Washington Delivers a Pounding of Pacific

How’s that for a statement?

Washington, derided seemingly everywhere except Seattle as the weakest and most undeserving No. 1-seeded team in the NCAA tournament, took out a little frustration on Pacific on Saturday.

Make that a lot of frustration.

The Huskies’ 97-79 pounding of the eighth-seeded Tigers in an Albuquerque Regional second-round game should serve notice to all that they are for real. At least as far as the Huskies are concerned.

With just over three minutes left, Washington, which outrebounded the much-taller Tigers and had five players score in double figures, led by 26.

“Oh yeah, this was definitely a statement-type game,” said Washington junior forward Bobby Jones, who jump-started the Huskies with 10 of their first 13 points. Jones, who played at Long Beach Poly High and was the first recruit to sign with Coach Lorenzo Romar nearly three years ago, finished with 19 points. “At least I hope so. If not, then we’ll just have to prove more people wrong.”

Washington (29-5) will get that chance Thursday in Albuquerque against fourth-seeded Louisville or fifth-seeded Georgia Tech, who play today.

In advancing to their first Sweet 16 since 1998, the Huskies also tied their 67-year-old school record for victories in a season.

Pacific (27-4) was led by senior center Guillaume Yango’s 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Tigers, who had a 22-game winning streak late in the season, ended their year by losing two of their last three.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our guys,” Pacific Coach Bob Thomason said. “What a wonderful year.... We ran into a talented team that played very well.

“You don’t classify [Washington] as a great defensive team, but they cause you a lot of problems. If you are great defensively, you will probably create some turnovers.”

Washington, the Pacific 10 Conference tournament champion which averaged 8.4 steals while its opponents averaged 18.3 turnovers, had only two steals against Pacific while the Tigers committed eight turnovers.

Still, the Huskies’ constant pressure did seem to unnerve Pacific, the Big West tournament champion that prefers a more deliberate pace.

The Tigers’ style worked early in front of 11,891 at Taco Bell Arena as they forged a 27-27 tie on a Yango layup with 6:45 left in the first half. So frustrated was an animated Jones with Pacific’s physical play in the post that Romar came out near half-court to calm him down during a timeout.

That was as good as it would get for Pacific.

Washington sped off on a 14-5 run and, after a pair of Yango free throws, the Huskies enjoyed a 41-34 halftime lead.

“When we finished that half and we came out, I think our guys smelled Sweet 16,” Romar said. “That was motivation enough to know we could advance and only be two games away from the Final Four.”

Especially high-flying guard Nate Robinson, all 5 feet 9 and 180 pounds of him.

Robinson scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and also led Washington with seven rebounds.

While the shorter Huskies had 35 rebounds to the Tigers’ 31, and shot 56.3% from the field, they also limited Pacific to 20% shooting (three of 15) from beyond the three-point arc in the second half.

“My teammates joke with me about being small,” Robinson said. “But I play big. I’ve got a big heart and that’s all that matters.

“As long as you play hard and you bring something different to the game, you’ll be all right.”