UW Men's Basketball | Huskies can't escape buzz of WSU game

The Washington Huskies insist they are not "stressing" or "dwelling" on the fact that they have lost five consecutive men's basketball games to the Washington State Cougars.

They don't really need to, with everyone else doing it for them.

"I know people notice it," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said with a faint smile. "I know when I'm in airports, Cougars fans let me know it. They always remind me."

So when the teams tip off again at 7 p.m. tonight at Edmundson Pavilion, the Huskies will be sufficiently aware they haven't beaten WSU since a 68-55 win in Pullman on Feb. 19, 2005, a game in which only one current Husky played — guard Joel Smith. Smith and Tim Morris, who got a few wins over WSU while at Stanford, are the only UW players ever to beat the Cougars.

"Who wouldn't have a chip on their shoulder if they got beat by a team five times in a row?" Smith asked. "But overall, we're just stressing being sound, playing the right way and getting the job done."

The winning streak over the Huskies, however, is symbolic of how the balance of college basketball power in the state has shifted the past two seasons.

A year ago, it was Washington ranked in the top 10 before falling on hard times in Pac-10 play, punctuated by three losses to the Cougars — two in the regular season and another in the conference tournament.

Now it's the Cougars, who, at 12-0, are off to their best start since 1992, and are ranked No. 4 in the country — their highest ranking ever.

"We see it, we recognize it," said Huskies guard Justin Dentmon. "We want to stop it."

Both coaches say that as important as the rivalry is, the game is the Pac-10 opener, one that looms especially large as each team heads next week to Los Angeles for dates with UCLA and USC.

"We're just so excited to do that," said WSU coach Tony Bennett, with noticeable sarcasm, of starting Pac-10 play with three in a row on the road, and five of the first seven.

Washington had a similar road stretch last season that led to a 1-6 conference hole the Huskies never could escape.

Romar notes that the past two losses against WSU were each games undecided until the final two minutes.

"We had every opportunity to win, but they were just mentally tougher than we were down the stretch," Romar said.

But this UW team, he said, "is better than we were last year" at handling adversity, one reason he says it has won five in a row.

Romar said he also thinks his team is better positioned to take on the veteran Cougars, whose trademarks are defensive tenacity and offensive patience.

Washington remains last in the Pac-10 in field-goal-percentage defense, but since Romar settled on a lineup based on defensive performance, the Huskies have allowed opponents to shoot just 44 percent.

The turnaround began after the Huskies were blasted at Oklahoma State 96-71.

"It took losing to Oklahoma State and not playing well in the other games to really commit to [playing defense] because we saw we couldn't win if we didn't play it," Morris said.

The Huskies are also better at taking care of the ball, standing at plus-1.77 in turnover margin so far this year, compared with minus-1.72 last season.

"I think they've improved defensively, with Tim Morris, Joel Smith, Dentmon and some of their other returning players," Bennett said. "They're defensively more physical, really guarding. [Forward Jon] Brockman has improved, he's shooting that short little jumper. They're probably a little more athletic [than last season] and a little more physical. I think they feel they've found their stride a little. The big thing I noticed is definitely in the backcourt, they're really heating it up. I think after the Oklahoma State game, they said, 'This is our chance to be real good this year [defensively].' "

Washington's win at slumping Louisiana State (now 7-6 after losing at Tulane) is one thing. Beating the Cougars, as the Huskies have found the past two years, is another.

"I've never beaten them," said Brockman. "So it's something we really want to do."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com.