University of Washington
Portland
Ross Rains 3s, Wroten Wows, Huskies Rout Portland
November 14, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2011
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UW-Portland Postgame Quotes 
Postgame Video Press Conference
By Gregg Bell
UW Director of Writing
SEATTLE - Terrence Ross was raining 3s on Portland like the arena's roof was open.
"My first shot I was open and I made it - and I felt like I could be on a roll," he said.
Tony Wroten was zinging fancy, one-handed passes that had the home crowd threatening to blow the top off the place, anyway.
"You kind of allow his personality to take over on the floor," Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar would say later. "He's special in that way."
And Abdul Gaddy kept doing what his does: steadily leading the Huskies to their best and most electrifying of three performances this season.
Ross scored 24 points, one off his career high, and made a career-best 6 3-pointers. Wroten scored 11 points and had six scintillating assists to go with five rebounds. And Gaddy had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead Washington to a showy, 93-63 victory over Portland on Monday night to end the World Vision Classic.
"Our best team effort tonight," pleased Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar, accenting the word "team."
"We all played Husky basketball."
C.J. Wilcox scored 17 points and finished with 58 over the three-day tournament for Washington (3-0), which next plays at Saint Louis on Sunday morning. Media voted the sophomore sharpshooter the tournament's most valuable player.
Ross, a Naismith national player-of-the-year award candidate, swished consecutive 3-pointers a couple steps behind the arc and over Portland's zone defense to end the first half. He was 3 for 5 from deep and 5 for 7 overall in the opening half, pounding his chest and roaring after a few of the makes.
He made all three of his treys after halftime, as the young, talented Huskies teased everyone with how good they could become this season.
UW coaches have been asking Ross to play more in the low post on offense and defense early this season, after a freshman season in which mainly shot or slashed in from the wing while averaging eight points per game. He was 7 of 21 shooting in his first two games of this season.
Monday he roamed back outside more, and made more.
More important, coaches have stressed better defense from the ultra-talented scorer for most of his two seasons at UW. A lack of consistent D was why Ross didn't start as much as his wondrous offensive skill suggested he would last season.
Before this game, Romar emphasized the need for Ross to stick to Portland's Nemanja Mitrovic.
Ross left Mitrovic stuck like Chuck. The Pilots' leading scorer, who had 31 points on 42-percent shooting in Portland's first two games, had just five on 2-for-9 shooting against Ross.
"Honestly, I'm happier I held him down today (than scoring 24)," Ross said. "That was something Coach really stressed to me (Monday) in the walkthrough, and that's something I was really looking forward to.
"I feel like I've made a bigger leap (defensively) at the beginning of this year, but I have to keep getting better."
In the second half, Ross hustled down the floor to bail out three teammates that had all leaped to block a Portland shot and were out of position. Ross blocked the next shot, then sprinted back the other way and made a wide-open 3.
The sequence looked great live. It will look even better to coaches in Tuesday's film session, given all they've tutored Ross on these last 14 months.
Romar sounded like a proud papa talking about the sophomore from Portland's Jefferson High School.
"I don't know if I've been more proud of someone on the defensive end more than Terrence Ross," Romar said.
"You're talking about someone who, last year, was very gifted offensively but was behind on the defensive end and it was tough for him. But now he's come to do what he did tonight, guard a very, very good shooter and a tough basketball player. He did all that while still having a fantastic offensive evening. The great ones are capable of doing both."
Ross finished 6 for 8 from deep and 9 for 13 overall. He got a huge smile and pat on the back from Romar after he left for good with about 7 minutes remaining.
He would have bettered that career high he set Jan. 6 versus Oregon had he not had visions of watching himself of television highlights for days to come on a breakaway in the first half. Instead of soaring for one of the many dunks that were flowing through his head as he dribbled, he watched the ball go off his knee for a turnover.
"I got WAY too ahead of myself," Ross said. "I messed my stride up. ... I didn't want to do (one dunk) and get in trouble. I think that was the best possible scenario, the ball going out of bounds."
Wroten, who once passed up a breakaway score to loft a pass to Ross in front of the rim for a dunk, experienced a coaching moment 7 minutes into the second half. He got lost defensively on three consecutive plays when Portland's Tim Douglas, who is seven inches shorter than the 6-foot-5 Wroten, scored six quick points.
Romar called time out and pointedly talked to his freshman.
"It was about me being more proud than letting my man score more than once," Wroten said. "He knows I'm one of the best defenders on the team. Just have pride and D `em up."
Asked how different Romar's defensive system is to the defense he played while starring at Seattle's Garfield High School, Wroten chuckled.
"Oh, it's like a (180). In high school, I didn't know what defense was," Wroten said. "In college, you have to play help side, rotate ... I've come a long way."
Portland (2-1), which is coming off its first two consecutive 20-win seasons in their Division I history, never led. It was down by 10 just 7 minutes into the game, as the Huskies responded immediately to Romar's call for more intensity. The coach wasn't thrilled with that in Washington's 77-71 slog past Florida Atlantic on Sunday.
QUICK SHOTS: Gaddy had 37 points, 14 rebounds, 17 assists and seven turnovers in his first three games since reconstructive surgery on two torn knee ligaments in mid-January. ... Six Huskies scored in double figures. Nine of them had played by 13 minutes into the game. ... The Dawgs continue to feed Aziz N'Diaye the ball in the low post this season, and the junior 7-footer continues to be much better catching it and going strong and quickly to the basket than he was last season, his first after sitting out a year in junior college following knee surgery. N'Diaye followed his 13-point, 12-rebound, three-block night Sunday with 11 points, seven rebounds and one block Monday.
