Washington’s Holiday helps shut down New Mexico’s Hobson

  • By Scott M. Johnson Herald Writer
  • Saturday, March 20, 2010 10:03pm
  • SportsSports

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Darrington Hobson wasn’t going to give Justin Holiday much credit.

Neither was Justin Holiday.

After limiting Hobson to 11 points Saturday, including just three in the pivotal first half, Holiday was passing around the praise for the defensive effort done on New Mexico’s star.

“I had help,” said Holiday, a University of Washington junior who scored just five points but was a major reason why the 11th-seeded Huskies upset No. 3 New Mexico 82-64 in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday. “I think (teammates) did well helping me. It was a good team effort.”

Modesty, apparently, is something else Holiday does well. The 6-foot-6 swingman had three blocked shots and three steals in the win, but his most important defensive contribution may have been denying Hobson the ball.

Hobson, who came into the game with a bruised wrist and tailbone after taking a bad spill in the Lobos’ first-round win, got off just three shots in the first half.

His first one was blocked by Holiday, who swatted it toward the UW bench with so much force that a couple Huskies reserves had to move out of the way. Hobson buried his next shot, a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and then scowled in celebration.

But Hobson’s game face soon turned to shock as he got off just one more shot over the final 161/2 minutes of the first half.

“After the first basket, (Holiday) said, ‘I’ve figured him out,’” Huskies senior Quincy Pondexter said. “I was like: after the first basket? We’ll see what happens.

“But after that, he shut him down. We tried to help as much as possible, but at the end of the day, he was keeping him in front of him and doing a great job because he’s a tremendous defensive player.”

Holiday has been known for his defensive prowess throughout this season, but his motivation for Saturday’s performance came from a rare off-night.

In the Huskies’ first-round game of the NCAA tournament last Thursday, Marquette guard Darius Johnson-Odom torched Holiday for 13 first-half points. After Johnson-Odom scored a couple more layups in the first five minutes of the second half, UW guard Isaiah Thomas offered to switch up and guard him.

Johnson-Odom finished with 19 points — only two of which came over the final 15 minutes — and Holiday was relieved for the help.

“I wasn’t doing a good job,” Holiday admitted after Saturday’s game. “I could’ve done better (against Johnson-Odom). At the time, Isaiah said he wanted to take him, and I was glad he did.

“Who knows what could’ve happened with me on him? But I wish I could have that matchup again.”

Instead of a rematch, Holiday got a shot at one of the best players in the country. New Mexico’s Hobson was the Mountain West Conference player of the year and led the Lobos with 16.2 points per game heading into Saturday’s action. Holiday said that, in addition to rising up to the challenge of guarding New Mexico’s best player, he was hoping to make amends for Thursday’s performance.

“I most definitely did,” he said. “Having a game like that, and me being a defensive player, it’s hard. I didn’t help my team that much that game. If we would’ve lost (to Marquette), I would’ve put it on me. So I had to come out (Saturday) and give my teammates the best chance to win.”

Holiday did that, earning typical praise from fellow Huskies.

“He forced (Hobson) to shoot jumpers, and when his jumper wasn’t going, he made him throw up crazy shots,” teammate Venoy Overton said. “Without (Holiday), it would’ve been a different game.”

The only person unwilling to give Holiday much praise — other than Holiday himself — was the man he helped hold to 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

“No, not at all,” the 6-7 Hobson said when asked whether Holiday did things to disrupt his game. “I could’ve scored …

“No, they just played a better game than us. Justin played a good game, but I just struggled with my shooting hand. But no excuses.”

Hobson, who also had a team-high four turnovers, added that his bruised hand affected “every part of my game” but gave the Huskies credit for outplaying his Lobos.

A big part of that performance, everyone but Hobson would agree, was the defensive effort of Holiday.

It’s nothing new to the Huskies, who knew that his struggles against Marquette would be a one-night hiccup to an otherwise outstanding year.

Just how important has Justin Holiday been to UW’s success this season?

“More than people realize,” teammate Matthew Bryan-Amaning said. “I’m glad that he got the recognition as all-defensive Pac-10 this year. He doesn’t always show up in the stat sheet for steals or blocked shots, but what he’s done against different types of players has really helped us a lot.”

Just don’t expect Holiday to cop to it.

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