UW didn't play today, but they may have gotten some RPI help anyway as Portland State -- who UW beat by one point earlier this month -- shocked Gonzaga in Spokane.

Also, last night former Husky Adrian Oliver had his second straight big game for San Jose State, scoring 31 this time. That gives him 58 points in his first two games as a Spartan.

Washington center Juan Garcia has been named to the 84th East-West Shrine Game roster -- the West roster, naturally.

The game will be played Jan. 17 at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium.

It's a nice cap to the college career of a really good guy who fought back from what seemed to be a career-ending foot injury for a sixth and final season in purple.

After opening with news about the cancellation of today's game, my story in today's paper sort of U-turns into a review of how the Huskies are doing 10 games into this season.

For those who didn't read down that far:

The Huskies reached the season’s one-third mark with a 7-3 record and an ongoing five-game win streak.

The signature win so far was an 83-65 rout of Oklahoma State. The losses came in a blowout to Kansas, a near-miss against Florida, and a season-opening upset at Portland. However, coach Lorenzo Romar seems to believe that even that frustrating loss may have contributed to the improvement he now sees.

“If we win that game, and maybe we play a little better against Kansas, maybe we feel like we’re a little better off than we are and maybe some of those wins would become fools gold,” he said Monday. “I think the way that it has turned out, I think everyone has their attention on how we can really be the best we can be.”

Jon Brockman leads the team in scoring (16.8 ppg) and rebounding (10.7). True freshman Isaiah Thomas of Tacoma has become an immediate contributor as UW’s assists leader (3.3) and No. 2 scorer (13.7).

With fewer ball-handling responsibilities, senior Justin Dentmon has a career-high 13.5 scoring average, and he leads the team with 15 3-pointers.

Junior Quincy Pondexter has had his usual highs and lows, but they’ve averaged out into solid contribution as UW’s fourth-leading scorer (9.7) and second-leading rebounder (5.7).
Sophomore forward Matthew Bryan-Amaning came on strong over the past three games to raise his season averages to 9.3 points and 4.7 rebounds.

The Huskies are scoring 77.4 points per game, while allowing 65.7. That point differential ranks fifth among Pac-10 teams.

They lead the league in scoring and rebounding margin, but are last in 3-point field goals and in 3-point field goal percentage defense.

“I think we really have made progress from a month ago,” Romar said. “I like what our team is doing; I like the direction that we’re headed. We are nowhere near the finished product. But I like where we’re headed. We have almost two weeks to go before we open (Pac-10 play), so we’ve got to continue to get better.”

Romar was asked about the work to be done before his team's Pac-10 opener Jan. 3 at Washington State.

“The things that we’ve been getting better at, continue to get better at,” he said. “Continue to get better on defensive end, continue to share basketball and take care of it. Those type things. Play 40 minutes of solid basketball. I think that’s the ultimate goal that we’d like to get.”