Former Washington player Scott Didrickson will be rooting for New Mexico in Saturday matchup

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Former Huskies captain Scott Didrickson, who played for Washington from 1991 to 1995, is the radio color analyst for New Mexico men's basketball games.

"I will definitely feel a lot of love for both teams," he said before Saturday's NCAA tournament second-round matchup between the No. 3-seeded Lobos and No. 11 Huskies.

"I take a lot of pride being from Washington and having played there means a lot to me, but at the same time, I'm in New Mexico now and I love being there," he said. "I'll be cheering for the Lobos."

Didrickson, a Mercer Island star who played two seasons for Lynn Nance and two for Bob Bender, never had a winning season at UW.

"It's fun for me to see how far it's come," Didrickson said. "To have even sniffed the NCAA tournament back in the days when I was there would have been the biggest deal in the whole world, and now it's like a yearly deal."

After he left school, Didrickson worked as a color analyst for Huskies radio broadcasts for two years before joining coach Ritchie McKay as an assistant in New Mexico in 2002. McKay had been an assistant at UW.

When McKay and his assistants were fired in 2007, Didrickson remained in New Mexico, working in youth ministry and radio.

He said he watched the pairing for the tournament with excitement and a bit of trepidation.

"When it crossed on the screen, I was excited to get a chance to see so many people I know and excited for the school," Didrickson said. "Now having to play against them, it definitely pulls on me a little bit."

Opportunity for Bryan-Amaning?

New Mexico surrendered 26 points on 12-of-16 shooting and 13 rebounds Thursday to Montana center Brian Qvale.

Washington center Matthew Bryan-Amaning said he doesn't believe the Lobos will defend him like they did Qvale.

"They've got strong, athletic big guys and they try to play one-on-one as much as they can and if so, we'll try to use it to our advantage," Bryan-Amaning said. "We become more aggressive. But when (the Lobos) played against other guys, they did something different, so we're going to go in the game and see what happens.'

Bryan-Amaning has scored in double figures in nine of the past 12 games.

A day to remember

The underdogs ruled Thursday in one of the most memorable opening days in NCAA tournament history.

The No. 11 Huskies joined a long list of lower seeds who pulled off upsets, including No. 14 Ohio, No. 13 Murray State, No. 11 Old Dominion and No. 10 Saint Mary's.

"We've seen it on SportsCenter, but we haven't paid too much attention to it," Quincy Pondexter said. "We've focused on our games, (but) it's good to be a part of a historic day that people are going to remember for a long time."

Notes

• Several Huskies noted the Pac-10's Thursday-Saturday regular-season schedule has helped them this week. "We're used to this quick turnaround," assistant coach Raphael Chillious said. "For us, it's like playing our normal schedule."

• Sophomore walk-on Brendan Sherrer said he contracted viral meningitis, which forced him to be hospitalized. It was believed he suffered a stroke and Sherrer underwent a spinal tap before doctors determined his condition.

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