| 21 January 2012
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (center), Two-Sport Athlete//Kim Grinolds, Dawgman.com
Initial (Over)Reactions
Congratulations to Coach Romar for his 300th career win as well as his 100th 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!
Woofs*
Austin Sefarian-Jenkins: Welcome to the club ASJ! UW’s two-sport stud saw his first action tonight and did not disappoint, finishing with seven rebounds and multiple hard screens. ASJ brought a lot of energy and becomes the first Dawg to match Desmond Simmons’ hustle on the floor.
Rebounding: UW won the battle on the boards between the Pac-12’s top two rebounding teams 47-32. Ross, ASJ and Gant all finished with seven rebounds. Stanford’s biggest asset is their rebounding and the Dawgs were able to take that away.
Tony Wroten: I have come to expect that when Wroten drives, he is scoring. How he scores when being double teamed down low is beyond me, but he finishes nonetheless. Tony finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, shooting nine-for-14 from the field. His free throws, however, weren’t so perfect as he was three-of-seven from the line. He has Pac-12 POY written all over him.
Darnell Gant: Amazing bounce-back performance for Birdman. Gant was zero-for-nine on Thursday, including missing a would-be game-tying three at the buzzer. He came out with lots of energy and refused to let Thursday stay in his head. The Dawgs senior went seven-of-11 this afternoon and finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
*Desmond Simmons finished with six points on three-of-five shooting. Dez didn’t fill up the stat sheet but definitely led the team in floor burns as he was all over the place tonight. Incredible effort, one of the single best energy games of the year for any Dawg.
Whimpers
Ball Control: The Dawgs turned the ball over 16 times today. Abdul Gaddy uncharacteristically led the team in turnovers with five. Far too many careless passes from UW.
First Half Passing: UW had two assists in the first half tonight. They only had one on Thursday. For the Dawgs to score 32 points in the first half and only have two assists is unacceptable. I know statistics don’t tell the whole story, but there is something wrong when the Huskies are finishing with minimal assists despite essentially having two point guards on the floor in Gaddy and Wroten.
Terrence Ross First Half: Ross was once again a nonfactor in the first half. He had another explosive second half, scoring 16 points, but was held to just two in the first. His slow starts have been a constant in Pac-12 play this year. The next seven of 11 are on the road for UW and it will be essential that he starts strong outside of Hec Ed.
Finishing Thoughts
Huge win for the Dawgs this afternoon. UW managed to face their top two foes in conference without their second leading scorer and still split the games. UW has proven that they are the best team in the Pac-12 when operating smoothly, shown by their huge run to open the second half and build a 21 point lead on supposedly the best team in the conference.
The Huskies travel down south to face the Arizona schools this week in a big opportunity for the Dawgs to gain some road wins and stay tied atop the league standings. The Sun Devils are up on Thursday, reeling from a 21-point loss to Jiggy Watkins-less Utah. All of our best wishes to injured shooter C.J. Wilcox; hopefully he will return for the road trip.
