The University of Washington Huskies men's basketball team bounced back on Thursday from a heartbreaking triple-overtime loss at the hands of the Cal Bears with a sound defeat of their bitter Pac-10 rival Oregon Ducks, 84-67. Although the Ducks are having a down year after losing their top two scorers and top rebounder from last season, they always get up for the Huskies; aside from their respective Pac-10 in-state rivals (Washington State and Oregon State), the Dawgs and the Ducks are the most intense rivalry for both teams. The fact that the Huskies won on the road in Eugene makes the victory even more significant.

Huskies Put Game Away in Second Half

After a first half defined by scoring spurts by each team, as they wrestled for the lead in front on an always raucous UO crowd, the Huskies sucked all the suspense out of the contest in the second half. They quickly jumped out to a 10 point lead that they never relinquished, lead by Justin Dentmon, who poured in 15 of his 22 points in the second half of the 17 point victory.

Brockman Breaks Rebound Record

The only suspense left once the Dawgs took their commanding lead concerned senior power forward John Brockman; he went into the game needing only 8 rebounds to break the all-time Husky record of 1,051. The record, held for 50 years by Doug Smart, fell at the 11:17 mark in the second half when Brockman pulled down a missed Oregon free throw.

The significance of the record cannot be overstated. Great big men have come and gone from Washington—Christian Welp, Detlef Schremf, Todd MacCulloch—but none have matched Brockman's combination of tenacity and longevity. He averaged 6.5 rebounds as a freshman for the UW, on one of the best teams in school history: Brandon Roy's team that pushed the UConn Huskies to overtime in the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Last season, on an inferior roster, Brockman stepped up his game and took a more central role in leading the team, averaging 18 points and 11.5 rebounds; this season, with the addition of freshman point guard Isaiah Thomas and the emergence of a strong supporting cast, Brockman numbers have gone down slightly as the team has improved. Ever the consummate team player, Brockman does whatever it takes to contribute to a successful team effort. With 14 games to play, not including the post season conference and, hopefully, NCAA tournaments, Brockman, barring injury, could easily move to 4^th all-time in the Pac-10 rebounding annals. It could well be another half century before someone comes along to challenge his UW record.

Thomas Continue to Shine

The game was also marked by the further emergence of Thomas, who lead the team with 23 points. Although he continued a troubling trend of silly foulsâ??including one on a three point shooter at the end of the first halfâ??he has already become a go-to guy for the team. He made all 7 of his free throws, and matches a season high with 6 rebounds.

As a team, the Huskies continue to struggle from the free throw line, missing 10 from the stripe on the way to a 61% shooting night. This facet of their game will have to improve if they hope to truly compete in the highly competitive Pac-10 this season.

Tough Stretch Ahead

Next up for the Dawgs is Oregon State in Corvallis, and the opportunity to sweep the Oregon school on their home courts for the second time in a decade. After this game, which the Huskies need to win to maintain their place in the conference, comes an extremely difficult four-game stretch that brings the Southern California schools to Seattle and then sees the Huskies on the Arizona road trip, against the always tough UA Wildcats and the #15 national ranked ASU Sun Devils. This stretch will be the first real opportunity to see where the Huskies stand in the conference hierarchy. If they continue to do what they do bestâ??tenacious defense and rebounding, and timely scoring from their backcourtâ??they have a strong chance of making an impact.