Lorenzo Romar could look at Washington’s game today against 11th-ranked Marquette in the Jimmy V Classic two different ways.
If the Huskies coach were a pessimist, he might view the task of facing a 7-0 Golden Eagles squad at New York’s Madison Square Garden as the worst possible scenario after his team’s 76-73 overtime meltdown on the road at Nevada on Friday, leaving them 0-2 away from Alaska Airlines Arena.
“If the glass is half empty, then you’d say, ‘Wow what are we doing with all of these road games,’ ” Romar said via conference call from Manhattan.
Even on his worst day, however, Romar couldn’t be pessimistic for more than about 30 seconds. Which leads him to look at the game against ultra-talented Marquette and a looming game with No 7 Duke on Saturday as challenges.
“If my glass is half full, which it always is, I look at it as great, great preparation for going into our conference,” he said. “I already feel like we made progress from the first road game to the second. And we’ll see what happens against Marquette. I feel like with this team it will help us down the road.”
Washington needs to see improvement, or the Huskies could be in trouble in front of a national TV audience. Marquette is the best team Washington has played this season. Some observers think the Golden Eagles might be better than Duke.
Coach Buzz Williams and his team went into Madison, Wis., on Saturday and handled the then No. 9-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, snapping a 23-game home winning streak. The Golden Eagles did so without starting point guard Junior Cadougan, who was suspended.
“If you play Wisconsin anywhere, that’s a difficult game to win,” Romar said. “If you play them at their home floor … it’s almost impossible to win.”
Washington wasn’t so impressive in its loss to Nevada. The Huskies allowed Wolf Pack point guard Deonte Burton to score 31 points on an assortment of drives and jump shots. In the Huskies’ loss earlier this season at Saint Louis, guard Kwamain Mitchell also dictated the tempo, scoring 18 points.
Marquette will run a three-guard offense that relies on spreading the floor and taking advantage of dribble penetration. It’s something Washington hasn’t defended well.
“They got players who can space you, but yet they can put the ball on the floor and drive you,” Romar said. “So that’s ultimately what they’re trying to do. We talked to our team quite a bit about containing the dribble and keeping people in front of you.”
One of Marquette’s three guards is scintillating senior Darius Johnson-Odom, who is averaging just over 19 points per game.
Washington fans may remember Johnson-Odom, who was sophomore, when the Huskies knocked off Marquette in the 2010 NCAA tournament.
“No one has really defended him yet in the other games that they’ve played,” Romar said. “His shooting is so much better. He wasn’t as good a shooter in my opinion when we played them a couple of years ago. Now he’s knocking down all of those open shots.”
If Washington manages to slow down Johnson-Odom, it will still have to deal with 6-foot-6 senior Jae Crowder, who is averaging 16.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.
“He’s the most difficult matchup we’ll see this season,” Romar said of the big, versatile player.
Washington isn’t without its share of talented players. Sophomore guards Terrence Ross (16.2 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and C.J. Wilcox (15.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg) have been consistent producers for the Huskies.
“They are really, really, really good,” Williams said. They have four future NBA draft picks. Unbelievably talented. Statistically, they do some astonishing things offensively.”
Romar said there’s no secret plan for Washington to pull off the upset, or have success on the road.
“Execute,” he said emphatically. “Just execute. It sounds simple. It may sound like a straight-forward answer, but you come with all the schemes you want but if you don’t execute those schemes nothing is going to work. It’s not about what you’re doing. It’s how you’re doing it. And we just have to do a better job at what we’re doing.”
Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com
HUSKIES GAMEDAY
WASHINGTON (4-2) VS. NO. 11 MARQUETTE (7-0)
Tipoff: 6:30 p.m. Madison Square Garden, New York
TV: ESPN. Radio: 950-AM, 102.9-FM
Series: The two teams have played each other three times. The most recent meeting came two years ago in the NCAA tournament when the 11th-seeded Huskies upset the Golden Eagles, 80-78, in San Jose, Calif.
PROBABLE STARTERS
MarquettePOSPPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Junior CadouganG7.72.06.3.432.636
Darius Johnson-OdomG19.43.13.3.538.776
Vander BlueG10.44.04.0.456.708
Jae CrowderF16.96.71.8.571.762
Chris OtuleC5.74.90.2.600.526
Washington POSPPGRPGAPGFG%FT%
Abdul GaddyG9.73.85.3.457.688
C.J. WilcoxG15.84.21.8.478.846
Terrence RossG16.26.72.0.459.889
Darnell Gant F 8.5 4.5 0.6 .541 .727
Aziz N’Diaye C 8.2 8.7 0.5 .488 .350
Scouting report: The Huskies look to win their first game away from Alaska Airlines Arena after failing to do so against Saint Louis and Nevada. But this trip to New York City will be far from easy, starting with today’s game against the undefeated Golden Eagles. Marquette is fresh off an impressive win over then-No. 5 Wisconsin in Madison. The Golden Eagles are led by do-everything guard Darius Johnson-Odom. The gritty guard has added consistency with his jump shot to an aggressive willingness to drive the lane. Big forward Jae Crowder will cause all kinds of matchup problems for Washington’s relatively thin and inexperienced frontline. The Huskies have shown a passive nature early in road games, allowing teams to push them around before adjusting. Washington can’t afford that in this game. Marquette traditionally beats foes by being physically tougher on defense end and outhustling and outworking them. This Marquette team also has plenty of talent to go around.
Next: 9 a.m. Saturday, Duke University, Madison Square Garden
Ryan Divish, staff writer
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.