UW Notebook | Overton can't get untracked as referees whistle him often for fouls

PORTLAND — The Washington Huskies had seen it happen so often the last half of the season. Venoy Overton would enter the game and suddenly everything would turn, opposing guards wilting under the heat of his pressure.

It happened briefly Saturday when Purdue's Lewis Jackson picked up his second foul on a charging call midway through the first half and had to leave the game for a while.

But otherwise, Jackson and the Boilermakers weathered the storm, a key reason Purdue was able to beat the Huskies 76-74 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Overton also felt the officials didn't help as he was called for four fouls — all in the second half which negated his effectiveness.

"It's real tough," he said. "The last 10 to 12 games, I've been up in people, playing physical. I felt like the refs were kind of calling it a little too close, blowing the whistles a little too much. I felt like if it didn't affect the play they shouldn't have called it. I was just trying to pressure up and the ref was not allowing it today."

Because of the foul trouble, Overton played just 16 minutes.

"I think Venoy did his normal Venoy impersonation," said UW coach Lorenzo Romar. "He guarded the ball, he pressured the ball. And this particular crew, I guess, decided to call it a little closer."

Overton said the officials told him that he was using his body too much. "It was the same kind of contact I played with [against Mississippi State in UW's NCAA tourney opener on Thursday]," he said.

Overton, though, said the refs weren't solely to blame. He said Jackson, a freshman, did a good job not getting flustered and that Purdue also had a good game plan, using multiple guards to bring the ball up, which negated his impact.

"They seen I could bring pressure and they had a couple of guys bring it up," he said. "They would pass it up to the other guy. They prepared very well for this."

Seniors say goodbye

The loss meant the end of the careers for seniors Jon Brockman, Justin Dentmon and Artem Wallace.

Brockman and Dentmon were each starters this year, and Brockman a four-year starter who leaves as the leading rebounder and second-leading scorer in school history and a reputation for being among the hardest workers.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say we'll never get a player like Jon Brockman," said Romar. "Maybe as talented, but not like him. He is unlike anyone I've ever seen or played with."

Brockman, who had 20 points and tied a career high 18 rebounds, said the realization of the end of his career was tough to take.

"I'm sure it will keep hitting me when I start realizing more and more things that I won't ever do again," he said. "But the fact that these guys were able to help me get back to the tournament, I'd do anything for them. The saddest thing is that it's the last time this group will play together. And that's probably what hurts more than anything."

Thomas busts out

UW freshman guard Isaiah Thomas had insisted he was due to break out of a scoring slump, and he did just that, hitting 8 of 20 shots and scoring a game-high 24 points. It was his first 20-point game since scoring 24 against Oregon Feb. 14.

"I got a lot of shots up this morning," he said. "It's just shots I usually make and shots I usually take and they dropped today."

Thomas said that while Purdue's pressure defense might have bothered some of the Huskies, he liked it.

"I like pressure because you can just drive around guys," he said.

Harshman watches from afar

Marv Harshman was in Phoenix on vacation this week while Washington played in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

He still gets nervous before tipoff, gives instructions to the television and shouts at the referees.

"He's still coaching," said Dave Harshman, Marv's son.

Marv is 91 now, and the consummate coach lives in Bothell. He is a Washington icon after coaching the Huskies from 1971-1985.

Harshman watched Thursday's first-round victory over Mississippi State on television.

"They always play hard," Harshman said in a phone interview on Friday night. "It makes you know you're going to be in the game."

That was the case against Purdue as Washington spent the second half trying to climb out of a hole and nearly got there only to lose by two points. And down South, Harshman almost certainly spent most of the game shouting instructions at the television. He may no longer be on the bench, but that doesn't mean he's stopped coaching.

NOTES

• Purdue coach Matt Painter called center JaJuan Johnson's two blocks of UW shots at the one minute mark "the play of the game. That's what you have to have at the end of the game. A lot of people talk about offensive possessions and making shots, [but] it almost always comes down to getting stops and we were able to get a stop and that was the key play."