UW Men's Basketball | Romar is blaming himself

Following Washington's 73-59 loss to USC on Thursday, Huskies basketball coach Lorenzo Romar said he stayed up past 2 a.m. "brainstorming," attempting to find cures for the ailing Huskies.

He didn't spend any of that time trying to figure out where the blame lies, however, saying that's an easy question.

"I don't think I would put it on the players," Romar told reporters before Friday's practice. "I would put it on me. I have not done a good enough job of getting us at a place where we need to be right now."

That's something the coach has rarely had to admit in six seasons at Washington. He has a 115-66 record with the Huskies and is less than two years removed from back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances that earned him a contract through 2016.

But this season isn't going as planned. Washington has lost four in a row — three straight at home — and has a 12-11 overall record and just 3-7 in Pac-10.

"It has caught me off guard," Romar said of this season's struggles.

He expected that a more experienced team would avoid the erratic play of last season's group and return the Huskies to postseason. Even when this team struggled a bit early, he expected it to get better as the season progressed.

"I've always felt with our teams, by this time of year, we were playing our best basketball," said Romar, whose Huskies host UCLA on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. "And that's not the case this year."

Romar said maybe he has struggled to get a proper read on the right rotation.

"I think there are some that probably should have gotten more of an opportunity, some who were given too much of an opportunity," he said. "And in trying to find that mix, that process of lineup changes and all of that, maybe that has our guys confused a little bit. Maybe they are not playing with as much confidence. That's why I put it on me not being able to have figured that out and pushed the right buttons earlier."

Romar also suggested he might manage individual players differently and that this team has posed different challenges than previous teams.

"This one is probably a little more complex," he said.

Romar said he thinks the recent struggles have hurt the team's confidence.

"You've got to go out on the floor and really believe you are going to win the game," he said. "You may not, but you've got to believe it. With us, we've got to be able to get over this hump where we have lost and some of the things that have happened to us that just haven't happened to this program in five years. You don't drop three in a row at home. You don't lose by double digits at home."

Romar was expecting an upbeat group at practice Friday, however, saying this team's attitude has rarely wavered.

"Our players are really good kids, and they try to do what we ask. If they were a rebellious group that didn't want to try to do what we ask, I wouldn't mind blaming them," he said with a laugh. "But they try to do what we ask so I can't put it on them. I've got to do a better job."

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