Huskies to face Duke and Marquette next season

Who needs Gonzaga when Duke is on the schedule?

The Huskies quieted critics who clamor for them to renew an in-state rivalry with the Bulldogs and released a 2011-12 men's basketball schedule that features a pair of nationally-televised games against Duke and Marquette at New York's Madison Square Garden.

"It's the kind of schedule that gets you motivated," junior forward Darnell Gant said. "It's a good look for the school. When you think of Duke that's one of the top schools ever. So that's good exposure for the school and good exposure for us as players."

Washington's schedule has a little bit of everything.

There's two 'true' road games against a pair of mid-majors, two neutral site contests versus teams from the ACC and Big East and eight games at Edmundson Pavilion against opponents from smaller conferences.

Still the highlight of the schedule is a Dec. 10 date at famed MSG against four-time national champion Duke on CBS. It's the fifth matchup between the schools and the first since 1990.

"It will be a great experience," sophomore guard Abdul Gaddy said. "I played there before in the Jordan Classic. It's definitely a great feeling to be there. It's one of the most famous arenas.

"It will be an honor for us. We're going to play hard and we're going to play Husky basketball."

Before facing Duke, the Huskies meet Marquette on Dec. 6 in the Jimmy V Classic. The ESPN-televised game at MSG is a rematch of their 2010 first-round battle when UW beat the Golden Eagles 80-78.

The Marquette game caps a nine-day trip that begins Dec. 2 at Nevada.

"The last few years we've had struggles on the road and we get tested early now to see where we're at," Gant said. "That's good for us. It gives us good experience as a team."

Washington opens the 2011-12 season hosting the Basketball Travelers Inc. (BTI) Classic at Edmundson Pavilion on Nov. 12-14. The tournament brings Portland, Florida Atlantic and Georgia State to Seattle.

Other nonconference home opponents include: Houston Baptist (Nov. 25), UC Santa Barbara (Dec. 16), South Dakota State (Dec. 19), Cal State Northridge (Dec. 22) and Seattle University (Jan. 10).

The Huskies also play Seattle Pacific (Nov. 4) at Hec Ed in an exhibition.

Washington makes its first trip Nov. 20 to Saint Louis, where coach Lorenzo Romar led the Billikens from 1999-2002 before taking over at UW.

The game is also a homecoming for junior guard Scott Suggs, who grew up 35 minutes away in Washington, Mo.

Saint Louis was the first school to offer a scholarship to Suggs, who won the 2008 Mr. Basketball award in Missouri.

"I'm looking forward to it and a lot folks in the area are looking forward to it as well," said Suggs' father Ron. "People were disappointed when he left, but Scott was a kid that it's hard not like him.

"They've been waiting on it for a while. ... I think the entire high school will be there. I'm talking about 1,600 folks. So yeah, we're excited."

The Huskies begin the first Pac-12 season with a home game against Oregon State (Dec. 29) and a New Year's Eve matchup versus Oregon (Dec. 31).

Washington goes on the road the next week and makes its first Pac-12 voyage to Colorado (Jan. 5) and Utah (Jan. 7). The trip to Provo, Utah allows redshirt freshman C.J. Wilcox to play near his home in Pleasant Grove.

Washington plays California, Stanford, Colorado and Utah just once during the regular season.

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