Nov. 14, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off West Regional
Tuesday & Wednesday, November 13 & 14
Bank of America Arena (10,000); Seattle, Wash.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14 --
West Regional Consolation - NJIT vs. High Point, 4:30 p.m. (No TV)
West Regional Championship - Utah vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2)
(Washington ISP Sports Network / KJR-AM 950 in Puget Sound Area)
The Washington Huskies (1-0) are in pursuit of their fourth straight regular-season tournament title when they meet Utah (2-0), Wednesday, Nov. 14 in the West Regional championship game of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off. The game is slated for 7:30 p.m. at Bank of America Arena on the UW campus where NJIT and High Point meet in the consolation game at 4:30 p.m. The Huskies defeated NJIT 88-47 to advance to the regional title game while Utah dispatched High Point 77-64. A trip to New York's Madison Square Garden is on the line as the UW-Utah victor earns a berth in the NIT semifinals, Nov. 21 to meet Wednesday's Texas A&M-UTEP winner. Syracuse and Ohio State will meet in the other semifinal. The NIT consolation and championship games are slated for Nov. 23. On Sunday, Nov. 18, the Huskies host Eastern Washington at 3 p.m.
Tournament Tidits
The NIT is a 16-team tournament with four regional campus sites for the first two rounds. The other regional hosts were Syracuse, Ohio State and 16th-ranked Texas A&M. Washington won the championship in its previous three season-opening tournaments, at the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage (2004), the BCA Classic in Seattle (2005) and last year's Basketball Travelers Classic in Seattle (2006). UW defeated Northern Iowa 70-61 to win last year's tournament. This is the Huskies' second appearance in the preseason NIT event. UW opened the 1985-86 season at the NIT in Denver, Colo. and defeated UTEP 82-53 before losing 69-64 to fifth-ranked Kansas. Butler won the 2007 NIT Season Tip-Off and Arizona was the last Pac-10 team to win the event, in 1999.
Broadcast Bits
At least 23 Washington men's basketball games will be televised live this season. Wednesday's NIT West Regional championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Bob Wischusen describes the action alongside analyst Doug Gottlieb.
Radio Coverage
Every Husky game will be broadcast on the Washington ISP Sports Network that airs on flagship station KJR (AM 950) in the Puget Sound area. Bob Rondeau calls the play-by-play with commentary from Jason Hamilton.
Ticket Talk
Season tickets are available for fans wanting to guarantee themselves a seat for every home Husky men's basketball game. For season ticket information visit www.GoHuskies.com or contact the Husky Ticket Office (206-543-2200 or e-mail: tickets@u.washington.edu). Individual game tickets are currently available for the preseason NIT and all non-conference games, except the Dec. 8 game against Pittsburgh. Tickets for the Pitt game, and every Pac-10 game, will go on sale the Monday prior to each respective game. Tickets can be purchased online 24 hours a day at GoHuskies.com or in person from 8:30am-5pm at the Husky Ticket Office.
Four-Year Run
The sixth season of the Lorenzo Romar era begins for the Washington men's basketball team, which is in the midst of one of the most successful stretches in school history. The Huskies registered a 93-38 record over the last four seasons, more victories than any other Pac-10 team during that span. The Huskies had a 19-12 record in 2004, 29-6 in 2005, 26-7 in 2006 and 19-3 last season. The 93 combined wins are the second-highest four-year total in school history, topped only by a 96-win run from 1950-53. UW competed in three straight NCAA Tournaments (2004-06), advancing to the third round in both 2005 and 2006. Those were UW's first ever back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances.
Magnificent Morris
Senior Tim Morris scored more points in his Washington debut than in any of 42 games during his career at Stanford. The 6-foot-4 guard led the Huskies with 16 points against NJIT (Nov. 13). Morris transferred to UW prior to last season and sat out the 2006-07 season. He played the previous two seasons at Stanford where his game-high total was 15 points against UC Davis on Dec. 4, 2005. Morris was a two-time Georgia State Class A Player of the Year (2002 & 2003). He is the second cousin of Husky head coach Lorenzo Romar.
Notable
Tuesday's 88-47 triumph over NJIT was Washington's largest margin of victory since a 47-point win over Loyola Marymount (112-65) on Nov. 25, 2005 ... The Huskies limited NJIT to 47 points, the lowest total for an opponent since Dec. 23, 2005 when Lehigh was held to 37 points ... For the fourth year in a row, Washington has a Wooden Award candidate. Jon Brockman is listed on the preseason list of 50 candidates for the national player of the year honor. Brockman was also a Wooden nominee last year, following 2006 finalist Brandon Roy and Nate Robinson in 2005.
The Utah Series
> Utah and Washington first met in 1952 and the series is tied 5-5.
> The Huskies won the most recent meeting, a 78-71 decision on Nov. 25, 2004 in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. The Runnin' Utes won the previous three meetings.
> First-year Utah coach Jim Boylen has never coached against the Huskies. He replaced Ray Giacoletti, a former Washington assistant coach.
> Sixth-year Washington coach Lorenzo Romar has a 1-1 record against Utah. He led the Huskies to a win on Nov. 25, 2004 and his Saint Louis squad lost to the Utes during the 1999-2000 season.
The Last Meeting
#22 UW 78, Utah 71 (Nov. 25, 2004; Anchorage, Ak.)
Nate Robinson scored 29 points, including the go-ahead basket with 2:40 left in 22nd-ranked Washington's 78-71 victory over Utah in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena. Washington (2-0) never trailed, jumping out to a 16-3 lead six minutes into the contest. UW led 42-31 at halftime on the strength of 19 points from Robinson. The Runnin' Utes (1-1) gradually trimmed the margin in the second half. They used a 10-4 run to even the score at 66-66 on a layup by Andrew Bogut with 2:56 remaining. Robinson answered with a driving layup that ignited a run of nine straight UW points the sealed the win. Brandon Roy capped the run with seven straight points, pushing his game total to 25. Bogut tallied 17 of his 23 points in the second half and led a 34-24 Utah rebounding advantage with 12 boards. Justin Hawkins added 18 points for the Utes, 13 of them in the first half. Will Conroy scored 10 points for UW, which was without the services of Tre Simmons who was completing a two-game suspension for a secondary NCAA violation. The Huskies forced 18 Utah turnovers, parlaying them into 31 points.
Personnel Matters
Washington's roster lists only 13 players, all of them scholarship athletes. Two players are not currently available to play. Coach Lorenzo Romar announced Tuesday (Nov. 13) that 6-foot-8 freshman forward Darnell Gant (Los Angeles, Calif./Crenshaw) will red-shirt this season. Senior sharpshooter Ryan Appleby (Stanwood, Wash./Stanwood) injured his right thumb during practice on Oct. 31 and will be sidelined for six weeks. Appleby underwent surgery Nov. 2 to repair the fracture. He set a new school single-season record for 3-pointers with 84 last season. Appleby hit 154 career treys as a Husky after transferring from Florida prior to the 2004-05 academic year.
The Last UW Game
UW 88, NJIT 47 (Nov. 13, 2007; Seattle)
Tim Morris scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half of his Washington debut, leading the Huskies to an 88-47 win over NJIT in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off West Regional at Bank of America Arena. The Huskies (1-0) forced 29 turnovers, including nine in the opening seven minutes en route to a 17-3 lead. NJIT (0-2) took its only lead of the game at 3-2 on a trey by Justin Garris 1:07 into the game. UW scored the next 15 points, The Huskies' lead was 45-24 at halftime and grew to as many as 46 points during the second half. Jon Brockman scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead a 46-25 UW advantage on the boards. Joel Smith added 12 points for the Huskies, who also got 11 from Adrian Oliver and Quincy Pondexter. Garris paced the Highlanders with 10 points.
Home Sweet Home
The Huskies play all of their home games in the renovated Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The pavilion underwent a 19-month renovation from March of 1999 to November of 2000. The interior was completely redesigned while the building's exterior went unchanged. Despite an increased seating capacity from 7,900 to approximately 10,000, the arena features a more intimate, basketball-only configuration. The Huskies have won 825 games in the Pavilion since it opened on Dec. 27, 1927, more victories than any other school in its current arena. They registered a perfect 15-0 home record in 2005 and were 17-2 in both 2006 and 2007.
Academic Pursuit
The Huskies embarked on a five-game tour of Greece from Aug. 27 to Sept. 6. UW posted a 2-3 record on the trip while working three players into the lineup who did not play last season (Tim Morris, Joel Smith, Joe Wolfinger). The team also visited historic sites like the Acropolis, Parthenon and Olympic Stadium in Athens, the Royal Tombs near Thessaloniki and the cliffs of Meteora. Games and tours weren't the only thing on the agenda. The Huskies took advantage of the trip to learn more about one of the most famous Greeks, Socrates. The Husky players took a classics course with James Clauss, the former chair of the UW classics department and now director of the Honors Program. Clauss taught the course the week prior to the team's departure and continued his instruction in Greece as a member of the travel party. Along with Socrates, the Huskies studied architecture and Greek history.
