Is Huskies' schedule tougher than it looks?

UW Hoops: Today's game with Montana kicks off stretch against sneaky-good teams

DON RUIZ; The News Tribune | • Published November 29, 2009

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Mark Twain is credited with saying Wagner's music is better than it sounds.

Coach Lorenzo Romar makes the same point about the Washington men’s basketball schedule.

Wright State? Montana? Portland? Even Texas Tech and Texas A&M? None of those – and really no one on the Huskies’ out-of-conference schedule except Georgetown – has a name that automatically draws much respect for rich basketball tradition.

Yet, Romar makes the point that this pre-league schedule is tougher than it might sound.

“If you want to say, ‘Your schedule lacks high-profile names,’ well yeah I would agree with that,” Romar said. “But if you say our schedule is not difficult, I’d say you’re wrong there.”

One example will be on display at 6 p.m. today at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.

The Montana Grizzlies play in the relatively low-profile Big Sky Conference. Yet they arrive with a 4-1 record, and they are fresh off of a 68-55 win at Oregon.

In that one, guard Anthony Johnson – formerly of Stadium High School in Tacoma – had a game-high 20 points, including 14 of 15 free throws. Center Brian Qvale notched his second consecutive double-double. Junior guard Michael Taylor contributed 12 points off the bench.

Altogether, it added up to a 13-point win on a Pacific-10 Conference team’s home court.

“I check the scores every night on my computer,” UW senior Quincy Pondexter said. “I saw that, and I thought, ‘Oh man, something must have been wrong. And I saw that (Oregon) was missing some guys from some injuries. That’s still a tough loss, and I know Montana is going to be a tough team to come here and compete.”

In that game, the Ducks played without senior forward Joevan Catron and sophomore center Michael Dunigan, and Tajaun Porter was limited to 24 minutes with a lower-leg injury.

Still, the message for the Huskies is that this Montana team is 1-0 on Pac-10 courts this season.

“I would say it gives you more credibility in what you’re saying,” Romar said. “But our team’s attitude and approach, it literally doesn’t matter who you’re playing. We’re going to take every team seriously.”

More teams coming up on the schedule are adding to résumés that should be taken seriously.

The Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series game at Texas Tech on Thursday sends UW on the road for the first time, and it’s against a Red Raiders team whose unbeaten record includes a win over Oregon State.

Georgetown (Dec. 12 in the John Wooden Classic at Anaheim, Calif.) returns seven lettermen from the NIT team of last season.

Portland (Dec. 19, Hec Ed) beat Oregon, UCLA and No. 16 Minnesota within the space of a week.

And last week, Texas A&M (Dec. 22, Hec Ed) beat No. 19 Clemson.

“I think you’re seeing that Portland is really good; Georgetown is really good; Texas Tech we’re about to play coming up,” Romar said. “Montana is (4-1). We’ve got some tough opponents on our schedule, as far as I’m concerned.”

Don Ruiz, 253-597-8808

don.ruiz@thenewstribune.com

blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports