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And while the wins over Utah and Arizona State should not be slighted, what the Huskies face today at the McKale Center is going to be completely different.
Even coach Lorenzo Romar, who has refused to downplay the two road wins over the Pacific-12 Conference dregs, knows that his team is in for its toughest test away from Alaska Airlines Arena.
Tougher than Duke in Madison Square Garden.
With ESPN’s College Gameday on hand, and Arizona fans planning a “white out” celebration, the sellout atmosphere figures to be electric.
“This group has not played in anything like what we are going to play in (today),” Romar said. “It remains to be seen how we will respond.”
The Duke and Marquette games in New York weren’t played in front of full crowds, and against Duke, Washington had a large contingent of fans.
“Against Duke it was like 50-50,” freshman Tony Wroten said of the crowd ratio. “This is going to be like 90-10, if 10.”
How about St. Louis?
“St. Louis was a great environment, but the place was three-quarters full,” Romar said.
In the road win against Utah, Washington played in front of a crowd of less than 5,000 fans, and they also had a healthy smattering of UW fans.
That won’t be the case today.
There will be close to 15,000 fans – most of them clad in white shirts and unfriendly.
“A real player comes and looks at this place, and says: ‘Yep, this is just how I like it here. This is about as good as it gets. Let’s go play,’” Romar said.
But not all players have that mentality. Some shine and some shrink in these situations.
“That’s sports, man,” Romar said. “It happens at all levels to all different types of players. You love seeing those players that come out in these types of games and you see them swelling up in front of everybody – they aren’t backing down at all.”
One player who doesn’t have any plans of backing down is Wroten, who was a mixture of giddiness and intensity when talking about the magnitude of the matchup.
“It’s going to be a crazy,” he said. “I live for moments like this. You just have to be ready to come play and hopefully keep the crowd out of it.”
Wroten can’t understand why somebody wouldn’t want to play in a packed house on national television.
“Some people live for this, and some people run away from this,” he said. “I feel like if you are in college basketball, you got to live for this, you got to be ready. You know its going to be crazy. It’s going to be hard, but you have to do what you have to do.”
Wroten’s mentality is similar to his play on the court – fearless. He isn’t going to be intimidated.
It’s become apparent that when Wroten plays under control, the Huskies aren’t likely to be beaten.
Against Arizona State, he was 9-for-12 from the floor, scored 22 points and didn’t take a single jump shot. He is second in the Pac-12 in scoring at 17.1 points per game and is steadily improving each time out.
It’s caught the attention of opposing players and coaches.
“There aren’t many guys that play the style he plays,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “I mean that in the most complimentary way I can. He’s a real difference maker.”
Miller said he’s amazed by Wroten’s size and strength and willingness to mix it up inside.
“Powerful, explosive,” he said. “It’s tough to call him a guard, even though he is one, because he’s strong in and around the basket. He loves the physicality and can score through bigger players.”
While it’s clear that Wroten isn’t planning to wither in the spotlight, how his teammates respond is another matter.
Players such as Terrence Ross, Aziz N’Diaye, Darnell Gant and C.J. Wilcox played in last season’s 87-86 loss in Tucson, which was also a “white-out” celebration.
“There was so much electricity in the building, it was like a heavyweight prize fight,” Romar said. “And they came out throwing every blow imaginable and we were on the ropes, but we withstood the flurry early and gradually came back.”
But that team had Isaiah Thomas, and three senior leaders, to withstand such a flurry.
When things went south last year, Thomas would often will the Huskies back into games.
“That was a veteran team last year,” Romar said.
The current Huskies don’t have that player. Wroten is close, but as a true freshman he’s still learning on the fly. So the responsibility has fallen to a committee of players, which so far has had mixed results.
If Arizona comes out throwing haymakers, will the Huskies be able to withstand them? Romar isn’t certain. He just knows it won’t be dull.
“This is going to be the best atmosphere in all of college basketball,” he said. “It should be a lot of fun.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
TODAY
Washington at Arizona, 4 p.m., ESPN, 950-AM HUSKIES GAMEDAY
WASHINGTON (13-7, 6-2 PACIFIC-12) AT ARIZONA (14-7, 5-3)
4 p.m., McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz.
TV: ESPN. Radio: 950-AM, 102.9-FM.
Series: The Wildcats have dominated the all-time series against the Huskies, with a 44-26 record. In Tucson, it’s even more lopsided. Washington has won there just six times in 33 attempts. Arizona has won the past five games at the McKale Center. The last time UW won there was March 4, 2006. However, Washington did beat Arizona twice last season, once at Alaska Airlines Arena and again in the Pac-12 tournament championship game when Isaiah Thomas hit the game-winning shot.
PROBABLE STARTERS
WASHINGTON
NamePos.PPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Abdul GaddyG8.62.84.642.166.7
Terrence RossG15.16.51.843.873.7
Tony WrotenG17.14.63.449.654.6
Desmond SimmonsF5.75.81.145.337.7
Aziz N’DiayeC8.28.10.353.061.1
Arizona
NamePos.PPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Kyle FoggG12.82.82.241.882.1
Nick JohnsonG9.42.92.441.368.4
Josiah TurnerG12.22.82.242.465.8
Jesse PerryF11.57.31.352.065.4
Solomon HillF11.98.12.947.274.1
Scouting report: If it’s anything like the past few games between these two teams, fans can expect two hours of excitement and intensity. With ESPN’s College Gameday in town and the students planning a “white out,” the McKale Center will be packed and rocking. The Wildcats might be one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-12. They’re a team loaded with athletes that will pressure the ball and make each pass difficult. The Wildcats aren’t a very experienced team, starting a pair of freshmen – Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner – in the backcourt. Both are talented but have had the ups and downs expected of first-year players. Much of Arizona’s success depends on key returners – Jesse Perry, Kyle Fogg, Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom. When the upper-classmen play well, it takes pressure off the freshmen. Hill and Perry are both fierce competitors, who cause matchup problems for bigger forwards because of their quickness and ability to step back and shoot 3-pointers. Parrom may be the wild card in Arizona’s success. The senior forward was shot twice before the season. While he has been back and played, he hasn’t been the same aggressive player. But in the past few weeks, coach Sean Miller said, the old Parrom has started to come through again. Washington got C.J. Wilcox back on the floor. The sixth man had missed the past four games with a stress fracture in his hip. Predictably, Wilcox looked rusty in his return. But playing 15 minutes against ASU should make him that much more comfortable against Arizona. After making just one 3-pointer in the win over ASU, the Huskies could definitely use a spark from Wilcox on the perimeter.
Next: 6 p.m. Thursday, vs. UCLA, at Alaska Airlines Arena.
Ryan Divish, staff writer
