LAS VEGAS – Sin City comes alive, for better AND worse, when the sun goes down.
It is a strange and unique city, this gambling oasis in the desert. That certainly rings true when four college conferences descend upon Las Vegas each March to stage basketball tournaments.
The NCAA, the patron saint of collegiate sports (the NCAA would like us to believe, anyway), looks the other way when its pure-as-the-driven-snow athletes (the NCAA would like us to believe, anyway) play at casino-owned arenas built with gambling dollars.
Millions of those dollars are wagered annually a 3-pointer or three away from the courts where an orgy of college hoops is taking place this week. Combine that with the fact that players are staying in the same hotels as gamblers who could profit from certain actions that could impact certain bets . . . gosh, what could possibly go wrong?
Not so much as a hint of funny business has emerged since the Pac-12 moved its basketball shindig to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 2013. Besides, no shady characters could ever arrange as many against-all-odds scenarios as the Washington Huskies and Stanford Cardinal provided Wednesday night for all the right reasons. That is, the willingness – indeed, the NEED — to sacrifice buckets of sweat in pursuit of victory.
Any reputable Las Vegas bookie would have been hesitant to even place odds that Washington would:
- Play so gamely and, at times, heroically, before losing a 71-69 thriller on a 3-point bomb from Stanford star Chasson Randle – who made just 2 of 10 shots to that point — with 2.4 seconds left. The Huskies, mind you, were seeded 11th after losing 10 of 12 games coming into the tournament.
- Be led in scoring in the first half by walk-on Dan Kingma. The scrappy freshman guard, whose listed height of 5-foot-10 makes for great comedy, went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc before halftime for all of his career-high nine points.
- Push a bigger, stronger, deeper Stanford team to the brink of defeat despite being outscored 36-10 in the paint, 14-7 on second-chance baskets, 11-0 on free throws and 17-4 off turnovers.
Stanford’s inside dominance ultimately sealed the Huskies’ fate. The fifth-seeded Cardinal (19-12) out-rebounded Washington 35-26, including 11-5 on the offensive glass. Marcus Allen steered one last offensive rebound to Randle for the game-winning shot, which stood up when Andrew Andrews’ long, running, 3-point attempt bounced off the back rim at the final horn.
“We get that rebound,” Andrews said, “we probably would have won the game.”
Romar and his players went out of their way to give Kingma a free pass on missing the front end of a 1-and-1 free-throw opportunity with 28.5 seconds left. The Cardinal grabbed the rebound (naturally), then ran down the clock before Randle struck gold.
“Without his (Kingma’s) first half, who knows what would have happened?” Andrews asked.
“I told him I love him like a brother,” Nigel Williams-Goss said. “I told him there was not another walk-on in the tournament stepping up for his team the way he did for us in the first half. Dan is going to be a heck of a player.”
Williams-Goss, who considered turning pro last year after his freshman season, was noncommittal when asked if he’ll be back next season. Andrews, who plans to graduate this summer and had not made it clear if he would considering transferring for his senior year, said it’s “definitely my goal” to remain with the Huskies.
Andrews’ continued his torrid scoring down the stretch by recording a game-high 22 points on 9-for-18 shooting, including 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Williams-Goss added 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Wiliams-Goss was guarded tenaciously by Anthony Brown, who buried four shots from 3-point range and scored 16 points. Brown, however, somehow managed to blow a breakaway dunk with four minutes left. Williams-Goss and Andrews followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to give Washington momentum and a 69-63 lead, and it looked like the Huskies would get a chance to knock off 17th-ranked Utah for the second time in five days in Thursday’s second round of tournament play.
It was not to be. Romar would never admit it, but he could not be surprised after watching his team slip from 11-0 and ranked 13th in the nation to finishing (barring a post-season invitation) 16-15 and coming in 11th in the Pac-12. Of course, injuries to Washington’s front line, plus the dismissal of shot-blocking phenom Robert Upshaw, figured prominently in the collapse.
“What happened here (losing so many big men), I don’t know if any team in the world would have enough in the history of basketball,” Romar said.
Even in the wake of a stunningly bitter defeat, Romar took a moment to reflect on a memorable basketball game, and a memorable effort by his team.
“It was a heck of a ball game,” he said. “I really, really feel for our players.
“Our guys fought. Our guys played together. We came up short. You hate to see it when someone puts forth like that and came up on the short end.”
10 Comments
The Huskies showed more desire in this game than they have for the past month. Too little, too late. Romar probably WILL be back because the UW won’t eat the final five years of his contract, but with a solid incoming group of freshmen (the Huskies would like us to believe, anyway), expectations will be higher.
Since every team has injuries and suspensions, fans don’t like to hear those things brought up. But what if they are reasons, not excuses?
I think it depends on the fan. I’ve had my differences with how Romar coaches his program but I’m inclined to give him a mulligan for this season, although the lack of player effort down the stretch was worrisome. Others have called for his ouster for some time and will use the last month as fuel.
A 16-15 record IS the definition of mediocre (and that 5-15 finish was downright awful), but I’m not ready to sharpen the guillotine yet. Next year WILL be critical. BTW, where are excuses being made? I’ve seen disappointment and even anger, but not excuses. Am I missing something?
On one hand, the usual demons came back to haunt the Dawgs: defense and the inability to close out the game. On the other the players showed a will to win throughout the game and finally found their stroke as a team. The Pat Riley mantra of “no rebounds no rings” was going through my head down the stretch. But this game could have easily been won by UW.
Hoping Andrews and Williams-Goss return for next season. Coach Romar seemed to have gained more trust in using Kingma towards the end of the season and these three could form an awesome three guard rotation next season. Looking forward on what next season will bring.
Aside from Tucson, I see no sellouts in the rest of the conference.
I’d think Tempe would as well just because fans from Tuscon would make the trek over. So would LA. At the very least a better showing than in Vegas which has no Pac-12 team and it would be a nice recruiting tool for recruits. IMO, when a player leaves a Pac-12 team for various reasons they aren’t staying in the Pac-12 and that’s a problem.
Woodward – can we please end this misery NOW?? Step up and do your job – Romar simply needs to go.
Not when he has a five year deal in place.
Pass the hat for paying out his $4.2M in salary. You start.
Bravo,Art. A truly torturous season but his overall body of work must be reviewed in keeping with the plan/vision at Washington in that the Huskies are going thru their “Great Depression” but History usually allows that Miserable will not last forever( they say )as most analysts point to an upswing starting next season.
Having that misfortune vs Stanford happen to Romar and his hapless squad seems like piling on…Rome burning twice is what it is akin to.Once the fire is put out its time to “double up” on good fortune…. involving a big W. Hold the hat for now.