UW Men's Notes: Huskies respond to Lute's remarks

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Washington Huskies figured any controversy over their non-conference schedule was over now that they are safely in the Sweet 16.

But Arizona coach Lute Olson brought it back to the forefront Tuesday when he said in a news conference that the Wildcats would be better off playing an easier schedule to get a loftier seed into the NCAA tournament, and took a shot at the Huskies in the process.

"Washington and ourselves split and we went a game deeper in the league tournament," Olson said. "Maybe it is best to play 10 out of your first 11 at home [UW actually played 13 of its first 14 at home]."

Hearing Olson's words, Washington athletic director Todd Turner defended his team's schedule Wednesday.

"How many times did he beat UCLA?" Turner said. "We played Gonzaga. That's a pretty good team, and we beat them."

In fact, Arizona lost both times it played UCLA, the eventual Pac-10 regular season and tournament champion, while the Huskies beat the Bruins twice.

Arizona finished 20-13 against a schedule that was rated as the seventh-toughest in the country. UW is 26-6 against a schedule that was rated No. 92. But the Huskies finished better than Arizona in the Pac-10, going 13-5 while the Wildcats were 11-7. UW received a No. 5 seed while Arizona was No. 8.

Turner said the Huskies intended to make the schedule a little lighter than it had been in 2005 since UW was a younger team.

"I think our schedule worked out well for our team," Turner said. "We had two new starters who were freshmen and we played a couple of challenging games early. It worked for our team. I will defend our schedule."

Turner pointed out that UW had Miami lined up as a possible opponent in its early-season BCA Classic before the Hurricanes were upset by Air Force. UW then beat the Falcons, who were an at-large pick to the NCAA tournament. Washington also thought it would get a tougher opponent than New Mexico when it agreed to play in the Wooden Classic.

Arizona's schedule was rated as high as it was in part because the Wildcats played Kansas, Connecticut and Michigan State at the Maui Classic to begin the year.

"The main reason their [strength of schedule] is higher is the first three games in Maui," Turner said. "We would have loved to have played in Maui but we couldn't get in."

Turner, however, said the Huskies will play in the Maui tournament "in a couple of years" and that the Huskies are attempting to beef up their schedule just a bit next season. UW already has games lined up at Gonzaga and at home against LSU, each teams playing in the Sweet 16.

A proposed game at Georgia Tech fell through.

"We're having a hard time with it, to be honest with you," he said. "We are ready to try and schedule even more and better national teams if we can, but it's hard to get them to want to play us right now."

NOTE

• UW coach Lorenzo Romar has been chosen as the winner of the 2006 Coach Wooden "Keys to Life" Award. The award has been given annually since 1998 to coaches who exhibit outstanding character. The "Keys to Life" were a creed given to legendary coach UCLA coach John Wooden when he was 12. Romar will be presented with the award on April 1 in Indianapolis, the site of this year's Final Four.