With only Aziz N’Diaye and Darnell Gant returning up front, Romar made an early demand of his guards – they would need to help on the boards.
Thus far, they have contributed.
Washington ranks fourth in rebounding margin in the Pacific-12 Conference, averaging 6.2 more rebounds per game than opponents.
The rebounding numbers, however, are far from perfect. The Huskies defensive rebounding percentage is .684, with opponents getting 66 offensive rebounds to UW’s 143 defensive rebounds in five games.
“We knew that was something that was going to have to happen,” Romar said. “With Aziz N’Diaye on your team, he’s going to help you rebound, but Terrence Ross is averaging seven rebounds a game right now. Tony Wroten is averaging four rebounds a game.”
Romar has asked his guards to rebound in the past. Isaiah Thomas averaged close to four rebounds per game.
“We’ve always talked about that,” Romar said. “Coach (Jim) Shaw, he’s relentless on the guys about rebounding, so they always hear that.”
With tall guards – Ross at 6-6, Wroten at 6-5, C.J. Wilcox at 6-3 and Abdul Gaddy at 6-3 – the Huskies should have success rebounding.
N’Diaye leads the team at 8.0 rebounds per game, Ross (7.2) and Wroten (4.4), averaging more than the 6-foot-9 Gant (4.0).
Ross, who had 13 rebounds in the Huskies last victory, said he’s made it a priority.
“I knew that we lost a lot of rebounders with Isaiah gone, (Justin) Holiday, and we really had to step it up and I took it upon myself to really try to help the team,” he said.
Team rebounding will be important in the coming weeks, as Washington plays three straight on the road.
“We have to get a lot better,” Ross said. “We have to be more physical. We have to be willing to go against guys that are twice our size. We have to play with a lot of heart and that will do most of the work for itself.”
SUGGS STILL OUT
Shooting guard Scott Suggs is still recovering from minor surgery on his right foot to deal with a stress fracture.
“He’s been working out with Pat, our trainer, doing some agility drills,” Romar said. “Just trying to push the foot further and further and further in anticipation of coming back.”
But Suggs may have let it slip that he’s doing more than that. A few times on Tuesday, he got a mischievous look on his face and cut his words short, not wanting to incriminate himself for shooting around on his own.
“I’m ready to come back whenever they let me come back,” the senior said. “If they let me come back against Nevada (on Friday), I would like to come back against Nevada. If not, I would like to come back (in) New York. I don’t want it to be any later than that. I don’t want to miss New York. That should be a good experience.”
The plan is for Suggs to return to action during Washington’s trip to New York. Romar wouldn’t say whether it would be the game against Marquette on Dec. 6 or against Duke on Dec. 10.
But Romar’s trying to keep Suggs from re-aggravating the injury.
“With an injury like that, you feel like you’re fine,” he said. “There’s zero pain, you’re like, ‘so what’s the holdup?’ Until it’s fully healed and you’ve gone through strengthening exercises, you can have a setback.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish @thenewstribune.com
