Confident Huskies head to Oregon with 9-2 conference record

For the second time in Lorenzo Romar’s tenure as coach of the Washington Huskies, his basketball team has a 9-2 record in conference play.

But the feeling couldn’t be more different to him this time around.

Back in the 2004-05 season, when the Huskies featured Nate Robinson, Will Conroy, Bobby Jones and Brandon Roy, they stormed to a 9-2 record. It was kind of expected. They were a veteran group that had started the season 10-1 in nonconference play.

It’s a stark contrast to this season’s inexperienced team that was 6-5 before conference play started, including a 92-73 home loss to South Dakota State.

“It was more of (a) well-oiled machine by now,” Romar said of the 2004-05 team. “It had hit its stride by now.”

And the current team?

“Even though we’ve won five in a row, we have not hit our stride yet,” Romar said. “Hopefully we can, but there is a difference between then and now.”

One similarity: Both teams have assignments in the Willamette Valley after the 9-2 start. Washington will face an improving Oregon team tonight at 8 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore. The Ducks have a 7-4 mark in the Pacific-12 Conference, tied for third.

The 2005 Huskies got 24 points from Robinson and 18 from Roy in a 95-88 overtime win at Oregon to improve to 10-2. For the 2012 Huskies to do the same, they will need to play considerably better than they did in last week’s home wins over UCLA and USC.

“You would think, ‘Well, you are 9-2. You are a full game ahead with seven games left. You should feel like you are in the driver’s seat,’ ” Romar said. “I don’t feel like that at all. Maybe because we’ve been digging ourselves out of a hole all season long, I still feel like we are digging ourselves out of a hole.”

Washington handling Oregon, 76-60, at Alaska Airlines Arena on New Year’s Eve means little to Romar.

“I’m telling you (we) are a much better team now,” Romar said. “… Whatever we did against them before, we can throw that out the window.”

Well, the Huskies don’t want to throw out certain things they did against Oregon the first time, particularly defensive pressure. The scheme took the Ducks, who shot 20-for-62 in the game, out of their offensive sets. The Huskies held leading scorer Devoe Joseph (15.8 points per game) to four points on 1-for-13 shooting.

“We were just very alert defensively,” Romar said.

Romar probably wouldn’t mind going 12-for-22 on 3-point shots and getting 19 fastbreak baskets, as they did on New Year’s Eve.

“We gave up too many easy baskets,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “They got going and we gave up some 3s in transition. We have to guard better. We didn’t play real well.”

The atmosphere in Eugene figures to be charged. Any time Washington comes to town, the Oregon fans tend to get rowdy. But with the Huskies leading the conference and Oregon within striking distance, the game has added meaning.

“It’s going to be big against Oregon, because right now we’re both in the race for the Pac-12 championship,” senior forward Darnell Gant said. “The Oregon trip always worries me, and I know it worries Coach. Being down in Corvallis and Eugene, it’s tough to get wins down there.”

Washington seems to have figured out how to win on the road, winning the past three games away from Seattle, including a 69-67 win at Arizona on Jan. 28.

“After Arizona I asked all my teammates who have been there, and they said that’s the loudest place we’re going to play at,” freshman guard Tony Wroten said. “Oregon is very loud, but if we can win there (Arizona), we can win anywhere.”

It’s that confidence Romar thinks is necessary for road success

The Huskies will need it. Of their final seven games this regular season, five are on the road.

“We have a tough stretch coming up here,” Romar said “In two weeks, we could be in fifth place – literally – while still having played pretty good basketball. I don’t feel we can relax at all.”

Ryan Divish: 253-597-8483 ryan.divish@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/uwsports