Huskies would like last laugh
Had this been said two years ago, it most certainly would have been as a punch line to a bizarre basketball joke. But a lot can happen in two years, and a lot has happened.
No. 10 Washington State travels to an unranked Washington team for a 7 p.m. game in Edmundson Pavilion today. The Cougars will be looking for their fourth consecutive win over the Huskies.
Ha.
The only real joke this season, when it comes to the Apple Cup of the hardwood, is what happened to the Huskies in Pullman last month, when WSU played its best game of the year and Washington one of its worst. The result was a 28-point win for the Cougars, who are 21-4 and within striking distance of a conference championship.
“It was an eye-opener, I think, for a lot of us,” Washington forward Jon Brockman said. “They are a perfect example of how to play team basketball. They don’t care who scores. They don’t care who gets all the glory. They’re winning games and they work really well together.”
That loss seemed to knock UW out of contention for the NCAA tournament, but a nice run since – the Huskies have won five of six – have them still teetering on the bubble’s outer edges. Safe to say, however, that this Washington team (16-8, 6-7 Pac-10) has much to lose tonight, as another loss to its cross-state rival would probably crush any postseason hopes beyond the NIT.
“They’re in a backs-against-the-wall (mode),” Cougars coach Tony Bennett said. “They need to win and they’re playing good basketball.”
A major part of the reason why Washington has been better is the play of freshman center Spencer Hawes. The all-everything out of high school missed the first game against WSU this season because of an ankle sprain. After playing off the bench, Hawes finally returned to the starting lineup and to form in the Huskies’ most recent win against Stanford.
With Hawes and Brockman, Washington boasts an interior presence that could give the Cougars some significant problems.
“The more I see film on him and watch him play, the more impressed I am,” WSU’s Robbie Cowgill said of Hawes. “He’s just an incredibly skilled big man. … He really has as much impact as a point guard would on another team, because they really look go through him for a lot of stuff. He’s a good passer. They really look to go inside first before they get anything else, so he gets a lot of touches even if he isn’t shooting the ball.”
But WSU has given UW fits in the recent matchups at guard, and there’s little reason to expect that things will change tonight. The Huskies’ young and inexperienced backcourt has not fared well against the veteran savvy on the Cougars roster.
WSU’s leading scorer, Derrick Low, has fought an illness for about a week but appeared to be moving better during practice on Tuesday. Should he be ready to play at a high level, it could spell trouble for the home team.
Even without the ranking or the fanfare, though, Washington has at least one advantage – the home court.
UW is 15-1 at home and 1-7 on the road. With the earlier 75-47 loss in mind, the Seattle crowd is sure to be rough on the visitors tonight.
“I don’t expect the first game, that type of a game, to be played there at all,” WSU senior Ivory Clark said. “It’s going to be crazy. There won’t be any love on Valentine’s Day.”