Huskies men cling to NCAA hopes

Their NCAA tournament chances may still not be much better than the odds of Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee winning "Friendship of the Year" honors.

That the Washington Huskies men's basketball team can even talk about March Madness without inspiring smirks, however, shows how quickly things can change in this year's Pac-10.

"Until somebody tells you we are not going to the NCAA tournament we are going out there playing each game like we have a chance," said UW guard Ryan Appleby.

Washington looked tournament-ready Thursday night when it beat Arizona 75-66, Washington's third win in its last four games, a stretch that began with a home victory over conference leader UCLA.

And while UW remains just 15-12 overall and 6-8 in Pac-10, hardly the résumé for an NCAA tournament at-large team, the Arizona win moved them a half-game from fifth place in a conference generally considered one of the best, if not the best, in the nation this season.

The Huskies, in fact, can take sole possession of fifth by the end of the weekend with a chain of events that Vegas oddmakers would judge likely to happen.

A UW win over Arizona State in a game that will tip at 3 p.m., coupled with losses by Oregon at UCLA and Arizona at Washington State today and California at Stanford on Sunday would put the Huskies by themselves behind the top four of UCLA, Stanford, WSU and USC.

Of course, a loss today could also consign UW to ninth place all by itself by Sunday night and back on the course where the only route to the NCAA's would be winning the Pac-10 tournament.

And despite the recent wins, UW's road to an at-large bid is still long.

The Huskies were ranked No. 102 Friday in the RPI — ninth in the Pac-10.

And today's game is the final one at home this year for the Huskies, who will finish with road contests at Stanford, Cal and Washington State, all teams that have already beaten UW in Seattle, losses that were part of Washington's 3-7 start in the Pac-10. Washington likely would have to win its remaining four games to have a chance at an at-large bid.

Those are among the reasons Romar hasn't spent much time thinking about his team's postseason chances, nor discussing them with his players.

"It's just been too difficult to talk about the big picture when we had dug ourselves a hole like that," Romar said. "Our big picture has been that we need to improve as much as we can and play right."

Romar believes the Huskies have been doing that of late. He was particularly heartened that UW could beat Arizona despite some abysmal shooting — guards Justin Dentmon and Ryan Appleby were a combined 2 for 20 and the Huskies were 3 of 16 on three-pointers. Washington won largely by getting a breakout performance from freshman guard Venoy Overton (19 points in 19 minutes) — an indication of improving depth — and solid defense that held Arizona to 21-of-54 shooting.

"That's what you want from your team: When you are not hitting on all cylinders, you are still able to come up with wins," Romar said.

If nothing else, the recent wins greatly improve UW's chances at landing a postseason bid of some sort.

Along with the NCAA and NIT tournaments, there is also a third postseason tourney this year, the College Basketball Invitational, which will select 16 teams.

Washington was snubbed by the NIT last year despite going 19-12. But school athletic officials think the Huskies are better positioned for a bid this year should they get a few more wins, thanks to the strength of the conference as well as a more vigorous effort by the Pac-10 to lobby the NIT.

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