cougs was with 20 seconds left as a deflated and discouraged DeAngelo Casto air-balled a free-throw. The last signal of defeat for the battered Coug team that was ready to put this performance behind them.

The results from the rest of the Pac-10 this weekend did nothing to clarify the muddied standings. Once again just three games separate first from last as Cal and Arizona lead the way at 6-3.

A weekend at home, their first in three weeks, against the Arizona schools for WSU coming up gives Coach Bone and his squad a chance to beat two of the four teams ahead of them in the standings. The Cougs are 9-2 at home this season and Beasley Coliseum will be ready to welcome their guys back after a tough weekend in Seattle.

Zags Finally Hit Road Snag at San Francisco

Gonzaga started their weekend off on the good foot by beating Santa Clara on the road 71-64.

'Zaga's veteran guards Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray led the way with 19 points as yet another WCC foe bit the dust after putting up a pretty good fight. The Broncos led by 15 with around 15 minutes to play, but once again the Zags, who certainly have the eye of the tiger in a season where most felt they would have to rebuild did it again.

Elias Harris, as usual, was a major factor with 16 points and 14 boards. GU was feeling pretty good about it's #8 position in the ESPN poll, but then they finally ran out of gas against the San Francisco Dons on Saturday night in SF, CA losing in overtime 81-77.

Dior Lowhorn was the star for the Dons, as has usually been the case for them since he transferred back home after a couple of years in Lubbock TX where he played for Bobby Knight (and son) and Texas Tech. Dior hit a three to force overtime and really helped finish off the Zags with a couple more threes in the OT.

This time for GU Harris led the way with 21 points and 8 rebounds followed by Bouldin with 15 and 12 boards. Robert Sacre also pumped in 13 points. The Zags are now tied with St. Mary's at 6-1 in WCC play and return home to face the 2nd place Portland Pilots in Spokane this Thursday night at 8PM (PST).

Seattle U Loses Close One at Home to Vandals

The Redhawks put up a good fight, but lost to a talented but thus far underachieving Idaho Vandal squad 87-85 Saturday night in Key Arena.

Chuck Garcia had a nice night leading all scorers with 23 points and staying active on the glass with 7 boards. Steffan Johnson of Kent, WA led the way for Idaho with 18 points and the former Pacific Tiger was impressive in running the show for the Vandals playing almost the whole way logging 36 minutes. He got a lot of help in making plays from a former WSU Cougar, Mac Hopson who had an eye popping 11 assists to go with his 9 points.

Hopson was also forced into 7 turnovers in what was a very sloppy game in which Idaho had 24 turnovers to 18 for Seattle U. It wasn't dull though, as Coach Cameron Dollar's team has rarely been this season. Chris Gweth came off the bench for 15 points, while Cervante Burrell scored 12, but also along with Garcia coughed up 5 TO's. Aaron Broussard added 11 points and 8 boards. Basically the game came down to who shot the ball better, as Idaho shot lights out, especially in the 2nd half where they went 16 of 25 from the field.

Seattle U started off strong, showing little sign of being down after the embarrassing loss at Washington earlier in the week. Cameron felt that Idaho's hot shooting had something to do with his team's defensive performance when he talked to the Seattle Times Bob Condotta after the game.

"We've got to be able to get stops at crucial times, and we weren't able to do that."

Idaho shot 58% from the field to 42% for the Redhawks in the most telling stat. Now Seattle U faces an Eastern Washington team tonight at 7PM (PST) that features a number of local Puget Sound Area players including talented senior post Brandon Moore from Bethel High, Federal Way guard Jeffrey Forbes, Rainier Beach forward Abebe Demissie, Roosevelt High guard Glen Dean and P.J. Bolte from Franklin Pierce in Tacoma.

The Idaho Scout site did a nice photo gallery of the game.

Husky Huddle

Montlake Madness' Josh Anderson made a good point about the solid year that Venoy Overton has been having, quietly improving his ability to make plays for others and establishing himself as a leader. I know that Josh is a big fan of Justin Holiday who is also showing marked improvement and growth and should along with Venoy help take the reins of senior leadership next year after the departure of Pondexter.

2011 UW guard prospect Tony Wroten had a feature article done about his recovery from a football injury in the Seattle Times. From the sounds of the quotes in the piece, Tony wants to play this year, but his dad Tony Sr. is not so hot on the idea stating, "If I had to go on record, I would say no". Tony Sr. was a star on some pretty solid Husky Football teams in the early 80's. Wroten Sr. caught a lot of passes as a Tight End from, the likes of Steve Pelluer, Tom Flick and Tim Cowan.

The article also speaks of the influence on Tony Jr. of Joyce Walker, his aunt, who is arguably the god-mother of women's basketball in Seattle. She also feels that she doesn't believe that Tony will play this season for Garfield and that, "He doesn't have to". Wroten certainly seems to be a guy that could write a new chapter in the Husky record books and in Seattle basketball lore with the influence of his dad and aunt and their continued commitment to his development.

Pac-10 Round Up

Cal started their Arizona trip this past weekend strong with a 78-70 win at ASU on Thursday.

Jamal Boykin scored a career high 25 points to lead the Bears to the win at Tempe, where he also led Cal on the boards with 10 rebounds. Jerome Randle also hit for 25, while Patrick Christopher kicked in 21 with 8 boards. Scout's ASU site pointed to the reason for the home loss as one of defensive lapses by a Sun Devil team that has been as good in that area as anyone in the Pac-10, despite the loss of James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph to the NBA.

The article points to the loss of Seattle's Jamelle McMillan as being critical to the team's defensive strength. In watching Washington with and without Justin Holiday, I can see their point with McMillan as well. Having one player out that consistently does the job on the other teams top perimeter threat can make a huge difference.

The Sun Devils followed that disappointing effort with a solid 88-70 win over Stanford on Saturday.

Despite 22 points from Landry Fields and 20 from Jeremy Green Stanford could not stop Ty Abbott who had his way with the Cardinal for 29 points and a career high 12 boards. Freshman Trent Lockett, who has started in Jamelle's absence, kicked in 17, while Rihards Kuksiks added a steady 14 points. Demetrius Walker also started for the Sun Devils as Coach Herb Sendek shook up the starting line-up in the wake of the Cal loss, but Derek Glasser came off the bench to play 35 minutes, score 12 points and more importantly log 10 assists.

The difference in the game for ASU was in the way they shot the ball at 56% for the game to 35% for Stanford. ASU also shared the ball better, which usually improves field goal percentage, beating the Cardinal in the assist column 23-16. ASU now travel to Pullman for a 7PM (PST) tip this Thursday.

The Sun Devils also picked up a key commitment from 2010 JC combo guard Brandon Dunson of Wabash Valley College in Indiana. He chose ASU over "California, Illinois, Oklahoma State, and UCLA", according to Mid-State Hoops. They need help to replace the playmaking of Glasser.

Stanford also received a commit from yet another tall 2010 player and their 2nd Canadian recruit in the class in six-foot-eleven Stefan Nastic. Though Stefan comes from north of the border he is originally from Serbia where he played on the Serbian U18 National team. Nastic joins a 2010 Stanford class that is not only tall but has a distinct NW feel to it with small forward Josh Huestis from Great Falls MT six-foot-ten Canadian center Dwight Powell, small forward Anthony Brown, six-foot-ten center John Gage from Vashon WA and point guard Aaron Bright from Bellevue WA.

Stanford, who like Washington has yet to win a conference road game, will travel to UCLA this Thursday for a 7:30 PM (PST) tip-off.

'Zona had a great weekend with a sweep of the bay area schools at home in Tucson. Derrick Williams led the 'Cats to a 76-68 win over Stanford on Thursday with 16 of his 23 points in the second half.

Landry Fields had an incredible night in the loss with 31 points, with Jeremy Green not far behind with 25, but the rest of the Stanford team could only yield a meager 12 points. Arizona meanwhile got 15 from Kyle Fogg, 14 from Nice Wise and 24 points evenly spread around the rest of their crew. Only disappointing center Kyryl Natyazhko who had a complete goose egg for a stat line in 8 minutes did not contribute.

'Zona followed that solid performance up with an even better one, as they