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Home Sweet Home
Tony Wroten leads all Pac-12 freshmen in points per game (14.3) and assists per contest (3.3).
 
Tony Wroten leads all Pac-12 freshmen in points per game (14.3) and assists per contest (3.3).

Dec. 14, 2011

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N'Diaye's ''Great News'': No Knee Tear

SEATTLE - After playing in the friendly confines of Alaska Airlines Arena just once during a span stretching from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, the Huskies return home for a five-game homestand and will play nine of their next 11 in Hec Ed. Considering the Huskies have won a school record 31-straight non-conference games, home cooking may be just what the Huskies need to help halt a three-game losing skid.

The Huskies open their homestand with a game on Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 p.m. vs. UC Santa Barbara (5-2) out of the Big West Conference. ROOT Sports will carry the game on television with Kevin Calabro and Francis Williams calling the action and Jen Mueller providing sideline reports. 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.

Huskies Hard To Beat At Home
UW will play three non-conference games at home before commencing its Pac-12 schedule. Over the last several years, the Huskies have proven to be nearly impossible to beat at home. UW has won a school record 31-straight non-conference games in the friendly confines of Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. The Dawgs last lost at home against a non-Pac-12 opponent on March 14, 2008 vs. Valparaiso. Since a Dec. 3, 2004 loss at home vs. Gonzaga, UW is 59-2 vs. out-of-conference opponents at home (the other loss came vs. No. 12 Pittsburgh on Dec. 8, 2007).

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 305 games in his 10-year career at Washington and has compiled a 199-106 (.652) 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 292-194 (.601) all-time.

Washington-UC Santa Barbara History
The Huskies are 2-0 all-time vs. UC Santa Barbara but have not met the Gauchos in almost 30 years. The two played a home and away series during the 1982 and 1983 seasons with Washington winning 72-62 at Santa Barbara on Dec. 17, 1981 and 75-55 on Dec. 21, 1982 at Hec Edmundson. Husky head coach Lorenzo Romar has faced UC Santa Barbara three times as a head coach while at Pepperdine. He was 3-0 in those games and last played the Gauchos in 1999. The Gauchos Head Coach Bob Williams is entering his 14th season, so he and Romar faced off once during the 1999 season.

Scouting UC Santa Barbara
The Gauchos improved to 5-2 with a narrow road win at San Diego on Tuesday. UCSB was picked to finished second in the Big West Conference, only behind Long Beach State. UCSB has been to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments after winning the conference championship twice. Leading the way for the Gauchos is senior Wooden Award Candidate Orlando Johnson. Johnson, a 6-foot-5 guard, leads the team in scoring (23.8 ppg), rebounding (7.6 rpg) and assists (3.3 apg). He teams with James Nunnally to form a potent backcourt. Nunnally averages 18.7 ppg. The two losses for the Gauchos have both come in overtime against strong teams (UNLV and San Diego State).

Washington-South Dakota State History
This is the first meeting between UW and South Dakota State.

Scouting South Dakota State
The Jackrabbits out of the Summit League, are 9-3 in the early season and will play at North Dakota before traveling out to Seattle to face the Huskies on Sunday. SD State is led by 6-foot-4 Nate Wollers, who is averaging 20.2 ppg. Wolters missed the Jackrabbits last game due to an unspecified injury. Griffin Callahan is the only other SD State player in double figures, averaging 11.8 ppg. Scott Nagy is in his 17th season as head coach and is two wins shy of 300 for his career.

Huskies' Last Time Out
AP - Freshman Austin Rivers scored 18 points and Duke overcame a 27 for 44 performance at the line to beat Washington 86-80. The Blue Devils (9-1) seemed in control, taking a 19-point lead three times in the second half. But the Huskies (4-4) shook off a terrible first half and started chipping away at the deficit. They were able to get as close as six points late when Duke, which entered the game shooting 67.4 percent from the line, made just 12 of 18 free throws over the final 2:30, including a stretch where the Blue Devils made 1 of 2 on four consecutive trips. Abdul Gaddy's drive got Washington within 78-72 with 58 seconds left. The Blue Devils had made 4 of their last eight free throws when Andre Dawkins made two with 57 seconds to go. The free throw shooting was a lot better over the final 51 seconds as the Blue Devils made 6 of 8 with Dawkins making 1 of 2 with 7 seconds left for an 86-77 lead. Terrence Ross hit a long 3 at the buzzer for the final margin in front of a crowd of 15,525.

Health Report
The Huskies got some good news on Monday when it was learned that Aziz N'Diaye's knee injury suffered during the Duke game on Dec. 10 is minor. N'Diaye landed awkwardly early in the second half and tweaked his right knee. He will rest his knee for a couple of days and wants to be back in time for the Pac-12 opener vs. OSU on Dec. 29. On Dec. 9, it was announced that Scott Suggs will redshirt the season. Suggs missed the first 7 games while recovering from right foot surgery and decided to sit out the remainder of the season so he could play a full senior season. Suggs has returned to practice and is reporting no residual pain from the surgery.

Stuck In Neutral?
After the NYC trip, UW is 5-9 in regular season neutral site games (1-9 in the last 10) during Lorenzo Romar's 10-year tenure at the school. But, when it counts during the post-season, the Huskies are stellar on neutral site courts. The Huskies are 13-5 under Romar at the Pac-10 Tournament and have won three conference championships. UW is 8-6 on neutral sites for the NCAA tournament and have made three Sweet 16 appearances.

Cleaning Up The Glass
Through Monday's action, the Huskies ranked 6th nationally averaging 42.2 rebounds per game. They grab 2.4 more rebounds per game than the next closest Pac-12 team - Stanford. They lead the Pac-12 in both offensive rebounds per game (14.4) and defensive rebounds (27.9). On the flip side, UW is giving up 36.9 rebounds per game to their opponents, which ranks last among Pac-12 teams.

Go Huskies!