SEATTLE — The complaint last season was that Washington loaded up on cream puffs in the pre-conference season and rarely ventured out of the cozy confines of Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
Did it cost the Huskies in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee? Probably not. A 19-13 record and an 8-10 mark in Pac-10 play were enough to knock them out of consideration.
Did they go into the conference season less than fully prepared?
They were exactly 1-10 on the road in 2006-2007. You be the judge.
That’s why this preseason was so important. With road games at Oklahoma State and LSU on the docket, Lorenzo Romar’s young group at least would have a taste of life on the road. In winning the NIT Season Tip-Off West Regional, the Huskies got a bonus of two more road games against Texas A&M and Syracuse — at Madison Square Garden.
Saturday was Washington’s biggest test at home against No. 12 Pitt, a serious contender in the Big East.
OK, so now, there’s no question of strength of schedule. Nice job, Lorenzo.
Only one thing missing.
A victory.
The Huskies looked good Saturday. Prior to the Pitt game, their biggest issues were turnovers and defense. To deliver a message about defense, Romar’s starting lineup was made up of those who, in the opinion of the coaching staff, worked hardest on defense last week in practice.
Something worked. The defense was better and Washington made just eight turnovers.
“I thought our guys were hanging in there all the way to the end of the game,” Romar said. “If we can continue to put forth an effort like that, we will eventually become a consistently good basketball team.”
Washington would have beaten a lot of teams in the nation Saturday. Pitt, however, was up to the task, especially in an almost perfect second half.
“The second half, we were as efficient as we could be,” Panthers coach Jamie Dixon said. “We shot 61 percent from the field and had two turnovers. You can’t be more efficient than that in this type of environment and against this kind of team.”
It’s one thing, though, to load up the schedule with heavyweights. It’s another to beat them. And if Washington turns out to be a bubble team for a shot at the tournament, it does little good as far as the selection committee is concerned if the Huskies don’t knock off an occasional Big Boy.
Which they haven’t.
A&M, Syracuse, Oklahoma State. All losses.
And now, Pittsburgh.
As close as Saturday’s defeat was — the Huskies were a point and perhaps three-tenths of a second short — it was a loss at home against a team likely to be a high to middle seed in March. A win would have helped. A loss, especially a home loss, hurts. A lot.
It matters little that Washington gave Pitt its toughest game of the year so far (although the Panthers loaded up on the Mississippi Valley States of the world prior to Saturday, with the notable exception of a road game at Duquesne). Nor does it matter that this was the Huskies’ best showing of the season.
Although preseason games against high-wire opponents aren’t as crucial as those in the conference, they carry considerable weight with the committee. So far, Washington is o-fer. No, Utah doesn’t count.
They have just one such opponent left — at LSU Dec. 29 — before the conference season begins.
Of course, it is the conference season when Washington can make losses in the preseason a moot point. Certainly, this rugged stretch of games will make this team better prepared for what looks to be one of the strongest conferences in the nation.
If the Huskies get through the Pac-10 season in the top five or better, nobody on the selection committee will care about what they didn’t do in November and December.
“I know that winning is what it’s all about, but also, you’re making progress to put yourself in a position to win on a consistent basis,” Romar said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”
Still, Romar would sleep better if his team knocked off a Big Boy before then.
Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com. For Sleeper[`]s blog, go to www.heraldnet.com/danglingparticiples.
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