Men's Basketball to Face Cal Saturday and USC Thursday
Feb. 20, 1998
Sat., Feb. 21 - UW at California, 3:00 p.m. PST (Fox Sports Net)
Oakland Arena (19,200); Oakland, Calif.
Thurs., Feb. 26 - UW vs. USC, 7:00 p.m. PST (No Television)
Edmundson Pavilion (7,900); Seattle, Wash.
The Washington Huskies (15-8, 8-6) seek to salvage of split on their current visit to the Bay Area and halt a four-game road losing streak when they play at California (10-12, 6-7) on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m. Washington won the first meeting this year, an 86-84 overtime outcome, and are in position to sweep the season series from the Golden Bears for the first time since 1985. The game at Cal is critical for the Huskies who are in pursuit of their first NCAA Touranment berth in 12 years. Washington, which has the longest NCAA drought among Pac-10 schools, is in fourth place in the standings and has matched the best conference record (8-6) since its last NCAA season in 1986 (11-3). Washington suffered a 93-70 setback at No. 10 Stanford on Thursday, its fifth loss this season to a team ranked in the national top-10 at the time of the game. The Bay Area trip has recently proven to be the most difficult for the Huskies who were swept each of their last two visits. The UW has won only three of its last 21 games in the Bay Area and have not swept a two-game set at Stanford and California since 1985. Washington completed a two-game homestand last week, defeating Oregon State (84-74) and Oregon (62-61).
Steady Improvement: Washington's overall and Pac-10 records have improved each of the previous four seasons under Coach Bob Bender.
Year Overall Pac-10 (Place) Non-Conf. Year Overall Pac-10 (Place) Non-Conf. 1994 5-22 3-15 (9th) 2-7 1996 16-12 9-9 (5th, tie) 7-2 1995 10-17 6-12 (7th, tie) 4-5 1997 17-11 10-8 (6th) 7-2 Television / Radio: Saturday's game at California will be televised live on Fox Sports Net. Steve Physioc and George Raveling call the action. Tip-off Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m. All Washington men's basketball games are broadcast live on KOMO Radio (AM 1000) and its affiliates by play-by-play announcer Bob Rondeau. The radio broadcasts can be accessed via the internet at: http://www.audionet.com/schools/washington/ Probable Husky Starting Lineup: Washington Huskies (15-8, 8-6 in Pacific-10 Conference) Pos.-No. Name Hgt. Wgt. Yr. Hometown Points Rebs. F -- 22 Patrick Femerling 7-1 255 Jr. Dusseldorf, Germany 6.1 6.6 C -- 50 Todd MacCulloch 7-0 280 Jr. Winnipeg, Manitoba 18.6 9.7 G -- 4 Deon Luton 6-4 200 So. Del City, Okla. 15.3 2.3 G -- 5 Jan Wooten 5-10 185 Sr. Elizabeth, N.J. 5.5 1.7 G -- 24 Donald Watts 6-4 200 Jr. Kirkland, Wash. 17.6 3.8Notable: Donald Watts averages 17.6 points per game, nearly twice his scoring average of 8.9 points last season . . . Washington reached 15 wins faster than any UW team since 1985 . . . Todd MacCulloch (18.6), Donald Watts (17.6) and Deon Luton (15.3) account for 65-percent (51.6) of the team's offense (78.8) and are the second-highest scoring trio in Husky history, trailing only the 1972 group of Steve Hawes (21.7), Charles Dudley (16.5) and Louie Nelson (15.1) who averaged 53.3 points . . . Washington's current 78.8-point scoring pace is the school's highest since the 1976 squad averaged 80.2 points per game . . . Despite the current four-game road losing streak, the UW has won more road games (5) than any year since 1985.
If Washington Wins . . .
- The UW improves to 16-8, tying its finest record since 17-7 mark in 1985.
- The Huskies sweep the season seriesfrom Cal for the first time since 1985.
Player of the Week: Junior guard Donald Watts was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the first time on Feb. 16 after combining for 49 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals in Washington's home sweep of the Oregon schools. He shot 48 percent from the field and played a part in 43-percent of the Huskies' offense last week, scoring 34-percent of the points and assisting on 14 of his teammate's points. This is the first season ever Washington has won three Pac-10 weekly awards as Todd MacCulloch won twice earlier this year.
The California Series:
> Washington has a 64-61 lead in the all-time series that began in 1916.
> Washington won an 86-84 overtime game in the last meeting to halt a three-game losing streak against the Golden Bears who swept the season series in 1997. California has won eight of the last 11 meetings, including an 80-52 decision on Jan. 25, 1997 during the last meeting in Berkeley.
> The Huskies are in position to sweep the season series from Cal, a feat they have not accomplished since 1985.
> The Golden Bears have a 39-22 advantage over Washington in games played in the Bay Area.
> California won its last two home meetings with Washington. The last UW victory in the Bay Area was a 74-73 overtime triumph on March 9, 1995 at the Oakland Coliseum.
> Second-year California Coach Ben Braun has a 2-1 record against the UW.
> Fifth-year Washington Coach Bob Bender has a 3-6 record against Cal.
The Last Meeting: Washington 86, California 84 OT (Jan. 22, 1988; Seattle, Wash.) -- Donald Watts scored six of his 28 points in overtime, lifting Washington to an 86-84 victory over California at Edmundson Pavilion. Washington's record improved to 12-3, its best start since the 1984 season. Watts assisted on a Patrick Femerling layin for the first points of the extra session and followed with a tip-in to put the Huskies ahead for good. He converted 16-of-20 free throws and had five assists. California's Geno Carlisle sent the game into overtime on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left in regulation. He scored a team-high 20 points, but was limited to only one basket in four tries during overtime. The Huskies staged a 7-2 surge late in the first period to take a 41-36 halftime advantage. That lead grew to as many as 14 points in the second half before the Bears rallied over the final 10 minutes, including the first two 3-pointers of the season by Sean Marks. Todd MacCulloch registered his seventh double-double of the season, totaling 16 points and 12 rebounds. Deon Luton amassed 24 points for the Huskies who shot 55 percent for the game (31-56) while holding the Golden Bears to 45 percent (31-69). Michael Gill scored 17 points for Cal before leaving with an injury and Marks added 16.
Court Report: Stanford's Kris Weems scored 32 points on Thursday, becoming the sixth opponent to reach the 30-point plateau against the Huskies this season . . . Patrick Femerling converted 14 of his 15 free throw attempts during the last three games, including a string of 12 consecutive successful shots. Prior to the last three games, Femerling was shooting only 54 percent (29-54) from the line . . . Donald Watts leads the team with 21 double-digit point performances while Deon Luton and Todd MacCulloch have 19 apiece . . . The Huskies have not lost a game this season in which they led at halftime, winning all 11 such contests . . . Fifth-year Coach Bob Bender ranks fourth among all-time Washington coaches with 63 victories. On Feb. 12 he posted his 62nd win and moved past Andy Russo (1986-89) into the No. 4 spot. Bender's overall Husky record is 63-70 (.474). He will be in the No. 4 spot for a long time as the third position is held by TippyDye (1951-59) who recorded 156 victories . . . Donald Watts, who never had a 20-point game in two previous seasons, leads the Huskies in scoring during Pac-10 games with a 19.9-point average. Watts reached the 20-point plateau a team-leading 11 times . . . Deon Luton has accounted for nearly half of the team's 3-pointers, hitting 58 of Washington's 118 treys.
Hot Shots: The Huskies are shooting 48.2 percent as a team with three players shooting better than 49 percent. Todd MacCulloch, who led the nation last season at 67.6 percent, leads the current squad at 66.4 percent followed by Thalo Green (50.0) and Donald Watts (49.0). The UW is shooting 48.5 percent in Pac-10 play and 38 percent on 3-pointers while scoring 82.2 points per game in conference outings. Washington was the nation's seventh-most improved field goal shooting squad in 1997, converting 48.3-percent of its shots as a unit to rank second in the Pac-10. That figure was a 4.72% improvement from the 1996 season. The 1996 Huskies ranked seventh among Pac-10 teams (43.6 percent) after ranking last in 1995 (41.7) and 1994 (40.8). Last year's team shot better than any UW unit since 1989 (49.2%). The Huskies shot better than 50 percent during 11 games last year, one more than in Bob Bender's first three UW seasons combined. Washington won nine of 10 games this season when shooting better than 50 percent from the field.
Road Warriors: Washington has already matched last year's total of five road victories, including three in Pac-10 play. The last time a Husky team posted more road wins was in 1986 with six Pac-10 and nine overall triumphs. In January, the Huskies registered their first three-game road winning streak since 1986. The UW won at Oregon and Oregon State in mid-January to record their first Pac-10 road sweep since 1987, dating back 41 pairs of road games. Washington has a 5-6 overall road record and is 3-4 in Pac-10 road contests. The Huskies are 10-2 at home, 5-2 in Pac-10 home games.
Wonderful Watts: Junior Donald Watts has drastically raised his level of play, ranking second on the team with 17.6 points per game. That figure has nearly doubled last season's average of 8.9 points. He reached 20-point plateau on 11 occasions after entering the season with a career-high of 19 points. Watts is shooting 49.0 percent from the field (128-261) after hitting 22- and 36-percent, respectively during his first two years. Watts leads all Washington scorers during Pac-10 play with a 19.9-point average. He averages 9.4 free throw attempts per game in Pac-10 outings, including a 16-for-20 effort on Feb. 12 against Oregon State. Watts electrified Husky home crowds this season with his late-game heroics. He swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer with two opponents closely guarding him to force overtime against Saint Mary's. In the extra session, Watts hit the game-winning trey from the top of the key with 28.3 seconds remaining in the regular-season opener. He has twice tallied a career-high 28 points, against Arizona and California. In the exhibition opener against Brewster Packing, Watts lifted Washington to an 88-87 victory with a 3-pointer as time expired. Watts leads the team with 79 assists. His 405 total points are 81 more than the 324 he scored in his first two seasons combined.
Mistaken Identity: Todd MacCulloch worked as a volunteer at the Final Four in Seattle in April of 1995 and had autograph requests from spectators who mistook him for former 7-foot Oklahoma State center Bryant
