Notebook | Hawes wins stat battle against Pitt big man Gray

PITTSBURGH — There were 20 NBA scouts on hand Saturday to watch the much-ballyhooed matchup of Pitt center Aaron Gray and Washington center Spencer Hawes.

But when it was over, they might have left wondering just what they'd seen as the two combined for only 17 points, hitting 8 of 23 shots.

"That's probably not the matchup everybody was looking for," said Hawes, who got the better of the statistical battle with 12 points (though hitting just 6 of 16 shots) while outrebounding Gray 12-10 and getting three blocks.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar said he thought Hawes "held his own" against Gray, but Hawes said he felt little consolation since Gray's team got the win, 65-61.

"To see you are successful feels good a little bit, but that doesn't really enter into it right now," Hawes said.

Hawes, officially listed at 250 pounds, actually weighs about 230 or so these days because of his recent bout with a stomach ailment and he said that took a toll against the 270-pound Gray.

"I'm not weighing as much as I'd like to and he's just so big," Hawes said. "I got bumped off [the block] a bit and I had to make an adjustment."

Gray wasn't around for interviews afterward, having suffered a sprained ankle late in the game when he fell awkwardly after colliding with Jon Brockman while battling for a rebound.

Brockman was booed loudly and admitted that, "It might have looked like I threw him down. But he landed on my ankle [which caused him to fall]."

Gray could miss a game or two, though teammates said they were hopeful he would be back quickly.

Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon applauded Brockman afterward for coming over to the Pitt bench to check on Gray.

"He's a class kid," Dixon said. "That's a class program."

Oliver hangs tough

Adrian Oliver admitted he had a rough last couple of days after missing an open three-pointer with about a minute left against Washington State that could have put UW ahead Wednesday.

Oliver said he tried to get up some shots in the brief time in between. It appeared to pay off Saturday as he hit both of his three-pointers en route to eight points, his most in the last nine games.

"The last couple of games he didn't score [much], but he played hard and so he's gotten minutes, and I've told him when you play hard and earn the right to get on the floor, then a basket or two comes your way and all of a sudden, you begin to gain your confidence," Romar said.

Said Oliver: "I was trying to be more assertive offensively."

Oliver showed that edge when he got into a brief staredown with Pitt's Mike Cook late in the first half after being called for a foul while going after a rebound.

"He said something to me so I said something back to him," Oliver said. "I think he was surprised. I think he thought we would just back down. Like this is the Big East and we would just back down. I was showing him we weren't going to back down."

Note

• UW used just eight players as freshman F Phil Nelson did not play for the first time all season. Nelson had been scoreless in UW's past three games.