Lorenzo Romar isn’t one to make knee-jerk determinations about his team after a single game.
Yes, his team came out a little flat and a little unfocused in the second half on Sunday night, And, yes, the Huskies were forced to hang on for a 77-71 win over Florida Atlantic University at Hec Edmundson Pavilion.
But Romar didn’t make a big deal of it. Why? Well, he hadn’t really seen that in the previous two games.
So unless those lags begin happening regularly, he’s going to chalk it up to one bad half.
“This hasn’t been a reoccurring theme for us,” Romar said. “I’m a guy who looks at patterns. When there are patterns, you better deal with them. If it just happens here and there, OK, sometimes things go wrong. As much as we want our teams to be perfect and play at a high level every night, it probably won’t happen.”
The Huskies were far from perfect but not quite awful in the second half. Admittedly, they can play much better, or at least finish with more conviction.
They had the upper hand, leading 51-37 with just under 13 minutes remaining. FAU was wilting and ready to be put away, but defensive breakdowns prevented the Huskies from capitalizing.
“You have to get stops,” said sophomore Terrence Ross. “For us to put teams away, we have to get stops.”
The Huskies weren’t getting stops. Even worse, they were giving up layups and uncontested jumpshots to the Owls.
“We had a mental lapse in the second half,” said point guard Abdul Gaddy. “We let up a lot, especially on the defensive end. On the road, we could lose with that type of performance.”
Florida Atlantic stayed in the game with 11 points in the final ten minutes of the second half. Whenever Washington go a bucket inside from Aziz N’Diaye or a 3-pointer from C.J. Wilcox, Florida Atlantic answered. The Owls got as close as 74-70 with 1:22 left after back-to-back 3-pointers from Pablo Bertone and Kore White.
On the ensuing possession, Gaddy made an uncharacteristically sloppy pass to Wilcox on a curl cut that was stolen by FAU’s Alex Tucker.
The Owls worked for a good shot, but White’s 3-point attempt from top of the key was long. FAU fouled Gaddy on the ensuing possession and he made both free throws to push the lead to 76-70 with 38 seconds remaining to secure the outcome.
Romar was disappointed that his team allowed Florida Atlantic to hang around. But it did provide some valuable late, close-game experience. Romar noted that tonight’s opponent – Portland – has already played those types of games.
“I wouldn’t have scripted it this way,” Romar said. “(Portland) was getting really good (experience). We didn’t get that (Saturday night), and today, we did a little bit. I’m glad we won. But the silver lining we got the experience of playing in a close game early in the year.”
Wilcox led all scores with 19 points on 5-for-13 shooting, including three 3-pointers. Gaddy was his typical solid self, save for the one late turnover. He scored 15 points and dished out six assists. Terrence Ross had 14 points and five rebounds.
Washington had a major size advantage inside against the smaller Owls, particularly with 7-foot center N’Diaye. White was Florida Atlantic’s tallest player at 6-8, and former Steilacoom standout and Tacoma native Kelvin Penn was forced to help play inside at 6-7. The Huskies forced the ball down low and N’Diaye responded with 14 points and 12 rebounds. But he missed a handful of easy shots.
“I need to slow down when I get the ball inside,” he said.
Florida Atlantic (0-2) had four players in double figures, led by Greg Gantt’s 14 points.
“I don’t like to lose, and say ‘We’ll learn from this.’ ” Romar said. “I prefer to win and learn from this. Hopefully this was one of those games where we won, but a lot of lessons to be learned from this one.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports
HUSKIES GAMEDAY
PORTLAND (2-0) AT WASHINGTON (2-0)
7 p.m., Alaska Airlines Arena
TV: Root Sports. Radio: 950-AM/102.9-FM
Series: Washington holds a 13-2 series record over the Pilots. But three years ago, the Pilots beat the Huskies in Portland. However, Washington is 8-0 at home against Portland, including last year’s 94-72 win.
Statistical leaders: For UW – C.J. Wilcox, guard, 20.5 ppg and 5.0 rpg, Aziz N’Diaye, center, 8.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg. For Portland – Nemanja Mitrovic, guard, 15.5 ppg and 7.0 rpg, Ryan Nicholas, forward, 11.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg
Scouting report: The Pilots are the same tough, scrappy, fundamentally sound team under head coach Eric Reveno. They will run their sets, they will rebound, they will defend and they won’t give the ball away. Portland can’t match Washington’s athleticism, but they will play physical and not back down. Mitrovic, a 6-5 shooting guard who was a first-team all-WCC performer last season, makes more 46 percent from 3-point range. Nicholas was an all-state player at Gonzaga Prep and plays much larger than his 6-foot-7 frame. Overall, only Mitrovic has serious game experience from last year’s team that went 20-12. Washington got a bit of a scare from Florida Atlantic. A second-half letup on defense didn’t allow the Huskies to put FAU away. Expect that to change against Portland.
Next: Sunday, at St. Louis University
Ryan Divish, staff writer
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