UW Men's Notebook | Guard goes long to find his receiver

Venoy Overton got the pass in backcourt after Tim Morris stole the ball, saw Jon Brockman streaking to the hoop, and unleashed a rocket that caught the burly forward in stride and led to a layup.

The play keyed a second-half surge that helped the Huskies finally put away visiting Cal State Northridge, 80-66.

"Every time Brockman runs, he looks up and looks for the ball, and I seen a little guy under him so I knew there was no way the little guy was getting the ball," Overton said of the play, which put UW ahead 71-55 with 5:15 left.

Then he smiled and added, "I just made a Jake Locker and threw it out there."

Brockman thought it was a good play, as well, a highlight of a day when Overton scored 14 points, hitting all five of his shots, along with three assists and one turnover in 24 minutes.

"Hopefully that will get his confidence going," Brockman said.

Then he was told that Overton had compared his pass to Locker.

"Now we need to shrink his head a little bit," Brockman said with a smile. "I don't think he realizes who he is talking about here. If he's going to say he's Jake Locker, then I'm Randy Moss. Or Jeremy Shockey."

The play illustrated some of the qualities Overton brings to the Huskies, however — it's the second time this year he's hit Brockman with a length-of-the-floor pass.

"He did a great job of making me go up and get that one," said Brockman, who led UW with 21 points and 10 rebounds. "He has great court vision. He knows where everyone is at all times."

The Dentmon effect

Junior guard Justin Dentmon left the court in pain, suffering leg cramps in the final minute.

But the 29 minutes he was on the floor Saturday were some of his best of the season; he had 18 points and one turnover.

He hopes it's the kind of performance that may get him back in the starting lineup — he has come off the bench the past four games largely because of some defensive lapses.

"I'm trying to get my spot back," he said. "I'm playing hard and trying to play defense. That's what they say I've got to focus on. Sometimes I get off track on defense, so I've just got to continue to focus. I should be back in there [soon]."

NOTES

• The Huskies will practice early today, then take the next two days off for Christmas before returning for a night practice on Dec. 26. "It's time for a little break," Brockman said. "Our legs are starting to feel it, and I think mentally, we just need a little time with our families and it's Christmas time, so we just need to enjoy that."

• UW made just 6 of 15 free throws in the first half before rallying in the second half to finish at 21 of 34 for the game.

Summary

CS NORTHRIDGE (7-3)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Heard	30	7-12	0-0	1-4	2	2	14
Chitwood	27	2-7	0-0	2-3	0	5	4
Miller	24	2-5	3-6	3-8	0	4	7
Haynes	27	2-8	0-0	1-2	0	4	5
Jenkins	26	5-12	3-4	0-0	5	4	17
Tresvant	24	3-10	0-1	0-0	1	2	7
Wayne	8	2-2	0-0	0-0	1	2	4
Colston	6	0-0	0-0	0-0	1	1	0
Townsend	28	4-6	0-0	2-10	1	3	8
	200	27-62	6-11	11-29	11	27	66

Percentages: FG .435, FT .545. Three-point goals: 6-18, .333 (Jenkins 4-4, Haynes 1-4, Tresvant 1-6, Heard 0-1, Chitwood 0-3). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 6 (Chitwood 6). Turnovers: 15 (Heard 5, Jenkins 4, Haynes 2, Colston 2, Tresvant, Wayne). Steals: 6 (Townsend 2, Wayne 2, Chitwood, Jenkins). Technical fouls: None.

WASHINGTON (7-4)
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Wallace	17	0-3	0-2	3-4	1	4	0
Brockman	35	8-12	5-7	4-10	3	2	21
Smith	18	3-7	0-0	1-3	0	0	8
Morris	31	3-9	6-8	1-4	2	3	13
Appleby	14	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
Overton	24	5-5	0-0	0-1	3	3	14
Dentmon	29	5-7	6-8	0-5	3	1	18
B.-Amaning	13	0-4	4-8	3-6	1	1	4
Holiday	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
Pondexter	15	1-5	0-1	2-2	3	3	2
Wolfinger	2	0-1	0-0	0-1	0	1	0
	200	25-54	21-34	16-42	16	19	80

Percentages: FG .463, FT .618. Three-point goals: 9-17, .529 (Overton 4-4, Dentmon 2-3, Smith 2-4, Morris 1-3, Wolfinger 0-1, Pondexter 0-1, Appleby 0-1). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 1 (Brockman). Turnovers: 17 (Morris 5, Brockman 4, Wallace 3, Overton, Bryan-Amaning, Holiday, Dentmon). Steals: 8 (Bryan-Amaning 3, Overton 2, Dentmon, Morris, Wallace). Technical fouls: None.

CS Northridge	33	33	—	66
Washington	42	38	—	80

Attendance: 9,128. Officials: Dave Libbey, Milt Stowe, Tom Spitznagel.