Forget the Storylines: UW and SU Hoops Need Wins

Dollar's Redhawks Must Win Tonight to Reach His Goal

Both Washington and Seattle University's men's basketball teams had lofty goals for the season.

"We can make it to the Final Four," Washington's star guard Isaiah Thomas told reporters in October. "We're that good. That's our goal."

Seattle U coach Cameron Dollar, whose team isn't eligible for the NCAA tournament, set his sights on the finals of the second-tier National Invitational Tournament, held in New York City. "We will be playing and competing at a high level to get to Madison Square Garden," said Dollar when he was hired in April.

But as things stand in January, neither team would even make the field of their targeted tournaments.

So while the "storylines" of this game are rather interesting--an in-city rivalry, Dollar coaching against former boss Lorenzo Romar, Seattle U star Charles Garcia facing the school that rejected his admissions application--the simple truth is that the team that loses this game can forget about reaching their goal once and for all.

For Washington, a home loss to the D1 transitioning Redhawks (ranked #224 in the all-important RPI) would read like a felony conviction on their NCAA tournament resume. All hopes of an at-large bid would be dashed, and even if they made the tourney by winning the Pac-10, they'd have an unattractive seed and a difficult road to the Final Four.

For Seattle U, the Huskies are their best opponent of the season, and their best chance to make a renewed case to the NIT poobahs after losing nine of their last twelve against middling opposition. To get that berth they probably need to win at least nine of their last eleven--but one of those wins must be tonight.

All eyes will be on Charles Garcia, the talented post-player who went to SU after UW rejected his application. But I'm a little more interested in seeing how UW's Quincy Pondexter will perform after his worst game of the season Saturday against USC. Pondexter is a matchup nightmare for Pac-10 teams, but his blend of height and athleticism is even more unique against Seattle U. You'll likely see the Redhawks deploy defensive specialist Mike Boxley on Pondexter, we'll see whether QPon can bounce back.

Game's at 7 p.m. tonight at Hec Ed, you can watch on FSN Northwest. You've got your choice of radio broadcasts: UW's Bob Rondeau on 950 KJR, or Seattle U's Dave Grosby on 710 ESPN.