Flashback to my first college basketball game

By Kshell

In my lifetime I've gone to several Husky football games, many Seahawks games and way to many Mariners games. One sporting event I had never been to before 2005 was college basketball. There was plenty of reasons why I hadn't been to a game before. First of all the product was usually pretty terrible as the Huskies were typically doormats and hadn't placed in the top three in conference since 1987(I was two years old). Another reason is Pac-10 games are on Thursdays and Saturdays so Thursday's were always school nights for me and Saturday nights I was busy on weekends with wrestling tournaments.

With tomorrow's matchup with the Arizona Wildcats at home with first place on the line it brought up memories. It brought be back to my first ever college basketball game that I went to. That game took place in late February which was Senior night and first place was on the line. I was going to Central Washington University at the time and had no tickets to the game. I decided to drive to the game early and have my dad meet me there. We would scalp tickets to the game. Let's just say once again the scalpers won. Once we got out tickets it didn't matter it was time for at the time the biggest home game in Husky basketball history. It was also the last home game for Tre Simmons, Hakeem Rollins and captain Will Conroy. Many like myself believed this would be Nate Robinson's last home as well(It was as he left early after his Junior season).

February 26th, 2005: #9 Arizona Wildcats(24-4,14-2) at #14 Washington Huskies(22-4,12-3)

In front of a sold out crowd the atmosphere at the game was very electric. Both teams featured plenty of future NBA players. For the Arizona Wildcats they starred Channing Frye, Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams. For the Huskies they had a much deeper roster starring Nate Robinson, Will Conroy, Tre Simmons, Bobby Jones and 6th man Brandon Roy. Huskies recruits Jon Brockman and Martell Webster were in the stands along with newly hired head football coach Tyrone Willingham. Former Husky great Donald Watts was also at the game(He was in my section actually with his kid). Another face was Arizona recruit Marcus Williams who was from Roosevelt High School in Seattle, Washington. He kept hearing chants of "Martell's better" throughout the game.



Then it was time for the game to begin. At first it was a back and forth game between Channing Frye who was unstoppable and Tre Simmons playing in his final home game as a Husky. Simmons began the game hitting his first three shots all from three point range to help keep the Huskies in the game as they trailed 10-9. Hakeem Rollins got the start at center over normal starting center Mike Jensen due to the game being Senior day(Lorenzo Romar starts all Seniors on Senior night always). He had the tough task of slowing down Frye. Frye would get his points but nobody else on the Wildcats had a good game. At the end of the first half the Huskies led 42-35 with both teams shooting 17-34 from the field. The difference is the Huskies were 5-12 from three point range while the Wildcats were just 1-11. The Huskies were also three of five from the foul line while the Wildcats didn't attempt any free throws.



In the second half it appeared the Huskies were poised to put the Wildcats away. The Huskies extended their lead 52-39 at one point after Mike Jensen hit a three pointer. The crowd was going crazy at that point. Arizona would rally eventually cutting the lead to 77-74 which made the game extremely awkward. After a missed three pointer Hakeem Rollins hustled to save the ball to Nate Robinson who hit a huge three pointer to extend the lead to 80-74. On the next possession after a miss Rollins once again outhustled Frye to tip the ball in which was the dagger. At the end of the game Romar pulled his Seniors who all received standing ovations. He inserted walk-on Senior Alex Johnson as well. When Conroy was lifted the gave him a standing ovation and he ran over to midcourt and kissed the purple W at the middle of the floor(Venoy Overton did the same thing his Senior year in high school after winning the state title).

The Huskies would go on to win the game 93-85 in a great game for both teams. The Huskies which was typical for Romar teams would prevail with balance. Led by Senior Tre Simmons scoring 24 points on 9-14 shooting including 5-10 from three point range. The Huskies also had 22 points from Nate Robinson who shot 6-12 from the field and was three for six from beyond the arc. Bobby Jones added 13 points making both three pointers and Brandon Roy added 10 points on five for six shooting and nine rebounds. Will Conroy in his last game scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds and four assists. The Huskies for the game shot 34-60(56.7%) and 11-24(45.8%) from three point range.

For the Arizona Wildcats they had a terrific performance from Channing Frye who scored 30 points on 13-15 shooting but had just five rebounds. Hassan Adams added 18 points and nine rebounds on 9-15 shooting, while Salim Stoudamire had 15 points but shot just 5-15 from the field. Stoudamire the previous game against the Washington State Cougars struggled scoring just eight points. So throughout the game he kept hearing "Bricks in Pullman". The Wildcats would have to wait to clinch the Pac-10 regular season title. The Huskies would drop a game the very next week to Stanford when Stanford shot 48 free throws to the Huskies six.



These two teams would meet again two weeks later for the Pac-10 championship game. The 14th ranked Huskies would defeat the 8th ranked Wildcats 81-72. The Wildcats had 37 points from Salim Stoudamire while the Huskies were led by Tre Simmons scoring 18 points. The Huskies also had 12 second half points by Will Conroy who hit the go ahead three pointer. Nate Robinson added 18 points and Jamaal Williams scored 16 points for Pac-10 champions Huskies. That would be Lorenzo Romar's fifth win in the last two seasons over legendary head coach Lute Olsen. The Huskies would go on to be the #1 seed in the West regional for the NCAA tournament. The Arizona Wildcats would go on to the elite 8.



One thing I'll always remember about the game I went to was the passion the crowd showed towards Will Conroy. Conroy was the only four year member on the Huskies roster that season. Conroy only scored nine points in the game I went to but he was the leader of that team. Conroy has played some in the NBA over the years but mainly has destroyed the NBDL waiting for his chance. I'll always remember the build up to that game and all the good college players and future NBA players playing in the game and in the stands. The atmosphere was great and those years is what paved the way for the Huskies to succeed today. Romar proved to everyone in the Pac-10 that him and the Huskies aren't going anywhere anytime soon!

Huskies take on UCLA flashback to 2006

By Kshell

When UCLA Bruins(4-5,2-4) travel to Seattle to take on the Washington Huskies(3-6,2-4) they will be heading into the game with some swagger. The Bruins are coming off a win against Oregon State which snapped a three game losing streak. While the Huskies are currently on a three game losing streak and must win this game to remain bowl eligible. The reason the UCLA Bruins will have some swagger when facing the Huskies is because they have only lost to Washington twice since 1997. Well in this preview and the following preview I'll talk about the two Husky wins. I'll talk about these wins not because I'm a homer. I'll talk about those two wins because I was at both games starting with the most recent win in 2006.

September 23, 2006: UCLA Bruins(2-0,0-0) at Washington Huskies(2-1,0-0)

The Huskies who had won just three games in the previous two seasons enter their Pac-10 opener under second year head coach Tyrone Willingham feeling good about themselves. That is because the Huskies the previous week blocked an extra point and defeated the Fresno State Bulldogs 21-20 giving them a 2-1 record first time they had a winning record since November 1st, 2003 when they defeated Oregon 42-10 to improve to 5-4.

At the time of this game I was living in Ellensburg, Washington as I was going to school at Central Washington University. At the time my car was not working so my Dad drove from Longview to Ellensburg(250 miles) to pick me up as headed towards Seattle(120 miles) for the game. It was a beautiful day in Seattle which is rare for me since I had only been to one September game before this. My dad and mom were at the previous game and saw the Huskies beat Fresno State.

As my dad and I were walking to the stadium we were talking about the Mens basketball team since we were front of Hec Ed. The Huskies were bringing in the "greatest" freshman class ever which highlighted Spencer Hawes and Quincy Pondexter. I bring this up because I look over and I see coach Lorenzo Romar showing off potential recruit Justin Holiday around the gym. I went up to Romar and introduced myself to him. I was so nervous I was shaking and probably sounded like an idiot. I told him he is doing a great job and asked if this would be a great year. He replied "we are pretty young and haven't proven anything so we'll see". I respected his honesty he could have easily overated his team but chose not to. I then stood for a picture with Romar and my dad told me he got it. Then come to find out my dad doesn't know how to use cell phones and didn't get the picture. By the way the Huskies signed Holiday the next day so I joke him meeting me was the final thing to push him over to the Purple and Gold side.

As for the game itself I was dissapointed in the pregame introductions as my former high school teamate wasn't starting for UCLA after starting the previous game. I also called several friends I was so pumped up about meeting Romar. That was the most nervous I've ever been meeting someone which is crazy. The Huskies came out extremely flat in front of 58,000 fans. The Huskies in fact in 2006 had just one game where attendence was over 60,000. The Huskies found themselves trailing UCLA 16-0 and had a grand total of one yard offense with two minutes to go in the half. Senior quarterback Isaiah Stanback looked horrible as did the running game. My dad was in shock this was the exact opposite Stanback he saw the previous week.

The Huskies who would get ball first second half would have a terrific two minute drill right before half time. Stanback would hit Sonny Shackelford for a 23 yard touchdown pass with a minute to go in the half. The Huskies had finally shown they could move the ball through the air as UCLA wasted chances to put the game away settling for three field goals in the first half inlcuding two that were inside 30 yards. The Huskies would use that momentum and score another touchdown on their opening drive again Stanback hitting Shackelford for a 28 yard pass to cut the lead to 16-14.

The Huskies defense would bend but not break as they would allow a 22 yard field which UCLA would extend its lead 19-14 heading into the fourth quarter. Stanback would lead the offense down the field again and would connect on his third touchdown pass of the game to Johnie Kirton for a four yard touchdown pass. The Huskies would then go for two and Stanback would hit Kirton again for the two point conversation giving the Huskies a 22-19 lead. The crowd was going crazy. Stanback was running around showing emotion he was being booed in the first half to being cheered by the Huskies crowd.



What would happen next still gives me goose bumps just typing this. The previous week outside linebacker Dan Howell missed the game because his father passed away on September 10th, 2006. Howell was playing with a heavy heart this game I'm sure. When UCLA quarterback Ben Olsen dropped back to pass the pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The crowd was freaking out going crazy then I realized who picked the pass off it was Dan Howell who intercepted the pass from 33 yards out. I pointed that out to my dad it was an emotional moment as his touchdown put the game away giving the Huskies a 29-19 lead.

The Huskies would win the game 29-19 as the Huskies would splash Tyrone Willingham with gatorade. What a difference a half makes as Isaiah Stanback finished the game 18 of 29 for 200 yards passing with three touchdowns and one interception. He also led the team in rushing with 48 yards. His main target was Shackelford who had nine receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns. It was looking like Willingham had the program in the right direction. It was a terrific win as I was pumped how I met Romar that day and it was looking like Husky football was turning around. On the way home I remember the Husky honks pumping up Willingham and mocking Notre Dame who was losing to Michigan State at the time(ND came back and won) after they had already lost earlier in the year. I forgot who said it but one of them said "I bet Notre Dame wishes they had Willingham now, their mistake is our gain".

It was a great win for the Huskies and they won the next week to improve to 4-1(2-0). Husky football had appeared to be back and I was at the game that started this run. Now Stanback went down and the season like many seasons from 2004-present have gone to crap. I'll never forget the joy I had that day though. I met Romar and although I was wrong I thought that was the turnaround of Husky football. Hopefully this Thursday can be the real turnaround.