Washington Huskies Basketball

The Washington Huskies are brimming with momentum that will carry them to the 2012 NIT title. 

Their latest deposit into this swell of momentum was their biggest—they took down their bitter rival Oregon, 90-86, in the quarterfinals.

Pulling out a close win against Oregon exorcised their lingering demons of the late-game collapses that marred the end of their season. 

Now they have a favorable remaining schedule and the right players to sweep through the competition.

There is not a team left that the Huskies will not be able to handle.

Washington is the only No. 1 seed left. In fact, there isn't a seed remaining that is higher than No. 3—and that No. 3 seed is Stanford. 

The Huskies went 1-0 against Stanford this season, beating them handily, 76-63. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NZ3ii5fmnU

At the forefront of their spectacular recent play is Terrence Ross.

The sharpshooting 6'6" swingman is clearly the best player remaining in this tournament, and he is not going to let them lose.

He is also playing the best basketball of his career. 

In their three NIT games, Ross is averaging 26.3 points per game and hasn't scored fewer than 23 in any of those games, pulling in 5.3 boards and one steal per game. 

He is also shooting 51.9 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point land. 

With Ross leading the way, Washington has too much firepower for any remaining team to handle. 

The 2012 NIT is well underway and there are just two games left tonight before the semifinals on March 27.

One of those contests is between the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

The winner of the contest is going to run into a hungry Washington Huskies squad that is getting revenge against anyone who stands in the way of a consolation NIT championship after being snubbed by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

The Huskies won the Pac-12 outright during the regular season but faltered in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament against Oregon State. Apparently, that loss was all the selection committee needed to see, passing over the Huskies when compiling the 68-team field.

This snub clearly infuriated Washington, but they have accepted their fate and since been thrashing teams in the NIT (via seattlepi.com).

"Once the NIT selection was done coach was telling us that, `I know you don't want to be here but if you keep winning it's going to get more and more exciting,'" [freshman guard Tony] Wroten said.

Sophomore guard Terrence Ross echoed that sentiment (via seattlepi.com).

"We're still upset that we get a (NCAA) bid and could have, but we all forgot about it and focused on this championship that we're after," Ross said.

In the opening round against UT-Arlington, the Huskies easily won by ten points, 82-72. Then they destroyed Northwestern, 76-55. The only close game came last night against Oregon, who they edged 90-86.

It’s definitely been exciting to watch Washington play, and it’s clear they are only thinking about winning the tournament to go out on a positive note.

Against a Huskies squad this talented and completely locked in, the Blue Raiders or Golden Gophers don’t stand much of a chance. 

‪Here's the complete NIT quarterfinals schedule:‬

‪No. 4 Middle Tenn. vs. No. 6 Minnesota—March 21, 7 p.m.‬
‪No. 5 Nevada vs. No. 3 Stanford—March 21, 9 p.m.‬
‪No. 1 Washington 90, No. 3 Oregon 86 (F)‬
‪No. 5 Massachusetts 72, No. 3 Drexel 70 (F)‬

Washington will play Minnesota in the 2012 NIT semifinals on March 27, at Madison Square Garden (6 p.m., Pacific, ESPN2). The winner will go on to the 2012 NIT championship game on March 29, playing the winner of the Stanford-Massachussetts match. The unedited article below was posted prior to this result.

Of the teams named by the NCAA selection committee as being the last six out of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, only one, Nevada, remains standing in the 2012 NIT.

Washington (24-10) did not receive an NCAA bid, and was not named as one of the last six out, despite being the Pac-12 regular-season champion. However, with a win over Oregon (24-10) in the NIT quarterfinals, the Huskies now advance to the 2012 NIT semifinals.

Oral Roberts, Mississippi State, Seton Hall, Miami and Drexel, were all named as being one of the last six teams excluded from the 2012 NCAA Tournament. All have lost in the NIT.

Nevada is in the NIT quarterfinals, in a match against Stanford (6 p.m. Pacific, March 21). The winner of which will advance to the NIT semifinals in New York City where they’ll face Massachusetts. 

Click here for a printable 2012 NIT bracket. Click here for an online NIT bracket with up-to-date scores.

Washington is the last remaining No. 1 seed in the 2012 NIT, after Arizona, Seton Hall and Tennessee all lost. Washington’s close quarterfinals win over No. 3 seed Oregon allowed the Huskies to continue advancing in the 2012 NIT. 

The Huskies trailed the Ducks by four points, 46-42, at the half of their quarterfinal match. An 18-foot jumper by C.J. Wilcox with 12:46 remaining in the game gave the Huskies the lead, which they held onto in their 90-86 win. The Ducks fought the Huskies fiercely up until the very end of the game.

Terrence Ross led the Huskies in scoring with 24 points, while Olu Ashaolu led the Ducks with 20 points. The Huskies' Tony Wroten had 22 points, making 10-of-14 free-throw attempts. Washington shot a .452 field goal percentage, and Oregon shot a .449 field goal percentage in the NIT quarterfinals game.

Oregon came into the game scoring 90 points or more in four of their last five games, and had a season-record high of 108 points in their NIT second-round win against Iowa.

The Huskies entered the NIT quarterfinal game against Oregon following a 76-55 win over Northwestern. In that game, Washington’s Terrence Ross had a career-high 32-point performance. 

Washington and Oregon split regular season games this year, with each winning on their home court. Washington now extends their win-loss record against Oregon to 187-105. 

Washington’s rubber-match win over Oregon this season in the NIT quarterfinals took place in Seattle. The Huskies will now face the winner of the Middle Tennessee-Minnesota game in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden on March 27. 

Middle Tennessee (27-6) finished the regular season first in the Sun Belt-East. The Blue Raiders played and defeated (86-66) one other Pac-12 team, UCLA, this season.  Middle Tennessee got to the NIT quarterfinals by defeating Marshall, 86-78, and Tennessee, 71-64.

Minnesota (21-14) finished the regular season ninth in the Big Ten. The Golden Gophers had one win over an AP Top 25 team this season against then-No. 7 Indiana, 77-74. The Gophers got to the NIT quarterfinals by beating La Salle, 70-61, and Miami, 78-60. 

The winner of the Huskies’ semifinals game will advance to the NIT championship game on March 29, also taking place at Madison Square Garden. 

This will be the Huskies' second trip to Madison Square Garden this season. Washington lost to then-No. 11 Marquette, 79-77, and then-No. 7 Duke, 86-80, there in December. 

The NIT can be seen as a consolation prize to many teams left out of the Big Dance. However, in a year in which the Pac-12 has not fared well in the media, and in which its regular-season champion failed to get an NCAA at-large bid, there is more at stake for the conference. 

For the NCAA-snubbed Huskies, the NIT is a chance at some sort of redemption and closure on the season. Now only two more wins stand in Washington’s way of achieving that.

The Washington Huskies get a chance at revenge when they host the Oregon Ducks—who beat the Huskies by 25 back in February—tonight in the quarterfinals of the NIT.

The matchup serves as a rubber match since Washington knocked off Oregon at Hec Ed on New Year's Eve, but the Ducks have gotten a lot better since then.

Here's what Washington will have to do to move on to Madison Square Garden.

Get the crowd into the game early

The Huskies are like a bunch of Nate Robinsons (oddly enough, a former Husky). They are all good players, but they feed off the crowd like none other.

Once the crowd starts getting loud and the 'Dawgs start playing with emotion, they play 10 times better. This may be true for most college players, but the Huskies need the crowd more than most teams.

When Hec Ed gets loud, the Huskies are a completely different team. And since Washington often has trouble "getting up" for games, getting the crowd into it early will be key.

Perhaps a back-door alley-oop to Terrence Ross or a steal and breakaway dunk for Tony Wroten will do it, but the crowd must get into it early.

C.J Wilcox must play well

Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten are the obvious stars of this team, but don't forget about Wilcox's ability to light it up in a hurry.

During Washington's win over Oregon, Wilcox (pre-injury) poured in 24 points and six three-pointers. During the Huskies' loss, Wilcox, who was far from 100-percent after a hip injury, shot just 4-13 from the field and had 10 points.

The Huskies are going to have a tough time keeping up with Oregon's explosive offense, but if they do they will need a consistent third-option behind Wroten and Ross.

Someone like Adbul Gaddy or Darnell Gant could conceivably step up as that option, but don't count on it. 

Wilcox is the X-factor.

Contain Carlos Emory

The Ducks have plenty of offensive options, including Devoe Joseph, E.J. Singler, and Garrett Sim. The Huskies won't be able to stop all of them, but stopping Emory will be key.

In Oregon's last 10 games, they have increased their scoring average to over 80 points per game. During those games, Emory, who averages just 6.8 points per game on the season, has scored 12.4 points per contest.

He broke out during Oregon's big win over Washington and hasn't look back since. The junior has been a big part in Oregon's revival (8-2 in their last 10).

This time around, the Huskies need to contain him. Expect Terrence Ross to draw the assignment of the 6-foot-6 forward who has a knack of getting to the hoop and drawing fouls. 

As one of the bubble teams that didn't make it into the NCAA tournament, the Washington Huskies are fighting for more than a NIT 2012 championship.

They are fighting for respect.

The Huskies didn't hear their names called on Selection Sunday. When you sport players like point guard Tony Wroten and shooting guard Terrence Ross, that can be a bit much to take.

But the Huskies, led by Wroten and Ross, are making it known that they aren't going to just wither away in a tournament that goes largely unnoticed during March Madness. No, they are going to make the most of their season, and if that means doing it in the NIT tournament, then so be it.

In two NIT tournament games, Ross has averaged 27.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks. He scored a career-high 32 points against Northwestern in the second round. Wroten has collected 15 assists in those two games.

Asked how he would stop Ross, Lorenzo Romar, Washington's head coach, said, via ESPN, "Probably low-bridge him."

But it hasn't just been Ross and Wroten. Center Aziz N'Diaye posted 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals against Northwestern. Sophomore guard C.J. Wilcox came off the bench to score 20 points in that game. And in Washington's game against Texas-Arlington, senior forward Darnell Gant posted 13 points and 10 rebounds.

This is a team playing like it was owed something...say, an NCAA tournament berth. That's a dangerous team.

One thing's for sure: Don't expect the Huskies to slow down. They are on a mission for respect.

Follow me on Twitter. We can talk about the NIT tournament.

Lost in all of the hoopla surrounding the NCAA Tournament is always the NIT, which is left to all those who failed to make the Big Dance.

The second round wraps up tonight.

There are still some very good teams left in the tournament.

Here are four teams from each region with the best chance to bring home the NIT title.

Washington Huskies

Washington is already through to the quarterfinal stage, where they match up with the Oregon Ducks.

It's a very intriguing game as the teams are very familiar with themselves, playing in the Pac-12.

They split their season series with each team winning at home by double digits. Washington won, 76-60, on December 31st and Oregon dominated the most recent game on February 9th, winning by a score of 82-57.

Perhaps what's most working to the Huskies' benefit is the fact that the NIT game will be played at Washington's Edmundson Pavilion.

With Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten leading the way, the Huskies are going to blaze a path to Madison Square Garden.

Tennessee Volunteers

Cuonzo Martin has had a fairly good season considering the mess that Bruce Pearl left.

The Volunteers carry a 19-14 record going into their game tonight with Middle Tennessee. It should be an easy win for them.

They would then match up with either Minnesota or Miami in the quarterfinals.

Tennessee hasn't performed great against teams in the RPI top 75 (5-9), but it's a better record than either the Hurricanes (2-11) or Golden Gophers (4-10).

Much like Washington, they also have a home-court advantage. They finished with a 14-3 record at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Drexel Dragons

If Drexel is able to advance to MSG, they will have had a fairly easy road. They have so far avoided No. 2 Saint Joseph's and No. 1 Seton Hall.

This has allowed the Dragons to play at home, where they haven't lost a game all season.

They're matched up with fifth-seeded UMass in the quarterfinals. Although they're coming off a win against Seton Hall, the Minutemen will struggle against Drexel.

The Dragons have one of the better defenses in the country, ranking fifth in the country in scoring defense.

As the saying goes, defense wins championships, and that may be the case for Drexel in the NIT.

Stanford Cardinals

This is only the second postseason for the Cardinals in Johnny Dawkins' four years at Stanford. It's quite a change from the time of Mike Montgomery and even Trent Johnson.

Stanford has improved significantly from last year, going from 15-16 to 22-11. An NIT title would be an even bigger step in the right direction.

Looking at the rest of the field, though, they probably have the smallest chance of the best remaining teams.

Should the Cardinal get past Illinois State, Nevada is going to present a tough game in the quarterfinals.

Even should they reach the semifinals, it's doubtful they could knock off Drexel.

The regular season Pac-12 champion Washington Huskies will use their NCAA Tournament snub as motivation to steamroll the NIT field this March and claim a different tournament championship.

The No. 1-seeded Huskies took down the Southland Conference's University of Texas-Arlington in the first round before routing fellow NCAA Tournament snub Northwestern by 21 points in Seattle. Washington is now one win away from the semifinal and awaits the winner of Oregon vs. Iowa.

The Huskies split with the Oregon Ducks during the regular season, beating them by 16 points at home on New Year's Eve before falling by 25 points on the road last month. 

Washington will play host to the winner of Sunday's matchup regardless, so advantage Huskies in the quarterfinal. The key to success in Washington's next matchup: rebounding. The nation's fifth-best rebounding team will likely overwhelm their opponent on the glass en route to the March 29 final.

Making Washington's road to the NIT crown that much easier is the fact that only one other No. 1 and 2 seed remain in the field. Seton Hall, Arizona, Saint Joseph's, Mississippi and Dayton all lost within the first two rounds, leaving only Tennessee and Miami as top seeds on the Huskies' radar.

A team that ransacked the Pac-12 in 2012, the Huskies' 14-4 conference mark make them the class of the NIT field, and their narrow losses to Marquette and Duke on a neutral court (by a combined eight points) early in the season suggest they are NCAA tourney material, despite what the committee's selection would have you believe.

The fantastic trio of Terrence Ross, Tony Wroten and C.J. Wilcox will be tough to beat. The three combine for 46.2 points per game, and each shoot better than 44 percent from the field. 

The Huskies have won seven of its past nine games overall including their disappointing, short-lived Pac-12 Tournament run which likely cost them a spot in the Big Dance. 

They are a motivated and hot team right now, however, and will use their 2012 NCAA Tournament snub to get even with the selection committee and college basketball at Madison Square Garden this March.

When the Washington Huskies' bubble was burst and they were forced to play in the NIT as consolation, their season seemed all but over.

Even if they were to make a run to the NIT championship, the season would seem like a disappointment, especially after winning the Pac-12 regular season title.

But once the NIT bracket was revealed, there was a glimmer of hope for the Dawgs.

Something to look forward to.

Something to make this post-season worth while.

Something that would get them some necessary revenge—a revenge that no one thought was possible until next year.

That something, of course, is a matchup with the Oregon Ducks. The same Oregon Ducks that beat Washington by 25 points back in February, a loss that really hurt UW's tournament chances.

That loss—a loss that evened the season series at one apiece after Washington beat Oregon at Hec Ed earlier in the year—was embarrassing for the Huskies.

They played quite possibly their worst game of the season, and it's likely no Washington or Oregon fan forgets it.

So, when Oregon and Iowa square off on Sunday for a chance to play Washington in the NIT quarterfinals, and Washington fans are wondering who to root for, just look at it this way.

With nothing on the season to lose, would you rather play a random Big Ten team? Or would you rather play a fierce rival with a chance for redemption on the line?

I know it means rooting for Oregon for just one game, but the answer is clear. And the potential result is more than worth it.

What's more, Husky fans want to see one more brilliant game from Tony Wroten and Terrence Ross before they make the tough decision on whether or not to go to the NBA. They are much more likely to see a memorable performance if Wroten and Ross have a reason to get up for the game.

With Oregon, they'll have that reason. 

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The Washington Huskies are well on their way to tearing the NIT field to shreds.

The last time I wrote about the Huskies, I said they'd fail miserably and show why they didn't deserve to make it into the NCAA tournament.

What can I say?

I was wrong.

Their recent strong play makes me believe the committee missed out when they picked California to go to the NCAA tournament and left the Huskies to the NIT.

After surviving a scare in the first round against UT-Arlington, the Huskies dispatched their second-round opponent in brutal fashion, holding them to just 55 points and winning by 21 points.

Terrence Ross has been huge for Washington, scoring 23 and 32 points in the last two games. 

They now await the winner of the Oregon vs. Iowa matchup and will be ready for either one in the third round.

One of the reasons they are playing so well is that they aren't all looking to score. Abdul Gaddy and Tony Wroten are excellent distributors who care more about setting things up for their fabulous shooters than about scoring themselves.

Via CBSsports.com, Wroten was recently asked how he felt about not getting many shots: 

It's never about me. I'm just trying to help my team, trying to become more of a point guard. We have great scorers. There's no need for me to take many shots when we're playing that good.

With that kind of attitude and with Ross and C.J. Wilcox starting to catch fire, Washington is going to destroy the competition the rest of the way on to an NIT championship trophy.

The Huskies will win the NIT tournament, proving once and for all that they should have been invited to the Big Dance.

Follow @JesseReed78

In the same evening in which No. 2 seeds Missouri and Duke fell in the second round of the 2012 NCAA tournament, March Madness snub Washington came away with a big win in the 2012 NIT.

The Washington Huskies (23-10) beat the Northwestern Wildcats (19-14), 76-55, in the NIT second round game. Northwestern had previously beaten AP ranked then-No. 6 Michigan State, 81-74, back in January.

While trailing Northwestern by eight points for a while in the first half, Washington regained the lead to end the half up 39-32. From that point on, the Huskies never looked back. The Huskies scored an additional 37 points in the second half compared to Northwestern’s 23 points.

The game was the eighth meeting between the two programs; with Washington now leading the series over Northwestern with a 6-2 win-loss record.

Washington’s Terrence Ross scored a career-high of 32 points in the game, followed by C.J. Wilcox with 20 points.

The Huskies now advance to the NIT quarterfinals on Tuesday where they’ll host the winner of the Oregon-Iowa game taking place on Sunday.

Click here for a printable 2012 NIT bracket.

Oregon (23-9) finished the regular season tied with Cal for second in the Pac-12 behind Washington. Cal received an NCAA tournament at-large bid, and lost to South Florida in the first round of the tournament. Iowa (18-16) finished the regular season tied for seventh with Northwestern in the Big Ten.

If the Huskies can get past the quarterfinals they’ll be making a return trip to Madison Square Garden for the NIT semifinals on March 27.

The Huskies were last in the New York arena for the 2011 Jimmy V Classic in December. Washington lost to both then-No. 11 Marquette, 79-77, and then-No. 7 Duke, 86-80 at the event.

If Washington’s performance looked still somewhat questionable during their 82-72 NIT first-round win over Texas-Arlington, the Huskies eroded any doubts with Friday’s defeat of Northwestern.

Washington Head Coach Lorenzo Romar played in the NIT for the Huskies back in 1980. That year, the Huskies lost to UNLV in the opening game. In a somewhat fitting twist, UNLV lost to Pac-12 member Colorado in their opening game of the 2012 NCAA tournament.

Colorado won the 2012 Pac-12 tournament and the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid. The Buffaloes are the only remaining Pac-12 representative in the Big Dance, where they next face the No. 3-seed Baylor Bears in the round of 32.

What would have been Washington's fate in what is quickly proving to be a wild NCAA tournament will never be known.

But each win in the 2012 NIT is a chance for Washington to keep playing, and to bring some sort of closure to a season in which both the players and fans of this regular-season Pac-12 champion team can feel proud.