SEATTLE — Word got around like a commuter jet, traveling from Arizona to Seattle to Los Angeles in a matter of seconds.
University of Washington freshman Tony Wroten Jr. got a text from a friend, then sent word on to teammate Darnell Gant, who was on his way to L.A. for Pacific-12 Conference media day.
Did you hear about Arizona?
And just like that, the Huskies’ Friday exhibition game took on added importance.
“It was kind of shock, like, ‘Wow,’” Wroten said this week of his reaction to 16th-ranked Arizona’s exhibition loss to Seattle Pacific, which will be at Hec Edmundson Pavilion to face the Huskies on Friday night. “Then I saw the footage, and they’re a great team. This is a team we can’t underestimate. They beat a team that’s in the Top 25.”
While Friday’s game won’t count in the standings, the Huskies will be taking their NCAA Division II opponents seriously when SPU makes the 31/2-mile trip across town. After knocking off Arizona 69-68 last week, the Falcons certainly have UW’s attention.
“It proves that we can’t take anybody lightly,” UW sophomore Terrence Ross said. “Anybody can beat anybody.”
Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar seemed more excited than concerned, which has a lot more to do with the insignificance of the exhibition game than it does anything else. He’s hoping that his Huskies get a good test on Friday night, and he’s expecting exactly that from the scrappy Falcons.
“The way they play, every mistake we make will be exposed,” Romar said. “It’s a great game, great timing, for us.”
One thing Romar isn’t doing is using the SPU win over Arizona as a motivational ploy.
As he told reporters Tuesday afternoon: “We won’t have an anything-can-happen speech.”
Romar plans to use the exhibition game as an opportunity to look at players and combinations. He said the score won’t necessarily matter, even though his players seem to be motivated by the opponent now that SPU has an exhibition win over a Pac-12 power under its belt.
“Like they say,” UW senior Darnell Gant said Tuesday, “you can’t underestimate anybody.”
The Huskies plan to have Wroten on the floor, even though he’s about three weeks removed from arthroscopic knee surgery. The star freshman returned to practice Tuesday and is expected to be available Friday night.
“I would be shocked,” Romar said before Tuesday’s practice, “if he wasn’t.”
Wroten said his knee has not been a problem and that he’s eager to make his unofficial UW debut.
“I’m just excited,” he said. “I can’t explain what it will be like, but I’m excited. I’ve always wanted to play basketball in this arena. I know how loud it gets there.”
One combination that UW fans might be excited to see is a backcourt that will, at times, feature Wroten and Abdul Gaddy playing together. Romar didn’t say the two point guards will necessarily start alongside each other, but they will get minutes as a tandem.
“In a 30-plus game schedule,” he said, “you’re going to see that combination a lot. … It looks like they’ve been playing together for years.”
Wroten said he feels comfortable playing with Gaddy, since they’ve known each other for most of their lives.
“We’re both great point guards, but each different,” Wroten said Tuesday. “We play good together because when he’s at point guard, I can go to shooting guard — and vice versa. We play good together.”
Romar will use several combinations Friday night, many of which might not be used much during the regular season. He’s hoping to get a better feel for the right mix that may best fit the young Huskies during the regular season.
One thing Romar and his players won’t be doing is taking the Falcons lightly — thanks to SPU’s recent trip to Arizona.
“We’re always going to make a statement, no matter what we do,” UW’s Ross said. “Playing this game and going against a team that beat such a high opponent is really going to be a challenge for us.”
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