Huskies can’t afford another game like Thursday’s clunker at Oregon 2012/02/11 at 1:01 pm
CORVALLIS, Ore. Its not as if Lorenzo Romar didnt trust his team, but in the days before Thursdays 82-57 defeat at Oregon he wasnt exactly high on the Huskies.
They had a five-game winning streak and were alone in first place in the Pac-12, but Romar cautioned Washington was still a work in progress.
He laughed when it was suggested the Huskies were in the drivers seat with four weeks remaining in the conference race.
I dont feel like that at all, Romar said. Maybe its because weve been digging ourselves out of a hole all year long.
We could look up in two weeks and literally be in fifth place.
Thats not an exaggeration.
With six games remaining, half of the conference has a legitimate shot at the regular-season title. Only two games separate the top six teams, which should produce an exciting scramble down the stretch.
California (19-6 overall) and Washington (16-8) are at the top of the conference with 9-3 records.
If they tied at the end of the season, the Golden Bears would receive the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament because they beat the Huskies 69-66 on Jan. 19. Due to the unbalanced schedule, the teams dont play again this season.
Oregon (17-7), Arizona (17-8) and Colorado (16-8) are tied for third at 8-4, and UCLA (14-10 and 7-5) is sixth.
A year ago, the Huskies were in a similar position at the midpoint of the season and lost three straight games. They fell into third place and finished the season behind Arizona and UCLA.
The Huskies won the Pac-10 tournament, which guaranteed them an automatic NCAA tournament berth. However, they believe the three straight losses led to an unfavorable draw in the tournament.
Shortly after Thursdays loss at Oregon, senior co-captain Darnell Gant began reminding the Huskies of last seasons failures.
And we dont want that to happen because then that could turn our whole season around, he said. These next few days are crucial.
After everything the Huskies did to recover from a disappointing nonconference season, Gant would hate to see their success unravel like it did a year ago.
He said Washington has got to move forward when it faces Oregon State (15-9, 5-7) at 2:30 pm Sunday.
Gant said the co-captains, including Abdul Gaddy and Scott Suggs, have to instill a sense of urgency just to get the guys motivated earlier. I thought everybody was motivated and knew whats at stake, but in the beginning of the (Oregon) game we just didnt start off right.
Oregon State is also regrouping after an embarrassing 83-73 defeat to Washington State and needs a win as badly as UW. The Huskies cant afford a clunker like the one they had Thursday. Another dour performance like that might jeopardize their NCAA tournament aspirations.
Weve got to band together, Romar said. We cant point the finger. Youve got to stay together and rally up and come back and play.
Three weeks from now if we bounce back, well look back at this as a bad exam and throw it out. You just hope this doesnt cost us anything in terms of the postseason.
Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or .
On Twitter @percyallen