SEATTLE — No matter how good the Huskies were feeling Thursday night about their first Pac-10 win, they know they still have a long, long ways to go.
So no matter how dismal things seem to be going for tonight’s opponent, Oregon State, the Huskies are in no position to overlook anybody.
“It felt good,” freshman guard Venoy Overton said after Thursday’s win, “But every team is going to be good. Oregon State, we can’t take them for granted.”
It seems silly to think that at 1-3 in Pac-10 play, the Huskies could overlook any opponent, but compared to the Beavers, Washington is in great shape.
Oregon State comes into today’s game at Hec Edmundston Pavilion having lost seven straight, including all five of their conference games. Rumors are swirling in Oregon that coach Jay John is close to being fired, and morale around the team seems to be low.
After Thursday’s 23-point loss to Washington State, a game in which the Beavers at one point only had four players on the floor because of a mix up, neither John nor his players had many positive things to say.
“We played terrible [Thursday night],” sophomore guard Josh Tarver told the Oregonian. “There was no help [on defense], nothing… it was dunk, 3-pointer, dunk, 3-pointer… it was like they were toying with us.”
John didn’t try to hide his feelings either.
“We had some stretches that were good, but otherwise it was like the varsity against the JV,” he said.
Still, the Huskies know they can’t take this game lightly if they want to climb up the Pac-10 standings.
“We’ve got to keep bringing it,” Jon Brockman said. “We’re not out of it by any means. We dug ourselves in a hole, we’re still in that hole. We’ve got to keep pushing to get out of it.”
Even last year, when the Beavers finished 11-21 and 3-15 in the Pac-10, one of those three wins was against Washington, so the Huskies know the struggling Beavers can still be trouble.
“We’ve struggled in the past with Oregon State,” said senior guard Ryan Appleby, who broke out of a scoring slump with 19 points against the Ducks. “They play a little different style than Oregon, so we have to be ready to go against them. They’ve got nothing to lose and it should be a good game.”
Washington’s goal, of course, is still a trip back to the NCAA Tournament after staying home last March, and it’s going to take a lot more than a feel-good win over Oregon to get the Huskies to post-season play. To be a tournament team, the Huskies know they will need to take care of business at home, especially against struggling teams like Oregon State.
“I think we can be,” Brockman said when he was asked if the Huskies were a tournament team. “Not right now. Not with the record we have and not with what we’ve done so far, but I think we can be if we keep working. We’ve got to get better obviously.”
Contact Herald Writer John Boyle at jboyle@heraldnet.com. For more on University of Washington sports, check out the Huskies blog at heraldnet.com /huskiesblog
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