It was just two weeks ago that Washington was 0-3 in the Pac-10, its postseason hopes already in trouble.
Heading into today’s game at Arizona, the Huskies have a newfound swagger after winning three straight to move into a fifth-place tie in the Pac-10 along with USC and the Wildcats.
“It’s just a different feeling,” said Jon Brockman, who is averaging 22.7 points and 15.3 rebounds during Washington’s three-game winning streak. “I don’t even know what it is, but when you’re winning, you just have a little extra bounce in your step and there’s just a change in the entire attitude.”
If the wins at home were a step in the right direction, then Thursday’s win at Arizona State was a massive leap. The Huskies won just one game on the road last season, and had struggled away from home again this season prior to their win over the 24th-ranked Sun Devils.
“That was huge for us,” said Brockman. “Arizona State being ranked, they hadn’t lost at their gym this year, just getting on the road and playing the way we know we can play, it was good to see and it’s a good feeling.”
Brockman noted that this year’s team, a more veteran group than last year’s, is better prepared for the road. He said last year’s team probably wouldn’t have overcome the nine-point deficit the Huskies faced in the first half.
“It was one of those things that I don’t think last year’s team could have pulled out,” he said. “I don’t think we would have had the heart to come back from that nine-point deficit, so it was good to see. We definitely need to keep working, but we have a pretty good feeling right now.”
Brockman said assistant coach Cameron Dollar wrote the name of veteran players on the whiteboard prior to the Arizona State game.
“He said, ‘When you win on the road, it’s because of these guys,’” Brockman recalled. “The veteran players need to step up and have big games and that’s something that (Thursday) we took on our shoulders and it’s something we need to do consistently on the road.”
Romar agreed that this year’s team is better prepared for the road because of its experience.
“No question,” he said after the win. “Appleby’s a fifth-year senior, Tim Morris is a fifth-year senior, Joel Smith is a fourth-year junior, Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon are juniors. Artem Wallace is a junior. Now, we’re not talking freshmen playing a majority of your minutes with a couple of sophomores. We’re talking juniors and seniors with a couple of young players in there. That makes a tremendous difference.”
A win today would give the Huskies their first road sweep since winning at Arizona and Arizona State in 2006, but despite all the good feelings, the Huskies know they still have work to do.
“It’s huge difference,” Brockman said of his team’s confidence now compared to two weeks ago. “But the hard thing about that is, looking back you kind of start kicking yourself, because those early ones you lose are the ones that come back to bite you. We have to make up some ground still. We’re not out of the thick of it at all.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on UW sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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