UW Men's Basketball Preview: at Seattle U

Washington hits the road for the first of five-straight games away from Alaska Airlines Arena

UW Takes On Seattle at KeyArena
The Huskies start a five-game road streak this Friday as they head downtown to KeyArena to take on Seattle University at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on JoeTV (channel 10 on Comcast, channel 22 on Dish and DirecTV). Additionally the game will be broadcast on KOMO 1000AM and FM 97.7 with Bob Rondeau and Jason Hamilton on the call. The Huskies own a 25-4 record over the Redhawks and have won nine-straight.

The Coach
Head Coach Lorenzo Romar, in his 13th year at Washington, has amassed a 255-144 (.639) during his time in Seattle and an overall mark of 348-232 (.600) in 18 seasons. Romar has taken the Huskies to the NCAA tournament six times including three Sweet 16 appearances.

Quick Hitters
• Friday’s game at Seattle U will be head coach Lorenzo Romar’s 400th game at Washington
• Over the last seven regular-season games dating back to last year’s home game against California, junior Andrew Andrews has averaged 16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
• Sophomore Nigel Williams-Goss was three assists shy of recording UW’s first triple double with 10 points, a career-high tying 12 rebounds and seven assists
• Robert Upshaw tied the UW single-game blocks record with seven against South Carolina State ... despite playing just one game, Upshaw is tied for the top spot in the league stats with his seven blocks
• UW’s bigs (Shawn Kemp, Jr., Jernard Jarreau and Robert Upshaw) combined for 37 points (48.1 percent of UW’s 77 pts) against South Carolina State ... they also contributed 19 rebounds and helped the Huskies outscore SC State 48-30 in the paint.
• Williams-Goss and Andrews combined to average 25.6 points per game last season and are one of just two returning backcourts in the Pac-12 that averaged over 25 points together a year ago (Utah’s Delon Wright and Brandon Taylor - 26.2)
• The UW front court will have a fairly new look to it with the departure of Perris Blackwell and senior Mike Anderson moving back to the guard position ... the Huskies will look to junior Jernard Jarreau (6-10), transfer Robert Upshaw (7-0) and senior Shawn Kemp, Jr., (6-9).
• The Huskies have two eligible transfers this season in sophomore center Robert Upshaw (7-0) and junior guard Quevyn Winters (6-5) ... Upshaw sat out during the 2013-14 season due to NCAA transfer rules while Winters comes to the Huskies from Indian Hills CC, so he is eligible immediately.
• Thanks to changes in the NCAA rulebook - the entire team was able to stay during the summer quarter to take part in Strength & Conditioning coach Daniel Shapiro’s eight-week program ... it was the first summer under Lorenzo Romar that the entire team stayed around Seattle from April-August before getting three weeks back at home with family.
• Junior Jernard Jarreau and sophomore Jahmel Taylor switched numbers during the offseason ... both wanted a fresh start with Jarreau moving away from the number he wore when he tore his ACL and Taylor going back to the number he wore during high school.

South Carolina St. Notes
Team
• The Huskies had four players reach double-figure scoring
• Eight of the 10 players that saw action scored at least two points
• UW posted 16 assists to its 32 made baskets

Individual
• Sophomore Nigel Williams-Goss recorded his third career double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds
• Shawn Kemp, Jr., led the Dawgs in scoring with 17 points .. first time of his career that he has had led the team in that category
• Andrew Andrews tied his career-high with six assists
• Jernard Jarreau tied his career-high with seven rebounds

Familiar Faces
The opposing bench will look somewhat familiar on Friday as both Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar and assistant Lance LaVetter have spent time on Lorenzo Romar’s staff at UW. Dollar was an assistant for the Huskies from 2003-09 and he also spent time on Romar’s staff at Saint Louis from 2000-03. LaVetter joined Dollar’s staff this offseason after spending the last 12 years as Romar’s Director of Operations.

Road Warriors
Starting with the two games at Key Arena, the Huskies are beginning a five-game streak of games away from Alaska Airlines Arena. Following this weekend’s games, the Huskies head to Anaheim for the Wooden Legacy tournament. UW doesn’t return home until Dec. 7 to face San Diego State. The last time the Dawgs only played one game at home in the month of November was the 2004-05 season.

Upshaw Ties School Record
In his first ever game at UW, 7-footer Robert Upshaw made his presence known with a school-record tying seven blocks. Only two other Huskies have notched seven blocks in a game, in David Dixon (twice; 11/24/01, 1/31/02) and Matthew Bryan-Amaning (2/19/11). Dixon was in his second year at UW when he set the record while Bryan-Amaning was a senior.

Backcourt Duo
The Huskies return one of the top backcourt duos in the Pac-12 this year in co-captains Andrew Andrews and Nigel Williams-Goss. The pair combined to average 25.6 points a year ago, which ranks second amongst returning backcourt combos in the league. Only Delon Wright and Brandon Taylor of Utah averaged more (26.2). Andrews and NWG are the only two returning that started in every game last year for their respective team and they also combined to dish out 6.9 assists per game.

What’s Back
The Huskies return three of their five starters from a year ago in Andrew Andrews, Nigel Williams-Goss and Mike Anderson. Both Andrews and NWG started in all 32 games while Anderson was in the starting rotation for 18 contests. UW returns 56.7 percent of its scoring and 50.8 percent of its rebounding from a year ago.

6-9 and Up
The Huskies roster is a little taller this year as it boasts four eligible student-athletes that are 6-9 and taller, marking the tallest roster coach Lorenzo Romar has had since his first season in Seattle (2002-03). UW had four that were 6-9 or taller a year ago but that went away quickly as Jernard Jarreau missed the season due to an ACL tear and Shawn Kemp, Jr., was limited due to his Graves Disease diagnosis. This year Fresno State transfer Robert Upshaw (7-0), senior Shawn Kemp, Jr. (6-9), junior Jernard Jarreau (6-11) and FIU transfer Gilles Dierickx (7-0) will all see action for the Dawgs. During Romar’s first year in Seattle, he also had four guys players above 6-9 but two of them were true freshman and didn’t have major college-game experience yet.

The Williams-Goss File
-Set the UW freshman single game scoring record with 32 points against Oregon State last season (1/25/14)
-Set the UW freshman single season assists record with 140
-His 140 assists rank tied for eighth on UW’s all-time single-season list
-NWG’s 4.45 assist average currently ranks first on UW’s career average list
-Led all Pac-12 freshmen a year ago in scoring (13.8) and assists (4.4)
-Named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team a year ago
-Was one of four UW athletes across all sports to post over a 3.75 GPA last year
-Is double majoring in Psychology and Communications
-Is a co-captain alongside Andrew Andrews

The Andrew Andrews File
-Averaged 12.3 points a year ago but put up 16.4 points and 6.2 rebounds over the final six games of the season
-Has played in all but three games since arriving at UW for a career total of 63 games played (34 starts)
-Spent part of the summer as a member of the Pac-12 All-Stars Team that went to China ... averaged 9.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in three wins
-Is a co-captain alongside NWG

EXH: Saint Martin’s Recap
The Huskies posted an 88-65 victory over Saint Martin’s led by senior Shawn Kemp Jr.,’s 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Including Kemp, six Huskies reached double figure scoring in Andrew Andrews (13), Darin Johnson (11), Donaven Dorsey (11), Nigel Williams-Goss (10) and Quevyn Winters (10). UW outrebounded SMU 52-33 and posted 19 assists on their 29 baskets made.

Newcomers/Transfers
UW’s roster this season features some new faces in junior college transfer Quevyn Winters, transfer Robert Upshaw and freshman Donovan Dorsey. Winters joins UW from Indian Hills CC where he led the team to the NJCAA National Championship game last season. Upshaw, who joined the Huskies a year ago but sat out due to transfer rules, is now eligible and will see action at the center position. Dorsey comes to Seattle from Lacey, just an hour south on I-5. The true freshman averaged18.6 points as a senior at Timberline HS and was the 56th ranked small forward in the country according to ESPN.

Class of 2015
The Huskies signed their highest rated class under head coach Lorenzo Romar on Nov. 12 with six agreeing to join UW in 2015-15. The class, which features three from the state of Washington, is ranked sixth nationally by Scout.com, seventh by Rivals.com and 10th by ESPN.com. It features top-50 recruit SG Dejounte Murray (Rainier Beach, Wash./#37), PF Marquese Chriss (Elk Grove, Calif./#47), SF Matisse Thybulle (Samammish, Wash./#73), PG David Crisp (Seattle, Wash./#97), PF Malik Dime (Columbus, Ohio/Indian Hills CC), PF Devenir Duruisseau (Palmdale, Calif./Fishburne Military School). - all rankings not labeled are from Scout.com.

Summer Strength Program
For the first time since Lorenzo Romar arrived at UW, the entire team stayed for the whole summer to take part in strength coach Daniel Shapiro’s eight-week strength and conditioning program. The summer workout schedule was five days a week and took place while the team was taking summer classes. Following the conclusion of the program, the guys had three weeks to go home and visit family before returning to start preseason workouts.

Putting on the LBs
In conjunction with the summer workout program, a few guys bumped up their weight prior to the season starting. Junior Jernard Jarreau is now at 245, which is 25 pounds bigger than he was a year ago and 50 pounds up from when he joined UW in 2011. Also up on the weight scale is senior Mike Anderson who jumped from 195 to 205 during the offseason.

Huskies in the NBA
The Huskies have continually produced top level NBA talent as evidenced by the eight players that are currently playing in the league. Head coach Lorenzo Romar has had seven first round draft picks since arriving at UW and most recently saw 2013-14 senior C.J. Wilcox get taken 28th by the Los Angeles Clippers. UW’s eight active league players tied for the ninth-most in Division I and rank third in the Pac-12.

Home Court Face Lift
The winningest home court in Division I will look slightly different this year as a baseline-to-baseline silhouette of Seattle’s iconic skyline featuring the Space Needle right near center court was added. The floor also features a filled-in three-point area matching the wood tint of the skyline silhouette and updated word marks along the baselines. Washington, which started playing in their arena on Dec. 27, 1927, has 946 wins inside of Alaska Airlines Arena, the most by any Division I team at its current home arena.