SEATTLE — A one-sided, intra-city men’s basketball rivalry will bring another installment tonight, and the University of Washington has every reason to be overconfident right about now.
The Huskies have won three consecutive games against Seattle University since the rivalry renewed three years ago, and the closest game among those was last year’s 21-point UW win. The Redhawks have been on the wrong side of games that have had an average score of 102-70, and they’re mired in a 3-10 campaign this season.
But when it comes to looking past Seattle U., the Huskies can’t really afford to be in that frame of mind right now.
UW coach Lorenzo Romar said his team is in no state of overlooking opponents, adding that the visiting Redhawks “have to be the best 3-10 team in America.”
Then there’s Washington, which isn’t exactly lighting up the national radar despite a 9-6 overall record and a 3-1 Pacific-12 Conference mark that puts the Huskies within a half-game of first place.
Maybe that’s why, when Romar was asked Monday about this Sunday’s game against Washington State, he said: “That’s about a month away.”
And why, when it was mentioned that the Cougars are having a bit of an up-and-down season, he chuckled and said: “I can’t talk about up-and-down seasons. I guess I could.”
To be sure, the Huskies have enough pressing issues of their own to overlook anyone.
“They’re a scrappy team, and you don’t want to overlook them,” senior Darnell Gant said. “They’ve played with the best teams. Even though they haven’t won a lot of them, they’ve played with the best of them.”
Tonight’s game has special significance for Gant and several other UW teammates in that it marks the return of former Husky Clarence Trent, who now plays for Seattle U. Gant and Trent were teammates, and he’s excited to play against him at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
“That’s going to be fun,” Gant said. “He’s one of my bros. Just for him to be able to play, after him being here, … I’m glad that he’s in the position that he’s in — playing and getting minutes.”
Before a Monday evening shootaround, Trent admitted it felt “a little weird” being back at Hec Ed but added that he can’t let his emotions get the best of him tonight.
“I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder for why I could’ve stayed,” said Trent, who cited the perceived lack of a future role with the Huskies as his reason for leaving. “But at the same time, I had to do what was best for me and what was best for the team. I can’t just go out and just do what I want to just to show them whatever. I have to show them that I’m a better player.”
Romar said he enjoyed having Trent for a year, adding that the 6-7 Tacoma native made it “a lot of fun when he was here.”
But when it comes to reunions, whether it’s with Trent or former assistant Cameron Dollar — now the head coach at SU — Romar has bigger things on his mind these days.
“When things are really clicking, things are really going well for you, you have more time to think of those things,” he said of being reunited with Dollar and Trent. “But right now, we’ve been a little up and down. … We’re still trying to shore things up. We’re still trying to get better.”
Notes
Trent isn’t the only player with ties to both programs. UW freshman Tony Wroten Jr., who was considered the No. 1 recruit in the entire state last year, visited Seattle U. and had the Redhawks on his long list of potential schools for a good part of the recruiting process. SU’s Dollar said he believed his program had a legitimate shot at landing Wroten. “If we’re going to be in the same lake (as UW),” Dollar said, “we probably want to throw our hook out there for some of those fish. … We don’t see ourselves to be too small to put our bid in there. There are some things about our program that, even in the infancy stages, are attractive to a young man like him.” … The last time Seattle U. beat the Huskies was in 1978, when the Redhawks won 82-78 at Hec Ed. UW leads the all-time series 22-4.
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