GAME: Oregon (23-8 overall, 12-6 Pac-12) vs. Washington (18-14 overall, 9-9 Pac-12). WHEN: Thursday, 8:30 p.m., MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas. TYPE: Pac-12 Tournament. MEETING: 295th (Washington leads 187-107). STREAKS: UW W 1; Oregon L 2. RANKINGS: Neither school ranked. COACHES: Lorenzo Romar, Washington; Dana Altman, Oregon TV: ESPNU. RADIO: KJR 950 AM
Lorenzo Romar’s Washington Huskies, who blew a 19-point second-half lead, a 15-point advantage with 8½ minutes to play, and barely repelled Washington State 64-62 in the opening round of the Pac-12 Tournament Wednesday, face a third-seeded University of Oregon team Thursday night in the second round that swept UW during the regular season.
The Ducks, who drew a first-round bye, had a chance at the Pac-12 regular-season championship, but dropped their final two games at Colorado (March 7) and Utah (March 9). Although Oregon is coming off consecutive defeats, the Ducks have not lost more than twice in a row the entire season.
“Oregon’s a very good basketball team,” Romar said. “They were one weekend away from winning our league. We’ll have to be a lot tougher mentally against Oregon (than against WSU).”
Washington had a chance to knock off the Ducks in Eugene Jan. 26 after playing them evenly for 39 minutes. But a one-minute lapse with seven minutes left in the game did in the Huskies. In that minute, Oregon scored seven unanswered points, including five without UW getting across half court following a backcourt steal. That turned a three-point Oregon lead into a double-digit edge and an eventual 81-76 victory.
The Huskies didn’t come nearly as close to winning when the teams met in Seattle Feb. 13. Washington shot a season-low 35 percent en route to a season-low in points. Final: Oregon 65-52. Abdul Gaddy scored 17 of Washington’s 52 points. C.J. Wilcox was next with nine, but went 3-for-13.
Wilcox delivered another poor effort against Washington State Wednesday. He scored 11 points — seven below his average — but made just 3 of 11 from 2-point range and 2 of 6 from 3-point range.
Had it not been for Scott Suggs, the Huskies would be hoping to play in the low-rent College Basketball Invitational (they may end up there anyway). Suggs continued his late-season transformation with 19 points against the Cougars, including 13 early when Washington jumped to a huge lead. Suggs has scored 90 points in his last five games, the most prolific five-game stretch of his five years at UW.
Washington, which defeated Oregon in six of the last nine games decided by five points or fewer, faces a club that features the Pac-12 Coach of the Year in Dana Altman, first-team All-Conference guard E.J. Singler, Arsalan Kazemi, who made the All-Pac 12 defensive team, and Damyean Dotson, a member of the conference’s all-defensive team.
The Ducks are 15-12 all-time in Pac-12 Tournament games, but have not won in tournament competition since the then-No. 7 seeded Ducks upset No. 2 UCLA 76-59 in the 2011 quarterfinals.
Oregon has won two conference tournament titles (2003, 2007), beating USC both years. In addition, the Ducks are 4-2 in first-round play, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and 2-5 in the semifinals.
Stat Sheet.com projects the Huskies as a College Basketball Invitational team.
SERIES: Dates to Feb. 13, 1904, when the Huskies won 19-16 in Eugene. Washington has won five of the past nine, but Oregon won both games this year, 81-76 in Eugene and 65-52 in Seattle. In the most recent game Feb. 13, Jonathan Lloyd scored all 11 of his points in the second half and Damyean Dotson finished with 13 as the Ducks snapped a two-game road losing streak. Abdul Gaddy led UW with 17 points, but C.J. Wilcox struggled, making just 3-for-9 and scoring nine points.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT: Washington and Oregon have faced each other four times, UW winning in 1987 (70-56) and 2011 (69-51) and losing in 2002 (86-64) and 2006 (84-73). The last time the teams met, March 11, 2011, C.J. Wilcox scored 14 points, Terrence Ross added 13 and Isaiah Thomas had 10 points and tied a Pac-12 Tournament record with 12 assists in Washington’s 69-51 romp.
UW STATS / NOTES
- FINAL REGULAR-SEASON SUMMARY: Record: 17-14. Home: 11-7. Road: 5-6. Neutral: 1-1. Vs. Pac-12: 9-9. Vs. Pac-12 North: 5-4. Vs. Pac-12 South: 4-5. Vs. Non-Conference: 8-5. Points: 2089 (67.4). Field Goal Pct.: 43.4. 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 33.2. Free Throw Pct.: 67.9. Rebounds: 1134 (36.6). Assists: 362 (11.7). Turnovers: 413 (13.3). Steals: 158 (5.1). Blocks: 127 (4.1). Points Against: 2053 (66.2). Opp. FG Pct.: 43.1. Opp. 3-Pt. FG Pct.: 33.7. Opp FT Pct.: 67.1. Opp. Rebounds: 1134 (32.2). Opp. Assists: 375 (12.1). Opp. Turnovers: 383 (12.4). Opp. Steals: 191 (6.2). Opp. Blocks: 91 (2.9). Ratings Percentage Index (RPI): Ranked 89th (84th last week).
- FINAL PAC-12 RANKINGS: Scoring Offense — 9th (67.4). Scoring Defense — 9th (66.2). Scoring Margin — 11th (+1.2). FG Pct. — 9th (43.4). FT Pct. — 10th (67.9). 3-Pt FG Pct. — 10th (33.2). Rebound Margin — 3rd (+4.4). Blocked Shots — 5th (4.1). Assists — 11th (11.7). Steals — 11th (5.1). Turnover Margin — 9th (-0.97).
- C.J. Wilcox (16.8) ranked 6th in Pac-12 scoring, Scott Suggs (12.0) 18th and Abdul Gaddy (10.9) T29. Wilcox finished 3rd with 2.12 3-pointers per game and Suggs was 11th in 3-point percentage at .37.6.
- Wilcox scored 20+ points 13 times this season to match the ninth-most in UW single-season history.
- Wilcox became the 37th player in UW history to score 1,000 career points.
- Wilcox, who scored 20+ points 13 times this season, was named Pac-12 Player of the Week Jan. 14 after scoring 19 and 27 points, respectively, in road wins over California and Stanford.
- Senior Aziz N’Diaye ranked 4th in rebounding at 9.3 per game. N’Diaye also ranked 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.4) and 4th (57.1) in field goal percentage. He led the Pac-12 with 11 double-doubles.
- Scott Suggs averaged 17.8 points over his past four games, hitting 13 3-pointers. In his previous seven games, he was 4-for-21.
- Washington’s 14-point halftime rally vs. Cal-State Fullerton was the team’s largest comeback at the half since Dec. 29, 2007 at LSU. The Huskies trailed 41-27 and won 74-66.
- Former Washington guard Nate Robinson will be inducted into the Pac-12’s Hall of Honor Saturday in Las Vegas.
UW HEAD COACH: Lorenzo Romar (329-214 overall, 236-124 UW) is coming off a year in which the Huskies won the Pac-12 regular-season title. Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament six times and won three Pac-10 Tournament titles (2005, 2010, 2011). Romar, who signed a 10-year contract extension in April 2011, won his his 200th game at Washington Dec. 16, 2011. He had his 300th career victory and his 100th as a conference coach on Jan. 21, 2012. Romar was selected the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the third time in his career.
Romar played for the Huskies under head coach Marv Harshman during the 1979-80 seasons (served as team captain his senior year), and had a five-year NBA career with Golden State (1981-84), Milwaukee (1984) and Detroit (1984-85). He became a college head coach at Pepperdine in 1997, where he coached for three seasons, then spent three years (1999-02) at St. Louis University before taking the Washington job in 2002-03.
2012-13 Washington Regular-Season Statistics
| Player | G | FG% | 3FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C.J. Wilcox | 31 | 41.9 | 35.3 | 80.4 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 16.8 |
| Scott Suggs | 28 | 42.3 | 37.6 | 87.3 | 2.2 | 1.4 | 12.0 |
| Abdul Gaddy | 31 | 44.2 | 32.8 | 65.6 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 10.9 |
| Aziz N’Diaye | 31 | 57.1 | 0.00 | 42.4 | 9.3 | 0.3 | 9.2 |
| Andrew Andrews | 28 | 35.5 | 23.1 | 76.7 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 7.7 |
| Shawn Kemp | 24 | 51.7 | 0.00 | 63.2 | 2.7 | 0.2 | 6.0 |
| Desmond Simmons | 31 | 36.7 | 35.3 | 67.6 | 6.8 | 0.9 | 4.8 |
| Jenard Jarreau | 28 | 40.7 | 0.00 | 74.3 | 2.8 | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| D. Overstreet | 3 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Hikeem Stewart | 16 | 23.1 | 0.00 | 66.7 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Martin Breunig | 9 | 2.50 | 0.00 | 50.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Q. Sterling | 3 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Total | 31 | 43.4 | 33.2 | 67.9 | 36.6 | 11.7 | 67.4 |
| Opponents | 31 | 43.1 | 33.7 | 67.1 | 32.2 | 12.1 | 66.2 |
OREGON NOTES: Oregon finished the Pac-12 regular season ranked 4th in the league in scoring offense (71.5), 5th in scoring defense (63.6), 2nd in scoring margin (+7.0), 4th in field goal percentage (44.8), 6th in free throw percentage (70.5), 11th in 3-point prcentage (31.3), 1st in rebounding (37.5), 6th in blocked shots, 7th in assists (13.0), 1st in steals (8.7) and 4th in turnover margin (+0.48) . . . Oregon’s top two scorers, E.J. Singler (11.5) and Carlos Emory (11.0) ranked 24th and 25th in the league in scoring . . . Arslan Kazemi led the Ducks in rebounding at 9.6 per game (3rd in the Ps-12) . . . Oregon did not have a 3-point shooter among the Pac-12’s top 15.
OREGON HEAD COACH: Dana Altman is in his third year as head coach of the Ducks and looking to secure his third consecutive 20-win season. The Ducks went 21-18 in his first season (2010-11) and played in the CBI tournament, and followed with a 24-10 mark last year and an appearance in the NIT (lost to Washington). Altman served as head coach at Creighton from 1994 through 2010. He was a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist in 2003. He is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico.
COMING UP: The Washington-Oregon winner plays the Utah-California winner Friday at 8:30 p.m. televised by ESPN. Washington defeated California 62-47 in Berkeley Jan. 9 and lost to Utah 74-65 at Alaska Airlines Arena Jan. 19.
University of Washington 2012-13 Schedule
(Rankings From Associated Press)
| Date | Opponent | UW Rnk | Opp Rnk | W/L | Score | Rec. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/11/12 | @vs. W. Washington | — | — | W | 88-78 | 0-0 |
| 11/11/12 | *vs. Loyola-MD. | — | — | W | 85-63 | 1-0 |
| 11/13/12 | *vs. Albany | — | — | L | 63-62 | 1-1 |
| 11/17/12 | *vs. Seton Hall | — | — | W | 84-73 | 2-1 |
| 11/18/12 | *vs. Ohio St. | — | 4 | L | 77-66 | 2-2 |
| 11/24/12 | vs. Colo. St. | — | — | L | 73-55 | 2-3 |
| 11/28/12 | vs. Saint Louis | — | — | W | 66-61 | 3-3 |
| 12/2/12 | vs. Cal-Fuller. | — | — | W | 74-72 | 4-3 |
| 12/8/12 | vs. Nevada | — | — | L | 76-73 | 4-4 |
| 12/13/12 | at Seattle U. | — | — | W | 87-74 | 5-4 |
| 12/15/12 | vs. Jackson St. | — | — | W | 75-67 | 6-4 |
| 12/20/12 | vs. Cal Poly | — | — | W | 75-62 | 7-4 |
| 12/22/12 | vs. N. Illinois | — | — | W | 67-57 | 8-4 |
| 12/29/12 | at Connecticut | — | — | L | 61-53 | 8-5 |
| 1/5/13 | at WSU | — | — | W | 68-63 | 9-5 |
| 1/9/13 | at California | — | — | W | 62-47 | 10-5 |
| 1/12/13 | at Stanford | — | — | W | 65-60 | 11-5 |
| 1/16/13 | vs. Colorado | — | — | W | 65-54 | 12-5 |
| 1/19/13 | vs. Utah | — | — | L | 74-65 | 12-6 |
| 1/23/13 | at Oregon St. | — | — | L | 74-66 | 12-7 |
| 1/26/13 | at Oregon | — | 16 | L | 81-76 | 12-8 |
| 1/31/13 | vs. Arizona | — | 8 | L | 57-53 | 12-9 |
| 2/2/13 | vs. ASU | — | — | W | 96-92 | 13-9 |
| 2/7/13 | at UCLA | — | — | L | 59-57 | 13-10 |
| 2/10/13 | at USC | — | — | L | 71-60 | 13-11 |
| 2/13/13 | vs. Oregon | — | 23 | L | 65-52 | 13-12 |
| 2/16/13 | vs. Oregon St. | — | — | W | 72-62 | 14-12 |
| 2/20/13 | at Arizona | — | 12 | L | 70-52 | 14-13 |
| 2/23/13 | at ASU | — | — | W | 68-59 | 15-13 |
| 3/3/13 | vs. WSU | — | — | W | 72-68 | 16-13 |
| 3/6/13 | vs. USC | — | — | W | 65-57 | 17-13 |
| 3/9/13 | vs. UCLA | — | 23 | L | 61-54 | 17-14 |
| 3/13/13 | ^vs. WSU | — | — | W | 64-62 | 18-14 |
| 3/14/13 | ^vs. Oregon | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/15/13 | ^Semifinal | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/16/13 | ^Championship | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/19/13 | #1st Four | — | — | — | — | |
| 3/21/13 | #2nd-3rd Rnds. | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3/28/13 | #Regionals | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4/6/13 | #Final 4 Semi | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4/8/13 | #Final 4 Champ. | — | — | — | — | — |
@=Exhibition; *=Hall of Fame Classic; ^=Pac-12 Tournament; #=NCAA Tournament
