UW men trample Columbia

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 30, 2003

SEATTLE – The Ivy League doesn’t see quickness like this.

Or athletic ability.

Or much else that schools with athletic scholarships have. Save for wildly expensive tuition rates.

Maybe the Ivy’s Columbia Lions can be blamed for their own 88-51 humiliation to the Washington Huskies Tuesday night before 5,903 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The idea was to bring former O’Dea High School star Maurice Murphy home.

Thanks a lot, guys, Murphy’s got to be saying today.

Still, UW coach Lorenzo Romar said the game was important – not necessarily in terms of outcome but in quality of play.

“We talked about this game in terms of playing the game right,” he said.

That meant no lapses, no lack of ball movement and improved team play, which happened.

Quickly.

It was 58-21 at the half after the Lions put on a huge rush in the last 10 minutes. Midway through the first half, Columbia trailed, 29-8, and had put up three shots. At that point, the Lions had 13 turnovers, although they finished the half relatively cleanly, with 17.

The 58 first-half points were the most by the Huskies in a half since they put up 59 in the second half of their 94-63 victory against Portland State in 2000.

It was a mismatch with a capital M, a grisly affair in which a good deal of the crowd wisely chose to pack up and leave at intermission.

Alas, no refunds.

Huskies defensive specialist Bobby Jones had 18 first-half points, although he was shut out the second half. His career-high up to Tuesday was 19. The Huskies buried nine of their first 12 shots and shot 65 percent from the floor at intermission.

The issue was never in doubt shortly after tip-off.

A microcosm: Late in the half, 5-foot-8 Nate Robinson blocked a shot by 6-5 Matt Preston. All nine Huskies who saw playing time in the first half scored at least a point.

“The idea is to come out and improve every time out,” Romar said. “We expect no less here. I’m proud of the outcome in that we gave it our all.”

The notion was to cry out for mercy, but what are the Huskies supposed to do? Ease up and Romar plants your keister on the bench. Washington had to get something out of the game to prepare for its Pacific-10 Conference opener Friday night at California, although what the Huskies could have learned from Tuesday’s debacle could be inserted into a gnat’s abdominal cavity and it would look like a BB in a boxcar.

Are the Huskies (5-3) ready?

“We’ll see,” Romar said. “You raise your kids, but you don’t know how well they’ll do until they’re out of the house.”

After all, Columbia (3-7) won two games last season and counts as its victims Sacred Heart, Stony Brook (both in overtime) and Prairie View A&M this season.

So the onslaught went on. And on. And on.

Still, Romar feels positive about the team’s last two games, including its 92-81 win at San Diego State Saturday night. The second half was more even, mostly because of human nature, which tells us all to coast when we want.

Center Anthony Washington didn’t play in order to rest his surgically-repaired foot for Pac-10 play.

Tre Simmons had 15 points for the Huskies. Brandon Roy added 13 and Curtis Allen chipped in 11.

Dodson Worthington led the Lions with 12 points.