Dec. 5, 2011
• Complete Release: Dec. 5 
9-11 Memorial Photo Gallery
NEW YORK - The Husky men's basketball team (4-2) embarks on a cross-country journey with New York's Madison Square Garden as their destination for a pair of games. Washington opens the trip with a Tuesday night affair against Marquette in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic (6 p.m. PT, ESPN). UW is hoping to give Lorenzo Romar his 200th victory as head coach at Washington. Tuesday's game will be televised by ESPN with Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale calling the action. KJR 950 AM and 102.9 FM will broadcast the game on radio in Seattle with Bob Rondeau providing play-by-play and Jason Hamilton supplying color analysis. Fans can also follow the game on the GoHuskies.com live chat by Gregg Bell.
UW Making Its Third Trip To MSG
Washington last played at NYC's famed Madison Square Garden in November of 2007 as part of the pre-season NIT. The team lost a pair of games; a 77-63 decision to 16th-ranked Texas A&M and 91-85 to No. 21 Syracuse. Darnell Gant was the only current Husky player that made the trip, but he did not play in either game as he was a redshirt. UW's only previous game at The World's Most Famous Arena resulted in a 72-38 rout of host New York University on Dec. 30, 1941.
Tribute To Andrew Moritz And Jimmy V
This is the 17th year of the Jimmy V Classic, a 2-game tourney that pays tribute to Jim Valvano, who passed away in 1993 from bone cancer. Jimmy V displayed a fighting spirit that serves as an inspiration to this day. Former Husky Basketball walk on Andrew Moritz embodied that same fighting attitude through his own brave battle with cancer. On Saturday, Nov. 26, Moritz succumbed to his three-year fight with a rare sarcoma -- desmoplastic round cell tumor. Moritz, 33, was a walk-on player from 1996-99 who played on two NCAA tournament teams. He was diagnosed in 2008 with his disease and only given a few months to live. He spent the past three years fighting cancer with the same spirit he showed on the basketball court. Despite scoring just 17 points in 78 minutes over 34 games in a 4-year span, Moritz was a popular teammate and leader of his squads. He was laid to rest on Saturday and the Huskies will honor his memory with a patch displaying his initials for Tuesday's game.
Washington-Marquette History
The Huskies and Golden Eagles have faced off three times in their history, with Marquette holding a 2-1 advantage. Washington won as the No. 11 seed 80-78 the last time the two teams met in the first round of the NCAA tournament on March 18, 2010 in San Jose, Calif. Darnell Gant, Abdul Gaddy and Scott Suggs played in that contest for UW, while Darius Johnson-Odom and Junior Cadougan played for Marquette. The previous encounter came in 1978. MU posted a 71-63 win at home in that game and also won 75-74 in 1965 as part of the Milwaukee Classic.
Last Time Vs. Marquette
Quincy Pondexter drove for a short bank shot with 1.7 seconds left, and 11th-seeded Washington beat No. 6 seed Marquette 80-78 in the first round of the East Regional of the NCAA tournament. Pondexter scored 18 points and Isaiah Thomas had 19 as the Huskies won their eighth straight in dramatic fashion, roaring back from a 15-point deficit with 13 1/2 minutes left. Lazar Hayward missed a half-court heave at the buzzer for the Golden Eagles (23-11), who didn't manage a field goal in the final 4:33. After playing most of the game at the Huskies' favored up-tempo pace, Marquette's unlikely late-season surge ended with an offensive stall. Elston Turner had strong second half for the Huskies, scoring 11 of his 14 points while they rallied. Pondexter also had 11 rebounds. Hayward scored 15 of his 20 points after halftime, but lost his duel with fellow senior forward Pondexter -- his dorm mate on a World University Games team in Serbia. Darius Johnson-Odom had 19 points.
Scouting Marquette
Marquette is 7-0 overall and ranked 16th nationally, but should jump up significantly after upsetting No. 9 Wisconsin. Seniors Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder lead the team with 19.4 and 16.9 ppg respectively. Buzz Williams has a 76-36 record in his fourth season as head coach. Marquette is currently at the top of the Big East standings with seven wins, with three wins at neutral locations.
Broadway Dawgs
In conjunction with the Huskies' trip to New York City to participate in the Jimmy V Classic and CARQUEST Auto Parts Classic, the 15 members of the team are taking an independent study drama class. Players have been attending seminars on the history of Broadway, the study and reading of plays plus the basics of acting, directing and producing in theater. In New York, the team will attend Memphis on Wednesday and the Lion King on Thursday. UW drama professor Sarah Nash Gates is teaching the 2-credit independent study course and accompanying the Huskies in New York and onto Broadway to give expert eyes to what the players are seeing.
Husky Quick hitters...
• UW is 5-12 in non-conference road games and 5-7 in regular season neutral site games (1-7 in last 8) during Lorenzo Romar's 10-year tenure at the school.
• Tony Wroten lead all Pac-12 freshmen with 13.0 ppg.
• Lorenzo Romar will claim his 200th UW win with the Huskies next victory.
• Through Sunday, UW is leading the Pac-12 in scoring (81.0), total rebounds (42.7 rpg), off. rebounds (14.3 pg), def. rebounds (28.3), blocked shots (5.8 bpg) and 3-PT FG's made (7.8 pg).
• UW is shooting 42.7% from 3-point range, on pace to top the single-season record of 40.1% in 1989.
• Huskies that lead the Pac-12 in stat categories are: Aziz N'Diaye - blocked shots per game (2.3 bpg) and C.J. Wilcox - 3-point FG made per game (3.0).
• Washington has won a school record 31 straight non-conference home games with the last loss coming at the hands of Valparaiso, 71-72, on March 14, 2008 in the post-season CBI Tournament.
• The Huskies have 864 wins inside Hec Edmundson Pavilion, more than any other program in their current arena.
• The Nov. 14 game vs. Portland was the 300th at UW for Lorenzo Romar. His next win will be the 200th of his Husky career.
• UW began its 110th season with three victories to win the World Vision Classic. C.J. Wilcox earned MVP honors, while Ross and Abdul Gaddy each were named to the All-Tournament team.
• Wilcox earned the very first Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week honors after earning the award .
• Washington returns 42.2 percent of its scoring and 43.2 percent of its rebounding from last year's team that went 24-11 overall, won the Pac-10 Conference Tournament and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Washington lost three starters (Matthew Bryan-Amaning, Justin Holiday and Isaiah Thomas) from last season but returns six players that started at least four games and combined for 69 starts.
• Wilcox is Washington's top returning scorer. The 2011 All-Pac-10 Freshman Team member averaged 8.1 ppg. Ross is next on the team with 8.0 ppg.
• The average combined height of the Huskies this season is 6-foot-6 and 1/2 inches.
Next Win No. 200 For Romar
Lorenzo Romar will join Hec Edmundson and Marv Harshman as the only Husky head coaches to reach 200 wins with his next victory. Romar has coached 303 games in his 10-year career at Washington and has compiled a 199-104 (.657) record. He can become the second fastest Husky coach to reach the milestone. Edmundson won No. 200 in his 258th career game during the first game of his 13th season. Harshman reached 200 in the last game of his 12th season, his 329th overall game. The next big milestone for Romar is that the Feb. 2 contest at home vs. UCLA will be the 500th game of Romar's 16-year coaching career. He is 292-192 (.603) all-time.
Cleaning Up The Glass
Through Saturday's action, the Huskies ranked third nationally averaging 42.7 rebounds per game. They grab nearly 3 more rebounds per game than the next closest Pac-12 team - California. They lead the Pac-12 in both offensive rebounds per game (14.3) and defensive rebounds (28.3). Six Huskies average 4 or more boards per game and a seventh (Abdul Gaddy) is grabbing 3.8 per contest. On the flip side, UW is giving up 36.5 rebounds per game to their opponents, which ranks dead last among Pac-12 teams..
Dawgs Pack Their Bags
Washington began its coast-to-coast tour last Thursday that will see them travel 5,946 miles over a span of 10 days. The Huskies hopped on a plane last Thursday to make the 572 mile flight to Reno. On Saturday morning, the team caught a 7:00 a.m. flight back to Seattle and on Sunday headed right back to the Sea-Tac airport for the 2,401 mile flight to Newark, N.J. The Huskies will spend 6 days in New York City and play Marquette at 6:30 p.m. PT as part of the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 6 and Duke as part of the CARQUEST Auto Parts Classic on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 9:00 a.m. PT. Washington heads home on Saturday afternoon after the Duke game.
