Notebook | Brockman slowed by groin injury, foul trouble

While the Washington Huskies figuratively limped to a 79-75 loss to California on Saturday, junior forward Jon Brockman had a literal hobble to his walk, courtesy of a troublesome groin injury.

Brockman suffered the injury in practice Monday when he was kneed while posting up.

"It just kind of popped it a little bit," he said.

The injury was kept quiet until Thursday, and probably didn't matter much that night as the Huskies were easily handled by Stanford, 65-51. Brockman gutted out 34 minutes.

On Saturday, Brockman spent a couple of hours getting the injury treated before the game. But after the pregame warmup, it tightened a little bit and he said it was difficult playing again.

Brockman made 7 of 11 shots and scored 15 points in just 24 minutes, saddled with foul trouble throughout. But he had only four rebounds, a season low for a player who came into the game leading the Pac-10 at 11.6. California outrebounded UW 41-34, including an offensive rebound in the final minute by Ryan Anderson that set up the winning basket.

"He's such a warrior and a tough guy, he may not let on," Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said of Brockman, a 6-foot-7 junior forward. "But maybe we played him too much in Thursday's game and he was really sore afterward. With the foul trouble, he had to sit out for a long time. ... I think that last rebound that we didn't get, I don't remember Jon not ever grabbing [a rebound] when the game is on the line, so you just wonder if his groin is bothering him."

Brockman doesn't think it will be a long-term recovery, saying it feels better than it did on Monday.

Notes

• With Brockman slowed, junior forward Artem Wallace stepped in and set career highs with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 33 minutes played.

"I was just trying to come out and bring some energy," said Wallace, who came into the game averaging 2.3 points and 1.8 rebounds. "We had a horrible game on the boards against Stanford, and coach called us out on that and I tried to answer his call and play better."

• Washington has been poor at the free-throw line all season, but Saturday was particularly egregious. The Huskies went 8 of 18 (44.4 percent).

CALIFORNIA 79
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Boykin	22	1-5	0-0	1-6	1	3	2
Vierneisel	26	1-4	2-2	0-4	0	3	4
Christopher	38	8-15	3-5	3-5	0	2	20
Anderson	40	11-19	7-7	6-17	0	2	33
Randle	35	7-12	0-0	0-2	4	5	16
Robinson	5	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Knezevic	14	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	0
Wilkes	7	0-0	0-0	0-4	2	2	0
Kamp	13	1-2	2-2	1-1	2	4	4
	200	29-58	14-16	12-41	9	23	79

Percentages: FG .500, FT .875. Three-point goals: 7-17, .412 (Anderson 4-7, Randle 2-3, Christopher 1-3, Knezevic 0-1, Vierneisel 0-3). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 2 (Kamp, Anderson). Turnovers: 15 (Randle 5, Christopher 4, Kamp 2, Anderson 2, Knezevic, Boykin). Steals: 6 (Randle 3, Christopher, Boykin, Knezevic).

WASHINGTON 75
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Wallace	33	8-11	1-5	7-10	1	2	17
Brockman	24	7-11	1-4	2-4	2	4	15
Overton	26	1-3	2-2	0-3	5	0	4
Morris	14	1-6	0-0	2-3	2	2	2
Appleby	36	7-20	0-0	0-1	1	1	19
Smith	15	1-3	3-3	0-1	0	1	5
Dentmon	16	2-5	0-0	0-2	0	0	5
Bryan-Amning	6	0-2	0-2	1-1	1	1	0
Holiday	6	0-0	0-0	0-1	0	3	0
Pondexter	21	3-7	1-2	2-3	2	4	8
Wolfinger	3	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	0	0
	200	30-69	8-18	17-34	14	18	75

Percentages: FG .435, FT .444. Three-point goals: 7-27, .259 (Appleby 5-15, Pondexter 1-2, Dentmon 1-3, Overton 0-1, Wolfinger 0-1, Smith 0-2, Morris 0-3). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 2 (Bryan-Amaning, Dentmon). Turnovers: 9 (Pondexter 4, Appleby 2, Wallace, Morris, Smith). Steals: 4 (Brockman, Overton, Bryan-Amaning, Dentmon).

California	28	51	--	79
Washington	33	42	--	75

Attendance: 9,404. Officials: Dick Cartmell, Bruce Hicks, Tom Wood.