Huskies fully focused on CBI

Jon Brockman didn't practice again Tuesday and remains questionable for Wednesday's opening-round game of the College Basketball Invitational at Hec Edmundson Pavilion, putting him in much the same position as the first-year tournament.

But even with their leading scorer and rebounder ailing from a sprained ankle, Washington players insist they'll have plenty of motivation when they take the floor at 6 p.m. to face Valparaiso.

Some of the older Huskies well recall Valparaiso's magical buzzer-beater of Mississippi in the 1998 NCAA Tournament when Bryce Drew, now a Valpo assistant, dropped in a 3-pointer off a deflected full-court pass.

"I do remember that," said UW senior guard Ryan Appleby, who'll get his own chance at a few more 3-pointers against the Crusaders. "I was sitting in my seventh-grade teacher's classroom at lunch watching the game, watching him hit that shot."

Teammate Quincy Pondexter, whose father and uncle were college standouts themselves at Fresno State, said he's watched basketball "from birth," so of course he's seen Valpo's shining moment.

"It's pretty cool to be playing against them because 10 years ago, that shot really put them on the map," Pondexter said. "That's why a lot of little schools have had the courage to go up against the big guys and get wins."

Homer Drew, in his 19th season as Valparaiso coach, said it never gets old being asked about his son's heroic moment.

"It's still wonderful that people remember it," said Drew, whose older son, Scott, is head coach at NCAA Tournament-bound Baylor. "I always thought fame is fleeting in our profession and nobody would ever remember that shot after the first year. But thanks to March Madness, it's always voted in the top three moments. It brings back great memories. I just can't believe it's been 10 years."

Not everyone remembers. UW freshman point guard Venoy Overton, 19, said he'd never heard of Valparaiso, a Lutheran university with 3,874 students located about an hour southeast of Chicago.

That lack of familiarity figures to strike home with many Huskies fans. The two schools have never met in basketball, and as of noon Tuesday, Washington's advance ticket sales were just over 2,000.

One CBI game Tuesday, Brown at Ohio, drew just 1,169 fans, while 2,036 were in the stands for Old Dominion's victory over Rider. Washington officials believe they need a crowd of at least 5,000 to break even on the CBI's requirement of a $60,000 guarantee from each game's host school.

Whatever the cost, the Huskies aren't sneezing at this chance to tack a few more games onto their disappointing 16-16 season, even if the NCAA and NIT tournaments selected 97 other teams before the CBI field was announced.

As Overton noted, the Huskies have the opportunity to become the first CBI champion if they can win the 16-team tournament. While being the 98th-best team in the land won't win much national acclaim, it would come with a trophy. Not to mention five or six more chances to compete if they keep winning.

"Basketball is exciting for me. I love the game," Pondexter said. "It doesn't matter if we're No. 158 or 98 or 1. As long as we have a chance to come out and play games in front of our home crowd and give them some excitement during finals week, it's pretty cool to me."

Drew said his Valparaiso squad brings the same outlook.

"The nice thing is this gives us a chance to keep playing," Drew said. "Even though we don't have our dancing shoes on for the Big Dance, at least we've still got our basketball shoes on."

The current Valpo version figures to test Washington with its combination of size and outside shooting. The Huskies, vulnerable all year to long-range shooters, will be up against a team ranked 11th in the nation in 3-pointers per game at 9.3.

If Brockman can't go, the Huskies also will have to find ways to rebound effectively against a squad that starts 6-foot-11 freshman Bryan Bouchie at center alongside 6-9 junior Urule Igavboa and 6-7 senior Shawn Huff, a native of Finland who is the team's leading scorer at 12.9 and second-best 3-point shooter in the nation at 48.4 percent.

UW coach Lorenzo Romar said Pondexter might make his second consecutive start even if Brockman can open the game, an indication of the strides made by the 6-6 sophomore as well as the need to match up a mobile defender on Huff. If so, he'd likely replace Artem Wallace. But Pondexter, who put up 23 points and nine rebounds in the Pac-10 tournament loss to Cal, said he isn't worrying about such things.

"If Jon comes back, I'll give him my starting spot in a second," said Pondexter, who lost his own starting role seven games into the season. "He's a tremendous player and brings so much to our team that I wouldn't mind coming off the bench and helping our team in any way possible."

For his part, Brockman continues holding out hope of playing some part for the Huskies. The nation's third-leading rebounder wasn't a happy Dawg watching the loss to Cal last week from the bench.

"It was one of the worst feelings I've ever had, like fouling out of the game before it even started," he said. "So I'm pretty excited we have another opportunity to play together as a team. ... It'll be a good way to end this season and kind of put a cap on it."

Wednesday's winner faces Houston, which beat Nevada in its CBI opener Tuesday. If the Huskies advance, they'll host the second-round game Monday at Hec Ed.

From there, the tournament will be reseeded and quarterfinals will be played on March 26 at the top-seeded sites, with a best-of-three championship series to follow on March 31, April 2 and April 4, if necessary, on the campuses of the team's involved.

HUSKIES VS. VALPARAISO

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, 6 p.m., Hec Edmundson Pavilion

TV/RADIO: Live on Fox College Sports, tape delay on FSN at 11 p.m.; KJR-AM/950

VALPARAISO (21-13, 9-9 HORIZON)

	Ht.	Ast.	Reb.
F Shawn Huff	6-7	12.9	4.5
F Urule Igbavboa	6-9	10.7	7.4
C Bryan Bouchie	5-11	6.7	3.4
G Michael Rogers	6-6	3.1	3.0
G Jake Diebler	6-3	5.0	2.5*

WASHINGTON (16-16, 7-11 PAC-10)

	Ht.	Ast.	Reb.
F Jon Brockman	6-7	17.6	11.5
F Quincy Pondexter	6-6	9.9	4.7
G Tim Morris	6-4	7.2	3.7
G Ryan Appleby	6-3	11.5	1.2
G Venoy Overton	5-11	5.0	3.2*

* -- assists

WHAT TO KNOW: First meeting between the two schools and only second time UW has played a Horizon League foe, having lost to Butler 67-64 in 2001. ... Huskies making 19th postseason appearance (13 NCAA, 5 NIT). Valpo made a March Madness name for itself with a buzzer-beater upset of Ole Miss in 1998 and has seven NCAA and one NIT appearance in its history. ... If Huskies win, they'll host Houston in a second-round game on Monday. ... Valpo has good balance, with second-leading scorer Jarryd Loyd (12.1 points, 4.0 assists) coming off the bench.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Huff is capable of attacking a UW weakness with his 3-point shot. The 6-7 senior out of Finland sits second in the NCAA in 3-point percentage at 48.4 for a team that likes to gun from outside (11th in nation at 9.3 per game). Washington ranked last in the Pac-10 in 3-point defense (37.8 percent), while Crusaders shoot 39.1 from beyond the arc.

-- Greg Johns