UW hopes to prove it's best in state
[font=times new roman, times, serif]
By Bob Condotta
Seattle Times staff reporter[/font]
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><!-- start utility box --><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=15>
</TD><TD width=187>[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
E-mail this article[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>
</TD><TD>[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
Print this article[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>
</TD><TD>[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
Search archive[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>
</TD><TD>[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
Most read articles[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>
</TD><TD>[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
Most e-mailed articles[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><!-- end utility box --><TR vAlign=top><TD style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 6px; PADDING-TOP: 0px"><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- start related stories --><TABLE cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD background=/art/ui/dots_bg2.gif colSpan=2>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE cellSpacing=6 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Related stories[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px">[font=verdana, arial, sans-serif]
Capsule preview: UW at Gonzaga[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- end related stories --></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
SPOKANE — All those goals that once seemed so lofty for Washington basketball — the Pac-10 title, a deep run in the NCAA tournament — suddenly seem so reasonable.
First, though, the Huskies need to simply become the best team in the state of Washington.
"You always want that," said UW forward Bobby Jones.
And despite the glorious run of last season — and the hot start to this campaign — that's something the Huskies can't claim until they knock off Gonzaga, something they get a chance to do in Spokane tonight when they take on the host Bulldogs at 5 p.m. at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Jones says that all that UW has accomplished so far this season won't mean anything if the Huskies lose to GU again.
"They've been owning us the last six years," Jones said of Washington's longest current losing streak. "That's got to change. If we lose to them again, it kind of puts all that (winning the Great Alaska Shootout) to shame."
The streak began with an 82-71 win in Spokane in 1998 — the year Gonzaga advanced to the Elite Eight — and seemed to mark a passing of the torch of basketball prowess from the west side of the state to the east.
<!--begin text box--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=210 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=right><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width=202 bgColor=#666666 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top align=middle><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width=200 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=Verdana, Arial, Sans-serif]
Today UW men at Gonzaga, 5 p.m., FSN[/font]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--end text box-->Most of Gonzaga's wins since then have come with relative ease — all have been by 10 points or more except for a four-point overtime win in Spokane two years ago.
Included in that list is an 86-62 victory in Seattle last Dec. 3, a defeat that seemed to linger with the Huskies for weeks — they lost their next two games in blowouts at Wyoming and Houston as well.
UW was 3-0 at the time and took a 28-20 lead late in the first half in front of a sellout crowd at Edmundson Pavilion. Then, Gonzaga put the hammer down, slapping a zone on UW and clogging up the middle. The Huskies, resigned to shooting jumpers, went 15 minutes without making a shot — missing 22 field goals in a row, a sequence that was replayed later that night on ESPN brick-by-excruciating-brick.
"They wanted it more than we did and we gave in easy and quick," Jones said. "They bullied us and pushed us around and did what they wanted to with us. It was a bad feeling."
Said UW coach Lorenzo Romar: "We weren't playing real good basketball at the time and they were the first team to expose us."
What also got exposed was a then-fragile team psyche, a symptom of the teams of past years that talked a big game but then folded at the first sign of distress. UW players admitted they got sky-high for the game but couldn't sustain it once Gonzaga started pulling away.
"We were pretty caught up in the hype," said UW guard Tre Simmons. "But we're a more mature team now and we know what to expect."
Indeed, many of the edges that the Bulldogs carried into the game last year seem on UW's side now. Unlike last season, when Gonzaga was loaded with experience, it is now the Huskies that return all five starters from a year ago while the Bulldogs bring back just two.
And unlike a year ago, when Gonzaga came to town carrying the momentum of a win over Georgia while UW was still struggling to find itself, it is the Huskies that are riding high after the Alaska victories and the Bulldogs searching for answers.
"(The Huskies) look to be playing as well as any of the top 10 teams in the country right now," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "Having the experience coming back this early is huge. They know all the plays, what they're doing defensively, why they're supposed to be doing it. Once Nate (Robinson) decided he was coming back, you knew they were going to be in for a special year. I said last year, I thought they were the most athletic team in college basketball, and I think they still are."
Gonzaga brings a 3-1 record into the game, but the wins are against the motley trio of Portland State, Montana and Idaho while the loss was an 89-72 rout against Illinois on Saturday that wasn't that close. The Illini led 18-4 five minutes into the game and 58-27 at halftime.
Illinois did it with an athletic and quick backcourt that forced Gonzaga — which has sophomore Derek Raivio in his first year taking over at point guard for Blake Stepp — into 19 turnovers.
"I was watching that game thinking that (Illinois) could be us (tonight)," Jones said when asked whether he had caught any of the Illinois-Gonzaga game. Illinois also doubled-teamed Gonzaga big man Ronny Turiaf, forcing him into six turnovers and limiting him to 12 points.
"Illinois is kind of similar to us in that they are quite quick," Jones said.
And a similar result, they indicate, won't surprise them at all. Sure, Gonzaga has ruled the state for six years, but everything comes to an end sometime. Might as well be now, they figure.
"I believe that's in the past," Simmons said when asked about GU's recent history of success against UW. "Yesterday's scores don't count for today's games."
Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times staff reporter Bud Withers contributed to this article.
<TABLE class=t-body8-Sun cellPadding=1 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><TR vAlign=top><TD colSpan=3>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Deep-sixed[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD colSpan=3>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga has won the past six meetings with Washington. The Huskies haven't won since 1997.[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Year[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Result[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Site[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
2003[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 86, UW 62[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Seattle[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
2002[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 95, UW 89*[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Spokane[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
2001[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 67, UW 47[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Seattle[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
2000[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 86, UW 74[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Spokane[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
1999[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 76, UW 66[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Seattle[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
1998[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Gonzaga 82, UW 71[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Spokane[/font]</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
1997[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
UW 88, Gonzaga 82[/font]</TD><TD>[font=verdana,arial,sans-serif]
Seattle[/font]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
