Seattle Sports Online

SATURDAY, 2:30 P.M. | FSN | KJR-950

GAMEDAY
No. 13 Washington (23-7, 13-4) vs. Washington State (16-13, 8-9) | 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*	W, 79-60
2/14	vs. Oregon*	W, 103-84
2/19	at UCLA*	L, 85-76
2/21	at USC*	W, 60-51
2/26	vs. Arizona State*	W, 73-70, OT
2/28	vs. Arizona*	W, 83-78
3/3	vs. Seattle U.	W, 87-60
3/7	vs. Washington State*	2:30 p.m.
*Pac-10 game

UW statistics
Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	Min.
Isaiah Thomas, G	15.7	2.9	2.7	28.2
Justin Dentmon, G	15.4	2.8	2.5	28.2
Jon Brockman, F	15.0	11.3	1.1	30.2
Quincy Pondexter, F	11.5	5.7	1.6	27.4
M. Bryan-Amaning, F	6.6	4.4	0.7	17.7
Venoy Overton, G	5.6	2.0	2.1	20.5
Elston Turner, G	3.4	2.2	1.1	13.3
Darnell Gant, F	3.1	3.4	0.5	18.3
Joe Wolfinger, C	2.7	1.0	0.3	6.6
Justin Holiday, F	2.1	2.8	1.4	16.3
Artem Wallace, C	1.9	1.5	0.0	4.9
Scott Suggs, G	1.3	0.5	0.1	5.4

Justin Dentmon Washington Huskies basketball PHOTO BY DREW SELLERS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

XFACTOR

JUSTIN DENTMON
It's Senior Day for Dentmon, a player whose story during his four-year Washington career coach Lorenzo Romar called, "...to me, as remarkable as anyone's." How much better is Dentmon this year than last? Scoring: 9.8 to 15.4 points. Rebounds: 2.3 to 2.8. Field-goal percentage: 43 to 48. Three-point percentage: 32 to 43. Free-throw percentage: 71 to 83. Dentmon said Tuesday he, "did not think I would be here all four years." Saturday Dentmon will be countered by Washington State's best defensive player, Marcus Capers. Capers is a 6-foot-4 freshman whose minutes are way up in the last five games. Once Dentmon gets his emotions under control, his mom will be in Bank of America Arena for the first time this season, he'll have to deal with Capers.

STARTINGMATCHUPS

UW's Isaiah Thomas vs. Wash. State's Taylor Rochestie
Breakdown: The left-handed battle of the day. Rochestie hit a deep 3-pointer to beat Arizona State recently, though the senior did not shoot well overall in that game. He had trouble getting around Thomas in the first meeting, but scored with runners. Thomas has been irritated of late with any suggestion that he is in some form of slump or has slowed.
Advantage: Even

UW's Justin Dentmon vs. Wash. State's Marcus Capers
Breakdown: Capers will be forced to prove it to the Huskies on offense. The freshman has scored a season-high of six points twice. He's been scoreless 15 times.
Advantage: Dentmon

UW's Quincy Pondexter vs. Wash. State's Klay Thompson
Breakdown: Pondexter says he will be healed in time for Saturday, and he better be to deal with Thompson. The freshman and Rochestie share the Cougars' scoring lead. Thompson was lightly recruited and has surprised most with his scoring prowess. He has a solid mid-range game, but will be tested on defense as Pondexter tries to pop into the middle of the Washington State zone.
Advantage: Pondexter

UW's Darnell Gant vs. Wash. State's Caleb Forrest
Breakdown: Gant won't be starting Saturday, stepping aside to let Artem Wallace have the honors for Wallace's final home game. But he will be in there quickly. Forrest has scored in double figures in three of his last four games. Gant has established an ability to make a 15-footer, his first step toward being a more effective offensive player.
Advantage: Gant

UW's Jon Brockman vs. Wash. State's Aron Baynes
Breakdown: Brockman will also be playing his last home game and figures to be extra amped as the focus of the Senior Day festivities. Brockman had a season-low four rebounds at Washington State earlier in the year, having trouble getting around Baynes. Brockman figures to have a better day Saturday.
Advantage: Brockman

3KEYS

Corral Senior Day emotions
Big games beget big games, and this is now the biggest of the year. The pre-game ceremony and the outright Pac-10 title on the line in front of another sellout crowd. Romar says things settle off after the first few minutes in such circumstances. We'll see how long it takes Washington to settle down and effectively penetrate Washington State's zone.

Get jump shots to go down early
The Cougars, per usual, will be packing their defense way in. The Huskies were able to push the ball and hit jump shots in the second half during the blowout in the first meeting. Dentmon figures to be filled with extra adrenaline, something that usually does not benefit a jump shooter. Anything to help settle the team and spread the Cougars defense will be important to push the tempo into Washington's favor.

Holding down Rochestie
The Huskies will be in good shape if they can slow Rochestie, who is a streaky player. If the senior gets going and is able to complement Thompson, then Washington could be in for a long day.

THEPICK

According to USA Today, Washington is a seven-point favorite. The Huskies won by 20 points in the first meeting, dominating the second half. Washington's superior depth has been a season-long strength, and figures to be again Saturday. Too many things are going the Huskies' way these days, Saturday figuring to be a continuation of that. The Cougars just don't have enough offense.
Washington 70, Washington State 52.

((())) Listen to coach Romar

The coach talks about Senior Day and how this group is different than others he's had while the coach at Washington:

Washington rundown
Team stats