In the Dawghouse; WSU men’s basketball faces Rival UW

The men’s basketball team is hungry to get its first Pac-12 road win of the season, and the Cougars’ next entree is a matchup on the road at 7 p.m. tonight against their bitter rival the Washington Huskies.

“UDub is obviously our rival, but more importantly it’s a game that we could win, a game that is very capable of winning, and I think we need to come out at that aspect we did it before we should do it again,” WSU junior guard DaVonte Lacy said.

The last time WSU (9-18, 2-13) faced off against the Huskies (15-13, 7-8) was Feb. 1 in a home game that the Cougars won 72-67.

“There was a lot of emotion in the air,” Lacy said. “I think we played with a lot of emotion. There was a lot of passion, so I think if we bring that on the road we should compete really well.”

This time around the Cougars will not have the students and alumni screaming and chanting in their favor. Instead, WSU will hear the barking of the Dawg Pack.

“It feels good (to get another shot at Washington), especially since we beat them here, so they’re really going to come after us,” WSU redshirt freshman guard Que Johnson said.

The Huskies are currently seventh in the Pac-12 standings and are led by senior guard C.J. Wilcox. Wilcox enters this game averaging 18.6 points. He scored 24 points in the last game against Cougars and shot 50 percent from the three-point line.

“He can really score. He’s someone we’re going to have to deal with because first time around he lit us up, and we worked really hard to guard him,” WSU men’s basketball Head Coach Ken Bone said. “We definitely need a win, that’s for sure.”

The rivalry doesn’t translate off the court for Bone. He has a friendship with Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar that extends longer than a decade.  

“He’s a great guy. He’s just a very good person and a very good coach too,” Bone said.

Bone worked under Romar as an assistant coach for the Washington Huskies for three years before getting a head coaching opportunities at Portland State University and WSU.

“(I) learned a lot from him and enjoyed that time,” Bone said. “And we’ve continued to have a good relationship.”

When he assisted Romar at UW, Bone said the main thing he learned from the Husky head coach was how to handle player personalities on and off the court.

“Working with him, it had a little bit of an influence on me as far as how to deal with players, whether that’s during a game, during practice, or whenever, just dealing with individuals,” Bone said. “There’s no doubt that the X’s and O’s are important. I do believe that being able to manage people, manage egos is just as important and will say that Coach Romar does a great job in that area.”

During his tenure as the Washington State men’s basketball head coach, Bone has defeated Romar during three out of eight match-ups.

In order for Bone to get his fourth win against Romar while donning Crimson and Gray, the team must prevent losing the ball to the opponent. WSU turned the ball over 17 times in their last game, which was a 14-point loss to the Oregon Ducks. In their earlier meeting with Huskies, the Cougars turned the ball over five times.

“(Washington is) going to bring intensity, we got to bring intensity, they’re going to be physical, we got to be physical, (they’re) hungry for a win, we got to be starving for a win,” Lacy said. “It’s not going to be a rollover, in a good way. They’re going to fight, we’re going to fight, and hopefully at the end we limit our turnovers and unforced errors and win the game.”