NEW YORK — Washington came to the Big Apple with a great opportunity to score at least one NCAA Tournament resume win.
The Huskies narrowly missed out on their first chance, losing a heartbreaker to No. 11 Marquette, 79-77, on a 3-pointer from Jae Crowder in the Jimmy V Classic at MSG.
So, does that make Saturday’s game against No. 7 Duke at the Garden a must-win in terms of NCAA Tournament credentials?
“Oh, definitely,” Washington sophomore guard Terrence Ross said after scoring a team-high 19 points, including a sick 360-dunk, and grabbing 9 boards in the loss.
“I feel like we have to win every game. This next game, it’s gonna be big. They’re ranked and if we can do what we can do and play the way we’re supposed to play and come out with a victory it can really help us in the future.”
Having already been to Ground Zero, Washington (4-3) will stay in New York for the remainder of the week. Head coach Lorenzo Romar said the team on Wednesday will watching the filming of the TV show “Person of Interest,” and this week will also see Broadway shows “Memphis” and the “The Lion King,” both for class credit.
But the reason they’re hear, obviously, is to play ball.
Romar tried to downplay the Duke game as a “must-win.” But he’s a coach, what else is he going to say?
“When we go out and play we have to concentrate,” he said. “We have to be on our best. We don’t tack on, ‘And oh by the way, we’ve gotta win this extra because of what’s at stake.’
“We’ve gotta be at our best and see where the chips fall.”
Still, it’s obvious Duke presents a great chance for a Huskies team that could go on to challenge for the Pac-12 title.
If they can pull the upset, they can point to that victory come March.
“It’s a unique, rare opportunity for us and that’s why we have to bring our ‘A’ game,” Ross said. “We come out, we have to be competitive, do everything the scout requires of us and hopefully come out with the victory.”
