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Washington Huskies’ Ten Best Tournament Wins Of The Romar Era

By James Silberman

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The Washington Huskies are once again absent from the NCAA Tournament. With a ridiculously talented 2015 recruiting class set to rejuvinate the program, and most of the current roster returning, next year might be the year. In the meantime. here is a great list of good times to reminisce to.

10) Isaiah and the Huskies take down the Dawgs in the NCAA Tournament

9) Will Conroy sparks the beginning of an era

8) 2010 Pac-10 Championship and ensuing impromptu dunk contest

6) UW runs New Mexico’s Sweet 16 hopes into the ground

5) Huskies overcome Stoudamire’s 37 for their first Pac-10 Title

4) 2006 Second Round Comeback Against Defending National Runner-Ups

3) UW outlasts Klay’s 43 and hang on for 89-87 win

2) Cold-Blooded Champions

1) Quincy Pondexter’s winner completes epic NCAA Tournament comeback

7) 2005 Pac-12 Semi-Final: Washington Huskies Get Redemption Against Stanford

Flashback to the 2004 championship game, and the Stanford Cardinal kept the Washington Huskies from their first ever Pac-10 title.

Flashback to the previous weekend and the Cardinal kept the Dawgs from their first regular season title in 20 years with a victory over UW in the regular season finale.

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This time, Lorenzo Romar‘s squad would not be denied.

The first half was nearly even with UW’s 6-0 lead being the only time there would be more than five points between the two teams. But two big swings in the second half were the difference in the game.

After Stanford guard Chris Hernandez hit back-to-back threes to give the Cardinal a 42-37 lead mid-way through the second half, the Huskies responded with a 15-6 run to take the lead for good.

The great part about the run, is that it wasn’t lead by any particular player. Romar had five guys who could take their man one-on-one on the floor at all times. Will Conroy scored 9.4 points per game and was UW’s SIXTH leading scorer.

Nate Robinson and Bobby Jones carried the scoring load for the Huskies dropping 14 points apiece, but it was a team effort on the boards that swung this game in UW’s favor. The Dawgs shot just 41% from the field, 24% from three and 57% from the free throw line, however, 18 offensive rebounds gave the Huskies 10 more possessions than the Cardinal.

Feb 23, 2006; Seattle, WA, USA; Washington Huskies forward (15) Bobby Jones puts up a shot against Stanford Cardinal defender (10)

Tim Morris

at Bank of America Arena in Seattle. The Huskies defeated the Cardinal 75-57. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Joe Robbins-USA TODAY Sports (c) 2006 by Joe Robbins

You might be saying, “that doesn’t sound like the ’05 Huskies”. They often played with four guards on the floor at a time. But it was a team effort for the Dawgs with SEVEN players totaling at least four rebounds and four players with at least three offensive rebounds.

According to Gohuskies.com, the Huskies attributed the win directly to their success on the glass.

"“Offensive rebounds were the key to this game,” SG Joel Smith said. “Without offensive rebounds we would have never pulled it off.”"

Bobby Jones seconded Smith’s opinions.

"” Coach always tells us when we play zone that we have to box out. They weren’t doing that,” Jones said. “We don’t have assigned men, it was those offensive rebounds that kept us in the game. They were easy buckets.”"

The revenge factor also had an impact on the game according to Jones.

"“They took something from us (outright Pac-10 title) just like we took away their perfect season last year. We had a chip on our shoulder and we knew we didn’t want to lose another one.”"

These past couple of years should be putting plenty of chips on the current squad’s shoulders. Hopefully Nigel Williams-Goss, Andrew Andrews, Jernard Jarreau and company will be able to respond emotionally in a way that the 2005 squad was able to after the disappointment of the ’04 season.

Find out which big wins in the UW program make up the rest of the list so far in the links at the top of this story!

Relive the rest of the Washington Huskies’ top ten tournament wins under Coach Romar!

*All of the above photos are from USA Today Sports.

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