Loss like this can wreck UW's season

Who were these guys in gold?

Even during player introductions the Washington starters strolled onto the floor like they were too cool for the conference.

Where was that trademark hunger on defense? Where was the aggression? Where was the energy that feeds off the frenzy from their sold-out houses?

In Saturday's 90-79 loss to Oregon, the 17th-ranked Huskies, the only ranked team in the Pac-10, played as if they already had the deed to their second straight conference championship.

They played without focus. Their defense, which usually causes a tsunami of turnovers, couldn't get Oregon to give up the ball.

They played as if this were Casual Saturday.

Defense is hard work and the Huskies usually take to it like it is second nature to them. But on this sorry Saturday afternoon, they weren't willing to put in the work.

"We didn't play with the same heart and passion that they did," Washington's senior leader, Quincy Pondexter, said. "When they're out there jumping up and down and cheering and smiling on your home court, that hurts."

This loss hurts. It's the kind of defeat in January that can haunt a team in March. It's an NCAA-tournament-seed-killing loss. A bracket buster.

The Pac-10 is thin and weak. And home losses inside the conference can knock Washington all the way from a three or four seed in March to something like a 12 seed.

It won't be enough this season to go, say, 12-6 and win the conference. Washington has to blow through this league like a cyclone. It has to dominate.

Losing a game like this, by double digits at home to a team like Oregon that already has lost to Portland, Montana, St. Mary's and was thumped by 37 at Missouri, can wreck Washington's bracket.

Instead of getting a second-round game against a team like Butler in a place like Spokane, they could draw Purdue in the Bradley Center in Milwaukee on the tournament's first day.

Remember this loss on Selection Sunday.

Remember how slow Washington was to loose balls. Remember how, for much of the game, it looked as if the Huskies were playing at half-speed. Remember how easily they conceded the baseline when wondrous junior-college transfer Malcolm Armstead or senior Tajuan Porter drove.

"This is a statement game for us, most definitely, that Washington's not the only team in the conference," said Porter after the Ducks finished their sweep of the Washington schools. "Washington is the only team that's ranked, but it's not going to be easy.

"Everybody's expecting to see last year's (Oregon) team, but we're a different team. And we're still just starting to figure it out. We're only playing in flashes. It's always tough to win up here, but we pulled it off and got a steal on the road."

Oregon spread the Huskies' defense and then shredded it.

The Ducks let Armstead slice up the Huskies with his left-handed Lenny Wilkens-like soft hook shots at the rim and his smart feeds to blossoming big man Michael Dunigan.

Armstead, who finished with 21 points, six assists and three steals, schooled Venoy Overton in a way no other guard in the country has. Overton played him too tightly, too far from the basket and Armstead punished him.

"We used Washington as our model last year," Oregon coach Ernie Kent said. "Look at them. Look at their team. Look how athletic they are. They share the ball. They get up and down. We worried about their pressure."

But that model Huskies team went missing in action Saturday. The Huskies didn't get up and down. They didn't share the ball (a mere eight assists). They weren't as athletic as the Ducks.

They forced only eight turnovers. Even their loud crowd couldn't get them interested.

"I told our team they (Huskies) have the best atmosphere in the conference by far, right now," Kent said. "What a home-court advantage. And to come in and beat a team that's won 18 in a row in here ... "

Oregon sounded an alarm. Washington may be the best team in the conference, but it won't cake-walk into March. The Huskies have to work much harder and want it more fiercely than they showed against the Ducks.

They have to remember who they are.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com. More columns at www.seattletimes.com/

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