Huskies take huge step with road victory
Published 11:19 pm Thursday, January 24, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. — For eight minutes Thursday night, the Washington Huskies looked lost on the road.
Again.
Like losses at UCLA and USC early this month, the Huskies were doing everything they shouldn’t against 24th-ranked Arizona State — slinging and missing quick 3-point shots, then watching the Sun Devils race past them to an early lead.
Then coach Lorenzo Romar called a time out and delivered a harsh message that, along with better shot selection, kick-started the Huskies to a 72-61 victory at Wells Fargo Arena.
The victory gave the Huskies a 3-3 conference record, including a huge road victory on the first leg of their trip to the desert. The Huskies, 2-5 on the road this season, play at Arizona on Saturday.
“This is a huge step for us,” said forward Jon Brockman, who dominated inside play with 21 points and 16 rebounds. “Last year at this point in the season, it wouldn’t have happened. Beating a ranked team on the road is a tough thing to do, no matter who it is.”
It also was the Huskies 11th straight victory over ASU, and this one wasn’t as automatic as many of the others. At 14-3, including 4-1 in the conference, the Sun Devils were off to their best start since the 1980-81 season.
All it took was a verbal lashing from Romar, who called a time out with 11:28 remaining in the first half and ASU leading 13-10.
He lit the Huskies with a harsh reminder about following their game plan — move the ball, take quality shots and minimize ASU’s fast break. For emphasis, Romar slam-dunked his clipboard onto the floor, where it pinwheeled to the middle of the court.
“I guess I’m getting older and I’m slowing down,” Romar said. “I wanted to throw it straight down, but it kind of skidded on me.”
Added Brockman: “I think he saw someone across the court who needed a clipboard. But he got his point across.”
Not coincidentally, the Huskies ended their skid.
They overcame their own offensive sluggishness, especially from long range against Arizona State’s zone defense, and wiped out what once was a nine-point deficit.
Joel Smith made two shots from 3-point range and Brockman scored from inside — on a thread-the-needle pass through the lane from Smith — as the Huskies closed within a point at 24-23.
On their next possession, Brockman put a move on ASU’s 6-9 Jeff Pendergraph, spinning under the basket for a reverse layup and a 25-24 UW lead.
The Huskies led 32-30 at the half and never trailed in the final 20 minutes, using defense, 3-pointers and free throws down the stretch.
Quincy Pondexter came off the bench and scored 12 points, and guard Tim Morris scored 11 points and pulled down a career-best eight rebounds.
ASU star freshman James Harden, doubtful to play until gametime because of a groin injury suffered last weekend, scored 17 points, but only four in the second half as both the injury and the Huskies clamped down on him.
“In order for us to win this game on the road against this team, we had to do a lot of things right,” Romar said. “If you show any weaknesses against Arizona State, you’re not going to win the game. Early on, they got us in transition. We didn’t get back. Some of that was due to our shot selection; we were shooting too early.
“When we settled down and moved the basketball, we were able to get much better shots.”
Defense helped turn the Huskies around, too.
Besides holding down Harden in the second half, they minimized 6-9 junior Jeff Pendergraph, who s cored seven points in the first half but only two in the second half.
Brockman, meanwhile, dominated once the Huskies found their rhythm. His impact wasn’t lost on Arizona State coach Herb Sendek.
“Look at his numbers. They’re absolutely remarkable,” Sendek said. “His game-by-game stats, there’s only four games all year when he hasn’t had at least 10 rebounds. In terms of productivity in college basketball, he’s got to be right up there with anybody with the numbers he’s posting. When you talk about production, you have to marvel at what he’s doing.”
