Nov. 17, 2011
• Weekly Release 
• Romar Press Conference Video
SEATTLE -- In what was supposed to be a homecoming for senior
Scott Suggs, Washington travels to Saint Louis for just the third true road game in November during the
Lorenzo Romar era. With Suggs sitting out after right foot surgery, the focus will be on Romar and his return to Saint Louis -- the university where he spent three seasons before joining UW as the Huskies' head coach on April 3, 2002.
Romar is now fully entrenched at Washington and coached his 300th game on Monday. He is two wins shy of his 200th victory at UW and has compiled a 198-102 record during a span of almost a decade.
Prior to joining the Huskies, Romar compiled a 51-44 (.537) record from 2000-02 at SLU. In his first year of leading the Billikens, Romar guided them to the Conference USA tournament championship as the No. 9 seed and an automatic NCAA tournament bid. In his first year, he also coached Saint Louis to a win over No. 1 ranked Cincinnati -- the team's first upset over a top-ranked squad since 1951-52.
During his time as SLU's head coach, Romar beat the Huskies twice: 69-61 at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on Dec. 5, 2000 and 71-70 on Dec. 29, 2001 in St. Louis. Saturday he will switch benches and face his former team for the first time as head coach of the Huskies.
Sunday's game at Chaifetz Arena will tip at 9:00 a.m. back in the Pacific Northwest. The game will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network, which can be found on most cable television packages (see channels above, right), and the IMG College Sports Network (KJR 950 AM radio).
Roger Twibell and former Villanova and UMass coach Steve Lappas will call the action on television, while Mike Gastineau and Jason Hamilton will provide the commentary on radio.
It will be the 14th meeting all-time between the schools with Saint Louis holding a 7-6 advantage. UW is 1-5 all-time vs. the Billikens at their home arena and have dropped the last four decision on the road. They last won there 58-53 on Dec. 19, 1951 when the Billikens were ranked No. 4 in the country.
About Saint Louis
Saint Louis has started the season 2-0 in the fifth year under the direction of Rick Majerus. SLU beat Tennessee State at home 71-37 and went on the road and downed Southern Illinois 61-42. Last season, SLU tied for 9th in the A-10 Conference after going 12-19 overall/6-10 conference. The Billikens' return the top seven scorers from last season, including their leading scorer Michael McCall, who averaged 10.4 ppg. Through two games, 6-foot-6 forward Brian Conklin is leading the team with 12.5 ppg. Fellow frontcourt mate 6-foot-8 Cody Ellis is second with 12.0 ppg. In his 25th year, Majerus has compiled a 493-208 record. Majerus is 1-0 all-time vs. Washington, earning a 71-62 win on Dec. 5, 1989 while head coach at Utah.
Romar Vs. Majerus
Lorenzo Romar and Rich Majerus have faced off just once in their coaching histories. Majerus' Utah Utes came out triumphant over Romar's SLU team during the 2000 season.
UW Vs. Atlantic-10 Conference
Saint Louis joined the A-10 Conference in 2005. UW is 5-3 against the conference all-time (excluding UW's 6-7 record against the Billikens before they joined the conference). The last time the Huskies faced an Atlantic-10 team was Nov. 27, 1999 when UW lost 81-65 to Xavier in the Great Alaska Shootout.
Last Time Out - Portland
AP - Terrence Ross scored 13 of his 24 points in the first half, and UW used big runs at the end of the first half and beginning of the second to rout Portland 93-63 Monday in the final game of the World Vision Basketball Classic. The Huskies closed out the three-day tournament with their most impressive effort. The young and undersized Pilots couldn't match Washington's athleticism. Washington (3-0) got a scare from Florida Atlantic in the second game of the four-team event, holding on for a 77-71 victory. There was no such challenge from Portland, which was led by Tim Douglas' 17 points. Washington closed the first half on an 11-2 spurt, then started the second by scoring 14 of the first 17 points to push its lead to 31 barely five minutes in.
Quick Hitters From Week One
• UW began its 110th season with three victories to win the World Vision Classic. C.J. Wilcox earned MVP honors, while Terrence Ross and Abdul Gaddy each were named to the All-Tournament team.
• The Huskies now have 863 wins inside Hec Edmundson Pavilion, more than any other program in their currernt arena.
• Five Huskies are averaging double-figure scoring, with Wilcox leading the way at 19.3 and a sixth, Aziz N'Diaye is averaging 9.3 ppg. Six Huskies are averaging over 4 rebounds per game, with a seventh, Desmond Simmons, just under at 3.7 rpg.
• Monday's game vs. Portland was the 300th at UW for Lorenzo Romar. He is two wins shy of 200 for his Husky career.
UW Bench: No Experience Required
The Huskies' current starting five and bench players are stark contrasts in experience. Entering this season, UW's projected starters (N'Diaye, Gant, Gaddy, Ross and Wilcox) had a combined 256 college games under their belts. With Scott Suggs (84 career games) out due to injury, the other nine guys had combined to play 23 games -- all by walkon Brendan Sherrer who has only played in games that the Huskies have won by 17 or more points. The Huskies have eight players on their roster that entered this year having never played in a college game during their careers, unless you count Desmond Simmons appearing in last year's exhibition game vs. St. Martin's before deciding to redshirt the season. Besides Simmons, Washington's new faces include seven true freshmen: Andrew Andrews, Martin Breunig, Jernard Jarreau, Shawn Kemp Jr., Hikeem Stewart, Tony Wroten and walk-on Alex Wegner. Andrews and Jarreau will redshirt this season.
