UW Men | Huskies hope to derail Arizona's NCAA streak

The streak began before all but two of them were born.

The last thing they want is for it to die on their watch.

"You don't want it to be your year when the streak is broken," said Arizona senior guard Jawann McClellan, speaking of the Wildcats' 23 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament.

The streak dates to 1985, Lute Olson's second year as Arizona's coach and the first year of the 64-team tournament. It's the second-longest in NCAA history, trailing only 27 in a row by North Carolina from 1975 to 2001.

But as the Wildcats make their annual appearance at Edmundson Pavilion tonight — tipoff is 8 p.m. — that streak is in as much danger as passengers riding shotgun with Lindsay Lohan.

Arizona (16-9, 6-6 Pac-10) finishes with four of six regular-season games on the road sandwiching home games with USC and UCLA.

A 4-2 finish might be necessary to earn an at-large bid unless the NCAA committee breaks from tradition. No Pac-10 team that has finished 9-9 in conference play has been invited.

Arizona supporters cite the strength of the Pac-10, the fact that the team is No. 17 in the RPI (second in the Pac-10 behind UCLA) and has the No. 1 rating in strength of schedule, as reasons a .500 conference record should be enough.

"I'd be shocked if 9-9 doesn't get you in," Arizona interim coach Kevin O'Neill said this week. "Especially in our case, with the strength of schedule being number one. I think we have a different resume than most of the people in the conference because of our nonconference schedule."

Some of those who speculate how the field will unfold agree. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi had the Wildcats as a No. 7 seed this week.

The hard part, O'Neill allows, could simply be getting to 9-9.

"We're a long ways from being in," he said. "We've got a lot of work to do."

For Arizona, one of the most logical avenues to get to at least 9-9 is to start by winning here tonight, something the Wildcats have had more success doing than anybody the past few years. The Wildcats and WSU are the only teams to have beaten UW at Edmunson Pavilion each of the past two seasons.

"It just seems like we play well in there," said McClellan, who scored 22 points in Seattle last season. "We shoot the ball well in there. But I don't want to jinx us, so now we'll go in there and shoot a bunch of bricks."

The announcement by Olson in November that he would not coach the team this season, with O'Neill taking over, has made this a curious season in Tucson. But McClellan said that shouldn't be used as an excuse.

"We're all adults here," he said. "That hasn't affected the way we've played."

Instead, Arizona's biggest problem might be a simple lack of depth. The Wildcats have four players averaging 34.4 minutes or more in Pac-10 games and another averaging 31.8. One of those regulars, point guard Nic Wise, is out with a knee injury, depleting the depth.

That has left the bulk of the scoring duties to freshman guard Jerryd Bayless, averaging a Pac-10 high 23.1 points in conference play, and sophomore forward Chase Budinger (19.0).

"We just can't give them open looks," Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said.

Washington is just hoping to stay in position for any kind of postseason, standing in ninth place at 5-8 in conference play (14-12 overall). But with home games this week against both Arizona schools, UW could conceivably move as high as fifth place in the muddled middle of the Pac-10 standings with two wins.

Washington's quest helps put Arizona's streak in perspective. UW has never made the tournament more than three straight seasons.

Romar has maintained all along he thought the Huskies could make the tournament.

Wins in two of the past three games, including a victory over conference-leader UCLA, have reinforced to Romar that the Huskies can win when they play the right way.

While saying the team is talented enough to achieve its goals, Romar said last week, "I would be the first to tell you we are not as talented as some teams in this league. But you don't always have to be the most talented to beat teams.

"Because of focus and effort and dedication, we can still beat teams that are more talented. In terms of finishing in the top half of the conference and winning more than you lose, you can trick some teams if you've got the right focus and intensity."

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