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GAMEDAY
No. 24 Washington (17-6, 8-3) vs. Oregon State (4-7, 10-12) | 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*	W, 85-59
1/22	vs. USC*	W, 78-73
1/24	vs. UCLA*	W, 86-75
1/29	at Arizona*	L, 106-97
1/31	at Arizona State*	W, 84-71
2/5	at California*	L, 86-71
2/8	at Stanford*	W, 75-68
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	16.5	2.8	2.7	28.3
Justin Dentmon, G	15.1	2.8	2.3	27.6
Jon Brockman, F	15.0	11.1	1.1	30.4
Quincy Pondexter, F	10.7	5.6	1.9	27.1
M. Bryan-Amaning, F	7.4	4.8	0.6	18.8
Venoy Overton, G	5.2	1.9	1.9	19.9
Elston Turner, G	3.7	2.3	1.1	13.5
Darnell Gant, F	3.2	3.6	0.5	18.3
Joe Wolfinger, C	2.8	1.2	0.3	7.5
Justin Holiday, F	2.1	3.0	1.4	16.7
Artem Wallace, C	1.6	1.5	0.0	5.4
Scott Suggs, G	1.2	0.4	0.0	5.2

Univeristy of Washington basketball Darnell Gant Pac-10 PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

XFACTOR

DARNELL GANT
The long-armed sophomore did a number on Oregon State's Roeland Schaftenaar in the first meeting, denying Schaftenaar the basketball at the top of the key. It's a kill the head, the body dies philosophy. "The ring leader of the offense is Schaftenaar," Gant said. "In the Princeton offense, the center has to be able to handle the ball, be able to pass. If we cut him off, it shuts down their whole offense, so that's what we're going to try and do." That's just what the Huskies did in the first meeting, Gant between Schaftenaar's jersey and body the whole game. The Oregon State center finished with six points, two assists and zero rebounds.

STARTINGMATCHUPS

UW's Isaiah Thomas vs. Oregon State's Ricky Claitt
Breakdown: Claitt is a shooter, dropping in his 3-point attempts 48 percent of the time. Claitt is shooting 59 percent overall. Thomas will have to deny him on the wings and force him to dribble to the middle. Thomas continues his campaign for freshman of the year in the Pac-10.
Advantage: Thomas

UW's Justin Dentmon vs. Oregon State's Calvin Haynes
Breakdown: Haynes is the Beavers best offensive player (15.1 ppg.), and, as a result, the only one who will freelance on offense at times. He has a size advantage on Dentmon, but that's nothing new to the Huskies' senior guard. Dentmon struggled shooting at Cal last week, the first time in weeks he played poorly. He was solid against Stanford.
Advantage: Even

UW's Quincy Pondexter vs. Oregon State's Seth Tarver
Breakdown: Pondexter scored 41 points in the two-game swing through the Bay last week. Tarver is 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds, typically choosing to play close to the basket. He will have a hard time overpowering Pondexter who seems more determined this season.
Advantage: Pondexter

UW's Darnell Gant vs. Oregon State's Roeland Schaftenaar
Breakdown: Gant says he will be denying the Schaftenaar "all over the floor," saying his intent is to not let Schaftenaar even catch the ball. Gant blocked three shots in the first meeting.
Advantage: Gant

UW's Jon Brockman vs. Oregon State's Omari Johnson
Breakdown: Brockman was 7-for-9 in the first game, helping the Huskies dominate the interior. Johnson had a miserable outing against Arizona State last Saturday, going 1-for-7 in 20 minutes on the floor.
Advantage: Brockman

ROADWARRIORS

After back-to-back weeks on the road, Washington returns home to play six of its final eight in Bank of America Arena.

3KEYS

Bang the
boards again
The Huskies dominated rebounding in the first meeting, grabbing 44 to Oregon State's 13, though, oddly, Washington did not have a single player finish with more than nine rebounds. Jon Brockman and Matthew Bryan-Amaning had nine apiece to lead the Huskies. Washington had 17 offensive rebounds, simply outworking Oregon State.

Guards fill
the middle
Against Oregon State's 1-3-1 zone trap, Washington was successful because Justin Dentmon and Isaiah Thomas repeatedly veered into the lane, avoiding the Beavers' trap attempts. They will need to do the same thing Thursday night, breaking that pressure out top, and hitting those six- to eight-foot shots in the lane that each are so adept at. For Thomas, it's usually a little jump hook. For Dentmon, he pushes up a floater in the middle of the lane a lot.

Don't underestimate Oregon State
Washington demolished the Beavers last meeting, pounding them in the second half, 51-32. But the majority of the first half Oregon State played the Huskies even, and now the Beavers are an improved team. Romar said at the time Oregon State was going to beat some people in league play, and it proved him prescient by winning four consecutive Pac-10 games prior to last week's two narrow defeats against the Arizona schools.

THEPICK

Huskies are 16.5-point favorites, a reasonable line considering the first game.
Washington 82, Oregon State 63.

((())) Listen to coach Romar

The coach talks about Oregon State's development and what is different this time around against the Beavers:

Washington rundown
Team stats