Husky fans have been in the dark regarding sophomore shooting guard C.J. Wilcox's injury. Wilcox has sat out the Dawgs' last three games with a stress fracture in his left femur and many in Husky Nation were hopeful for his return this week. 

Lorenzo Romar said today "I think we will have him back before the end of the year", adding that he will be tested again on Thursday. This is disappointing news for Washington, as the end of the year could be any time between Saturday's game against Arizona to the Pac-12 tournament in early March. 

In the meantime, it looks as if Desmond Simmons will continue starting in his place, with Darnell Gant and Hikeem Stewart keeping their minutes alongside new freshman Austin Sefarian-Jenkins as the first three off the bench.

Wilcox is averaging 15.5 points and and 3.5 rebounds per game this season. The Huskies shooting guard has missed the past three games for the Huskies.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins (center), Two-Sport Athlete//Kim Grinolds, Dawgman.com

Initial (Over)Reactions

Congratulations to Coach Romar for his 300^th career win as well as his 100^th win in conference play. This was a great game for the Dawgs to give Romar those milestones, as the Huskies played Husky basketball this afternoon and it resulted in a big win over conference title contender Stanford.

The Huskies were led by the three-headed monster of Tony Wroten (21 points), Terrence Ross (18) and Darnell Gant (17). Gant had a huge bounce-back game following his disappointing shooting night against Cal on Thursday. Wroten was constantly able to get to the basket, going to his left with ease. Apparently, Stanford didn’t pick up that Wroten has one of the best left hands in college basketball.

The Dawgs were able to control the glass and go on a big run in the second half to put 21 points between them and the Cardinal. Terrence Ross, once again, put together a big second half to make up for his poor play in the first. This game could have been an even bigger blowout if not for the Huskies’ 11-for-24 performance from the free throw line. WOOFS AND WHIMPERS AFTER THE JUMP!

Aziz N'Diaye (left) and Darnell Gant must control the boards against Josh Huestis and co.

The Huskies face a must-win test against the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday afternoon. UW is coming off a huge loss to the Cal Bears, blowing many opportunities and missing shots that could easily have brought them back in the game. Stanford and the Dawgs are among five teams in the Pac-12 with only two losses, with the Cardinal reeling from a double digit upset loss to the Washington State Cougars in Pullman.

The Basics:

3 p.m. PST. Alaska Airlines Arena. ROOT Sports. 950 KJR.

Washington Huskies (11-7; 4-2)       Stanford University (15-4; 5-2)

Breaking Down Stanford

The Cardinal entered the week as the only team in the conference receiving any national attention. Stanford was ninth in “Others Receiving Votes” this week and has been in that section for over a month now without cracking the Top 25. Pundits have predicted the Cardinal to win the Pac-12 this year due to their depth, as they have 10 players averaging at least 12 minutes per game. MORE ANALYSIS AND A PICK AFTER THE JUMP!

The Cardinal have a balanced scoring attack led by Josh Owens, Chasson Randle and Aaron Bright, who average 13.1, 12.3 and 12.1 points, respectively. Owens, an undersized forward, has been very effective this season. He converts 61.4 percent of his field goals, ranking second in the conference in that regard.

Freshman guard Randle has provided a big spark for the Cardinal, taking five threes per game and shooting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Josh Huestis is the sixth man for the Cardinal, averaging nearly 21 minutes per game.

Stanford ranks third in the conference in scoring with 73.2 points per game and ranks just behind UW at the top of the rebounding charts, pulling down 42.7 boards per game. The Cardinal’s Achilles heel--like that of the Huskies--has been free throw shooting, hitting on only 66 percent of their opportunities from the stripe. The Cardinal also have been turning the ball over 14.4 times per game, good for second-worst in the conference.

The Starting Five: Keys to the Game

Rebounding: Stanford does not excel in any specific aspect of the game besides rebounding. The Dawgs have not been consistent in any area of the game this year besides their controlling the glass. If either team holds a large rebounding advantage in the game, that team will come out on top.

The First Half: The Huskies have come out flat in all three of their games during this home stand. Seattle U and Washington State were not good enough to hold off the Dawgs, but California exposed UW and showed what can happen when you start slow against a competent basketball team. Stanford isn’t anything special, but they are a competent team. If UW puts two halves together this game will not be close.

Terrence Ross vs Tony Wroten: Who is “the guy” on this team? Ross’ recent emergence has come with a decline in Wroten’s activity on the offensive end. This is a much larger deal than I can explain in a small paragraph, but the bottom line is this: someone needs to take control.

Easy Buckets: California exposed the Huskies transition defense and was able to come away with numerous easy layups. The Cardinal are willing to run and are third in the conference in scoring, meaning the Dawgs will need to limit easy chances for Stanford.

Big Guards: UW has a huge size advantage with Gaddy and Wroten against Randle and Bright. Expect Wroten to go down to the block frequently, as he did against Cal. Gaddy has also had some success against shorter guards when getting into the lane. If Abdul shows some assertiveness offensively—including showing more confidence in his shot—he could easily reach double digits.

Prediction

I haven’t watched Stanford very much this season, but they seem to have benefitted from a weak non-conference schedule. Their claim to fame this season was a six-point loss on the road against undefeated Syracuse. The Cardinal don’t do anything especially well besides rebounding, which the Dawgs also excel in. Both teams look to bounce back from tough losses, but the Dawgs will use the home court advantage to lead them to a 79-70 victory.

Initial (Over)Reactions

This was the most disappointing game of the season. The embarrassment against South Dakota State was just pathetic, this game was disappointing.

The Dawgs played just well enough to keep themselves in the game while giving up numerous buckets because of unacceptable defense. UW made their comeback too little too late and was not able to overcome sloppy defense and poor shooting that plagued them throughout the night.

The Huskies pulled within four at 55-51 with six minutes remaining when Aziz N’Diaye was called for a foul going after an offensive rebound. This was when Coach Romar blew a fuse, as he had been shouting at officials prior to the play and lost his cool following the N’Diaye foul. California went on to make both technical foul shots and knock down both 1-and-1 free throws to go up 59-51. Make no mistake, this technical by Romar was not of similar nature to the one against Washington State.

The Dawgs continued their intensity and fight following the technical and were able to draw within three points going into their last possession. Darnell Gant ended up with an open look to tie the game but his shot fell short, an epitome of the night for the Huskies.

WOOFS AND WHIMPERS AFTER THE JUMP!

Harper Kamp and Jorge Gutierrez//The Associated Press

The Dawgs begin their most telling week of the season thus far against the California Golden Bears. UW, California and Stanford all sit atop the Pac-12 with just one loss apiece. The Huskies will not face either California or Stanford on the road this season, meaning that these next two games could be critical tiebreakers if the Huskies are in the mix for a regular season conference championship come March, as well as in seeding for the conference tournament.

The Basics:

7 p.m. PST. ROOT. Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington Huskies (11-6; 4-1)         University of California (15-4; 5-1)

Breaking Down California

The Golden Bears are one of only two teams in the Pac-12 to receive a national ranking this season. Cal got as high as No. 20 before a 92-53 home drubbing at the hands of Missouri dropped them out of the top 25. The Golden Bears lost their only other game against a ranked opponent, falling to UNLV (No. 21 at the time) 85-68. Cal will be without one of their few effective big men, as 6-foot-10-inch sophomore Richard Solomon was recently kicked off the team for academic reasons. SCOUTING AND ANALYSIS AFTER THE JUMP!

To get an insider's perspective on the Huskies' new defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and linebackers coach Peter Sirmon, SeaTown Sports asked Derek Lusk of Checkerboard Chatter some questions about UW's new hires. Checkerboard Chatter is the University of Tennessee blog on the Bloguin network.

See what he has to say about Wilcox and Sirmon after the jump!

Terrence Ross finishes a second-half alley-oop from Abdul Gaddy. Elaine Thompson//Associated Press

Initial (Over)Reactions

Lorenzo Romar is a very smart coach. Terrence Ross is a very good basketball player. These two facts were the reason that the Huskies were able to pull out a win today against Washington State. UW played a horribly flat first 28 minutes of basketball. Romar’s offense was incapable of solving the Cougars’ zone and the Dawgs were struggling shooting from beyond the arc. Then, the technical happened.

Terrence Ross drove into the lane with the Dawgs down 45-37 and went into Cougar forward Brock Motum. Ross was called for a charge, leading to Romar stomping his feet and waving his arms wildly while yelling at the referee. Due to the Huskies’ lack of energy on the floor, Romar took it into his own hands to get his players going. Romar’s technical and the ensuing free throws by Faisal Aden put UW down 47-37 with 12:16 left.

The Huskies responded with a 14-2 run, led by Darnell Gant and Ross. Ross took over the game late and finished with career highs in both points (30) and rebounds (14). This was following a 1-9 performance for the super sophomore in the first half. Senior captain Darnell Gant knocked down two threes as well as two dunks during the Huskies’ 38-18 run to end the game. The Dawgs fed off the crowd and Romar’s energy in order to produce a fantastic last twelve minutes of basketball to finish with a 75-65 victory.

WOOFS AND WHIMPERS AFTER THE JUMP!

Initial (Over)Reactions

Can the Huskies play like Seattle U.? The Redhawks made this a game because of their coaching strategy. Cameron Dollar came into this game with a plan and executed. Seattle U. came after the Dawgs from the start and was relentless in their full-court press for 40 minutes. UW was pressured into many turnovers and bad shots because of the press and half-court trapping defense utilized by Dollar.

The Huskies were able to survive this game because of their 59 (you just can’t make this number up) free throws. UW finished 37-of-59 from the stripe and was frequently attacking the basket following its press break. Tony Wroten went 12-of-18 from the line and finished with 24 points, all of which were products of his penetration into the Redhawks defense.

I had the pleasure of attending this intracity battle and it did not disappoint. This was easily the loudest game at Hec Ed this season. If Dollar continues to build this program we could have a serious rivalry brewing in Seattle (see: Xavier-Cincinnati). It was an extremely intense game with both teams trying to show up the other along with some loud fans for both teams. I really like where this rivalry is going. MORE AFTER THE JUMP!

 Dean Hare//Associated Press

What’s crimson and grey and going uncontrollably fast?

The Cougars this afternoon inside Alaska Airlines Arena! (Fast-paced game jokes, anyone?)

Washington State is coming off of back-to-back losses against Utah and Colorado and has certainly fallen a long way since barely losing to Gonzaga in Spokane to start the season. The Huskies have won two in a row and are looking to continue their home success and stay atop the Pac-12 with a victory.

The Basics:

4 p.m. PST. ROOT. Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington Huskies (10-6; 3-1)     Washington State University (9-7,1-3)

Breaking Down Wazzu

The Cougars come into this game with just a 1-3 record in Pac-12 play following their losses to Colorado and Utah. Their next four games against UW, Stanford, California and Arizona will be extremely telling to where this team is going this year.

Though the Cougars go with a fairly small lineup at one through three, they have effective height off the bench. The shortest person coming off the bench is 6-foot-4-inch senior guard Faisal Aden--Aden would be the Cougars’ third-tallest starter. He averages over 24 minutes per game as Washington State's sixth man and is second on the team in scoring at 12.8 points per game.

The Cougars’ leading scorer and rebounder is big man Brock Motum (pictured) at 15 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Motum can shoot the three as well as maneuver around the basket. One can notice that he is trying hard by noticing that his face is more red than Cougar crimson.

Freshman guard Devonte Lacey from Curtis High School in Tacoma has also been impressive so far this season. 

Junior guard Reggie Moore is the enigma for this team. Moore is averaging only 9.4 points per game on just 39.8 percent shooting despite many thinking he was destined for a breakout year with the departure of Klay Thompson. Moore is the most explosive player for the Cougars and is still very dangerous. KEYS TO THE GAME AND A PICK AFTER THE JUMP!

The Washington Huskies take on the Seattle University Redhawks Tuesday night to continue the series between the inner-city foes.

The Dawgs are looking to build on their first road win of the season in this out-of-conference game and to prepare themselves for Washington State this Sunday. The Huskies posted two extremely poor outings on their first conference road trip of the season, grinding out a victory against a Utah team that is very comparable to Seattle U. The Redhawks are 3-10 in just their third year since Division I reinstatement.

The Basics:

7 p.m. PST. ROOT. Alaska Airlines Arena.

Washington Huskies (9-6; 3-1)         Seattle University (3-10)

ANALYSIS AND THE PICK AFTER THE JUMP!