UW Men's Basketball | Huskies beat Seattle U. 87-60 as rivalry renews

Convinced Seattle University needed a reason to believe it could beat the 16th-ranked Washington Huskies, SU coach Joe Callero tried selling his team on the insanity of March Madness, where underdogs routinely pull off upsets in the NCAA tournament.

"They're probably going to be a No. 2, 3 or 4 seed in the tournament, so for us and our kids and our program it's like a tournament game," he said. "We're a 14, 15 or 16 seed. You see these pairings all the time and sometimes they're special games."

And sometimes the higher-seeded team steamrolls to a dominant victory, which is exactly what the Huskies did Tuesday night, claiming an 87-60 win in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,000 at Edmundson Pavilion.

For all the pregame hype about the renewal of a crosstown rivalry between Seattle's two major-college basketball programs, the 27-point differential revealed how much the Huskies have matured this season and how far the Redhawks have to travel before this game becomes competitive.

"It's a measuring stick," Callero said. "You have to jump in the water to find out the temperature of it. Some coaches schedule to keep a job and I'm scheduling to try to build a program. We're not going to dodge people."

The schools, separated by five miles, are scheduled to play each other the next five seasons, renewing a series that began in 1953 and ended in 1980 when Seattle U. dropped out of Division I.

"It was fun to get that game kick-started again," UW coach Lorenzo Romar said.

It was fun and games for the Huskies until late in the first half, when Quincy Pondexter toppled awkwardly over Redhawks guard Chris Gweth after leaping high to retrieve a pass from Venoy Overton near the basket. Pondexter bruised his ribs, walked off the court and didn't play for the rest of the half, but did play in the second half.

"Quincy is a high-flyer," said Romar, who rushed the court to aid Pondexter. "That's happened in practice where he's gone down. I wanted to look into his face and ask him, 'What was it?,' the severity of it.

"I didn't want him to say knee. That's what I didn't want to hear. He said ribs, so no reason to be alarmed yet."

Pondexter will be re-evaluated today. After the game, he said he expects to play in Saturday's regular-season finale against Washington State.

Despite Pondexter's hard fall and a few tumbles into the front row from Jon Brockman and Isaiah Thomas, the game played out as expected. The Huskies used their superior size and quickness on defense to stymie the Redhawks, who converted just 25 of 66 field goals (37.9 percent) and committed 21 turnovers.

Meanwhile, the Huskies never trailed, took a 42-19 at lead into halftime and led by as many as 33 points in the second half. They shot 56.1 percent (37 of 66) and had no problems solving Seattle U.'s matchup zone. Brockman punished the Redhawks in the paint for a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds while Thomas finished with 12 points on a litany of acrobatic layups and deft shooting.

Justin Dentmon (11 points) and Pondexter (10) also scored in double figures.

Aaron Broussard led Seattle University (19-8) with 13 points, Leigh Swanson had 12 and Drew Harris 11.

Callero said he learned how much his team needed to improve before competing with a team like the Huskies. He also learned a lot about Washington.

"It realistically could be a Final Four team," he said.

Percy Allen: 206-464-2278 or pallen@seattletimes.com

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Boxley	25	3-12	0-0	2-3	0	3	7
Wright	22	2-4	0-0	2-4	1	1	4
Powers	34	4-13	0-0	5-11	2	3	8
Burl	20	0-2	1-2	0-1	1	1	1
Gweth	23	1-3	0-0	1-2	1	3	2
Broussard	24	5-11	3-7	2-5	0	0	13
Olson	9	1-2	0-0	0-0	0	1	2
Harris	26	4-9	2-4	3-3	2	1	11
Swanson	17	5-10	2-2	1-1	1	0	12
	200	25-66	8-15	18-34	8	13	60

Percentages: FG .379, FT .533. Three-point goals: 2-12, (Boxley 1-4, Powers 0-1, Burl 0-1, Gweth 0-1, Broussard 0-2, Harris 1-3). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 2, (Austen 2). Turnovers: 21, (Boxley 2, Wright 8, Powers 3, Burl 4, Gweth 2, Harris 2). Steals: 11, (Boxley 2, Wright 2, Burl 2, Gweth 2, Broussard 2, Harris).

WASHINGTON
min		fgm-a	ftm-a	or-t	a	pf	pts
Pondexter	16	5-7	0-0	2-2	0	1	10
Brockman	18	6-13	4-4	4-10	0	1	16
Gant	18	2-4	0-0	0-1	1	2	4
Thomas	26	5-8	1-2	0-2	4	1	12
Dentmon	24	5-7	0-0	1-1	4	1	11
Overton	22	4-5	0-0	0-2	5	3	9
B-Amanng	15	0-3	2-4	0-6	4	1	2
Suggs	14	1-3	0-0	1-2	1	2	2
Wallace	10	4-5	0-0	1-3	0	0	8
Holiday	12	2-4	0-0	0-3	0	1	4
Turner	19	1-5	0-0	0-4	3	1	2
Wolfinger	6	2-2	2-2	1-1	0	0	7
	200	37-66	9-12	13-40	22	14	87

Percentages: FG .561, FT .750. Three-point goals: 4-13, (Pondexter 0-1, Thomas 1-3, Dentmon 1-2, Overton 1-2, Suggs 0-2, Turner 0-2, Wolfinger 1-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 4, (Pondexter, Gant, Bryan-Amaning, Turner). Turnovers: 18, (Brockman 2, Thomas 2, Dentmon 2, Bryan-Amaning 3, Suggs 3, Wallace, Holiday 2, Turner, Wolfinger 2). Steals: 16, (Pondexter 2, Brockman, Thomas 5, Dentmon 3, Overton 5).

Seattle University	19	41	—	60
Washington	42	45	—	87

Attendance: 10,000. Officials: Randy Burkhart, Tom Wood, Marc Beasley.