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GAMEDAY
Washington (12-4, 3-1) at Oregon State (6-9, 1-4) | Pac-10 basketball

UW schedule
Date	Opponent	Time/result
11/15	at Portland	L, 80-74
11/18	vs. Cleveland State	W, 78-63
11/20	Florida International	W, 74-51
11/24	vs. Kansas (CBE)	L, 73-54
11/25	vs. Florida (CBE)	L, 86-84
11/29	vs. Pacific	W, 72-54
12/4	vs. Oklahoma State	W, 83-65
12/6	vs. Texas Southern	W, 88-52
12/14	vs. Portland State	W, 84-83
12/20	vs. Eastern Washington	W, 83-50
12/23	vs. Lehigh	PPD.
12/28	vs. Montana	W, 75-53
12/30	vs. Morgan State	W, 81-67
1/3	at Washington State*	W, 68-48
1/8	vs. Stanford*	W, 83-82
1/10	vs. California*	L, 88-85, 3OT
1/15	at Oregon*	W, 84-67
1/17	at Oregon State*	7 p.m.
1/22	vs. USC*	8 p.m.
1/24	vs. UCLA*	1 p.m.
1/29	at Arizona*	5:30 p.m.
1/31	at Arizona State*	2:30 p.m.
2/5	at California*	7:30 p.m.
2/8	at Stanford*	2:30 p.m.
2/12	vs. Oregon State*	8 p.m.
2/14	vs. Oregon*	noon
2/19	at UCLA*	8 p.m.
2/21	at USC*	4 p.m.
2/26	vs. Arizona State*	8 p.m.
2/28	vs. Arizona*	TBA
3/3	vs. Seattle U.	8 p.m.
3/7	vs. Washington State*	TBA
*Pac-10 game

UW statistics
Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	Min.
Isaiah Thomas, G	16.2	3.1	3.2	28.2
Jon Brockman, F	15.8	10.8	1.1	30.0
Justin Dentmon, G	13.8	2.9	2.4	27.7
Quincy Pondexter, F	9.7	6.1	2.1	28.1
M. Bryan-Amaning, F	8.4	5.2	0.7	19.7
Venoy Overton, G	4.5	2.1	1.7	19.5
Elston Turner, G	4.3	2.2	1.2	15.9
Darnell Gant, F	3.6	3.9	0.4	18.1
Joe Wolfinger, C	3.0	1.3	0.3	7.7
Justin Holiday, F	2.3	2.7	1.3	16.0
Artem Wallace, C	1.5	1.2	0.0	5.1
Scott Suggs, G	0.9	0.3	0.0	4.9

Isaiah Thomas Washington Huskies Pac-10 college basketball PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

XFACTOR

ISAIAH THOMAS
The freshman will be faced with his first dramatic change in styles in back-to-back games. Similar to what other Pac-10 teams go through when they come to Washington state, Thomas and the Huskies will go from playing in a manic gym against an up-tempo opponent, to playing in a half-full gym against an opponent that would be happy to see a peach basket hanging on the wall. Thomas' ability to get the Huskies started again, he hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open Washington's scoring Thursday, will be crucial. It's not necessary for Thomas to score right away, but to move Washington into its preferred tempo.

STARTINGMATCHUPS

UW's Isaiah Thomas vs. Oregon State's Calvin Haynes
Breakdown: The 6-foot-2 Haynes is the Beavers' leading scorer, averaging 15.3 ppg. Haynes is a left-hander who shoots an exceptional 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the 3-point line. Haynes is allowed to go on his own at times, breaking the rhythm of the standard offense. Thomas, somehow, continues to improve. Thinking about how good he will be as a senior already has Husky fans in a tizzy.
Advantage: Even

UW's Justin Dentmon vs. Oregon State's Ricky Claitt
Breakdown: Dentmon is coming off back-to-back games of scoring more than 20 points (24 against California, 22 against Oregon). All his shooting percentages are up from a year ago. Claitt is primarily a 3-point shooter, hitting 47 percent of his shots from behind the 3-point line.
Advantage: Dentmon

UW's Quincy Pondexter vs. Oregon State's Omari Johnson
Breakdown: Johnson has the height to deal with Pondexter, though their one-on-one meetings while Johnson is on defense will be limited, but does not have the weight. Pondexter should continue his six- to eight-foot banging approach on offense, finding spots in the center and edge of the lane against Oregon State's 1-3-1 defense.
Advantage: Pondexter

UW's Darnell Gant vs. Oregon State's Roeland Schaftenaar
Breakdown: Schaftenaar is way out top, the center wheel in the Princeton offense that the Beavers run. He will drag Gant, or whoever defends him, away from the basket for the majority of the possession. Schaftenaar is a mediocre 3-point shooter, though he hit three in Oregon State's upset of USC. It's better to force him to dribble and attack, but it's easy to foul the gangly 6-11 center.
Advantage: Schaftenaar

UW's Jon Brockman vs. Oregon State's Daniel Dean
Breakdown: Dean is a well-built sophomore who can body with Brockman. But this is an annoyed Brockman. He said the expected things after breaking the rebounding record Thursday, but he was annoyed with his play. Expect Brockman to fill multiple gaps Saturday. A 30-point night wouldn't surprise.
Advantage: Brockman

HUSKIESNOTES

Thomas has become the team's leading scorer thanks to his 23 points Thursday night against Oregon and Brockman scoring only 10. Thomas has scored less than 10 points only twice this season, nine against Pacific and a season-low eight against Cleveland State. Thomas is the sixth-leading scorer in the Pac-10.

3KEYS

Nothing wrong with letting them go slow
New Oregon State coach Craig Robinson -- who is President-elect Obama's brother-in-law, had you heard? -- brought the Princeton style offense with him to to Corvallis. It will be slow going on the defensive end. The Huskies will continue to try and pressure the ball, but not reaching and staying in a defensive mode the entire possession will be important.

Making the 1-3-1 add up to points
Attacking the Oregon State defense should begin in the short corners and baseline. A crucial element will be the screens happening on the baseline. Darnell Gant will initially be responsible for setting screens on the underneath and low defenders. Skip passes from the guards should be an effective tool against this defense, as well.

When they're down, they're
not out
As USC found out, a moderate lead isn't going to discourage the Beavers. They continue to run their sets on offense, then zone up on defense. If Washington gets lazy, sloppy, or both, things can get tricky in a hurry. Both the offensive and defensive philosophies Oregon State uses are designed to keep the game close, then make it a simple challenge of patience and execution at the end of the game. Washington does not want to get involved in that.

THEPICK
The road sweep of the Oregon schools should be complete after this visit to Oregon State, the Huskies rolling along and the Beavers slated to duke it out with the Ducks for the bottom of the Pac-10. Washington 66, Oregon St. 48.

((())) Listen to coach Romar
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar talks about the impact of Isaiah Thomas midway through his freshman season, and compares it to the impact Spencer Hawes had 15 games in:

Washington rundown