University of Washington
Long Beach State
Washington Downs Long Beach State 84-69
November 26, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2007
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Post-Game Press Conference: Dentmon & Romar
SEATTLE (AP) - So much for Darnell Gant not having an impact this season for Washington.
The freshman from Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles is redshirting and in street clothes for games. But he made his first contribution for the Huskies on Monday night _ by advising teammate Justin Dentmon at halftime.
"Darnell came up to me and said, 'You are fading back too much when you shoot'," Dentmon said.
Dentmon missed five of eight shots before Gant's advice but made his first six shots after it. His 22 points in all rescued the sloppy Huskies in an 84-69 victory over Long Beach State.
Dentmon scored 15 of Washington's 17 points during a pivotal second-half stretch that repelled a charge by the inexperienced 49ers. He generally was the only player doing much right in the game for Washington (4-2), which unimpressively rebounded from losses last week to No. 9 Texas A&M and Syracuse that ended the NIT Season Tipoff tournament in New York.
"We weren't getting good shots. No one was attacking the rim," Dentmon said. "So I took it upon myself that that's what I had to do."
The Huskies made only nine of 26 free throws and were outrebounded for only the second time this season. When star Jon Brockman, who scored 13 points, made his first free throw in five tries with 3:51 left, the perturbed home crowd mockingly cheered and whistled.
Brockman said he didn't notice the derisive cheers. Lorenzo Romar did. The Washington coach chuckled briefly to his assistants on the bench after it happened.
"There's a good chance in the next few days on my answering machine there will be about five shot doctors and three psychologists saying, 'I'm the guy who can help you with your free throws'," Romar said, adding he hasn't been pleased with his team's free-throw shooting in this first month of the season.
"We got through it."
Artis Gant scored a career-high 15 points and Donovan Morris added 14 for Long Beach State (1-4). The 49ers began the game looking like they are missing the top nine scorers from last season's NCAA tournament squad. And a lot like the same team that had lost this season's opener 74-34 at home to BYU.
Washington seemed to put the game away in the first half with a 23-7 run, fueled by three consecutive 3-point baskets by Joel Smith and another from Dentmon. The spurt put the Huskies up 32-16.
But Long Beach State rallied to within 41-33 at halftime. When fist-pumping Cornel Williams made a 3-pointer 2? minutes into the second half and Darnell Porter converted a deft touch pass from Brian Freeman into a layup, the supposedly undermanned 49ers were down just 46-45 with 16 minutes left.
Then Dentmon, whom Washington has made into more of a pass-first point guard, reverted to his prolific scoring ways in his former life at Carbondale, Ill., High School.
"Yeah, a little bit," he acknowledged, with a grin.
A basket in the lane when he stopped his dribble and had nothing else to do. Another score while drifting across the lane. Then a set 3-pointer off a pass from Brockman in the low post.
Even when Romar sat Dentmon for a minute following a time out, he returned and made his first shot, another 3-pointer, to put Washington up 61-53. After Long Beach ran off eight straight points _ five by Morris _ to tie it at 61, Dentmon made another shot from 18 feet while falling down.
Then Washington went on a 14-2 run to finally put the 49ers away.
"For our guys to come back and tie the game is a credit to them coming together as a team," said Dan Monson, who is in his first season as Long Beach State's coach. "We were not equipped emotionally or physically to do that two or three weeks ago."
The game was a reunion of sorts for Monson. The former coach at Washington's cross-state rival Gonzaga turned down an offer to become the Huskies' coach in 2002, before Romar accepted the job.
