UW Men's Basketball | Huskies know how to rebound

Watching his team rally from an eight-point second-half deficit to beat Stanford on Thursday night further reinforced to Washington coach Lorenzo Romar that his team can bounce back.

What has never been an issue this season is whether it can rebound.

The Huskies, who play a crucial game at 3 p.m. today at Edmundson Pavilion against California, lead the nation in rebounding margin at 12.4 per game.

If the Huskies keep that they would shatter the school record of plus-8.9 set twice — two years ago and in 1953, when the Huskies advanced to their only Final Four.

Rebounding was critical in Thursday's 84-83 win over the Cardinal, in which the Huskies outrebounded Stanford 44-28, including 23-9 on the offensive end. The last of the night was the biggest as Jon Brockman snared a miss by teammate Matthew Bryan-Amaning and put it back in with 4.6 seconds left for the winning points.

Brockman said that the team's prowess on the glass "can almost be another offense in itself, just as valuable as running sets."

Romar, meanwhile, said this is the best rebounding team of his seven years at UW. Brockman, among the nation's best rebounders at 10.3 per game, is an obvious main reason.

But Romar said "he's got more help" this year.

Sophomore Bryan-Amaning is averaging 5.9 per game and junior Quincy Pondexter 5.8, both averages higher than any player had on the Sweet 16 team of 2005, led by Bobby Jones at 5.6.

Assistant coach Jim Shaw has the lead responsibility for rebounding, and Romar gives him ample credit — UW had a minus-0.2 rebounding margin in 2004, the year before Shaw arrived, but hasn't been below plus-4.0 since.

Washington has an aggressive game plan when it comes to rebounding. The Huskies routinely send four players to the offensive glass, in contrast to a team like Washington State, which often requires most of its players to retreat once a shot is taken.

The tradeoff is that sometimes the Huskies give up fast-break baskets. But Romar thinks it's worth the risk, especially with a quick, athletic team like UW that has players that can crash the boards, yet still adjust and get back on defense.

Not that it's easy.

"It's very hard," Pondexter said. "You've really got to be in top shape. But the whole team is buying in to helping each other out [defensively if one player doesn't get back in time]."

Another factor is the maturity of players such as Pondexter. He said he weighs in the 215- to 220-pound range compared to 180 when he arrived two years ago, bulk that helps him handle the battles inside better.

"All of that goes into it," Romar said.

And it creates an intriguing matchup against a Cal team that is statistically the best three-point shooting team in the country at 49.5 percent.

Two Bears are shooting threes better than 52 percent — swingman Theo Robertson at a conference-leading 61.2 percent (30 of 49), and point guard Jerome Randle at 52.1 percent (38 of 73).

Meanwhile, the Huskies (11-3, 2-0) rank ninth in the Pac-10 in three-point defense at 35.1 percent, something Romar said has to improve today. One factor is UW's smallish backcourt, which at times allows opponents to shoot over the Huskies' defense.

Cal's shooting has helped the team get off to a 14-2 start under former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery, in his first year with the Bears. California is 3-0 in Pac-10 play after winning at Washington State on Thursday night.