Here's my game story.

The Huskies will practice at Stanford on Friday, and I should have more news and raction after that.

Postgame: The late start and a tight deadline didn't allow me much time to talk to many folks after the game.

However, in coach Lorenzo Romar’s mind, the points column was merely reflected the real problem in the assists column: Cal had 16, while the Huskies had only six.

“I didn’t think we were in synch the entire time,” Romar said. “Give Cal a lot of credit – they were an absolute machine in the second half, they really executed on both ends of the floor. I think we were a little frustrated offensively. But tonight was a little uncharacteristic of this Husky team in that we weren’t sharing the ball as much.”

Naturally, Cal coach Mike Montgomery was happier.

"We had a little run in the secon half, where we got down, got a little soft, and then challenged them a little bit," he said. "Then we came back and played well from that point forward."

The result dropped Washington (16-6, 7-3) one game behind UCLA in the Pacific-10 Conference standings. The Bruins routed rival USC on Wednesday and don’t have another conference game this week, meaning that the Huskies will be trying to pull within a half game of the lead at 2:30 p.m. Sunday when they conclude their Bay Area trip against Stanford at Maples Pavilion.

Halftime: UW, 32-30. Apparently these are two pretty evenly matched teams.

However, in a way, it's amazing that the Huskies are anywhere near this game, as seniors Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon have combined for two points -- from JD. Brockman has nine rebounds. And much of the scoring slack is being picked up by Quincy Pondexter, who has 14 points, and Isaiah Thomas, who has eight.

Similarly, Patrick Christopher -- who had 27 points in Seattle -- has only two points.

Tipoff: Washington is going with its usual starting lineup: Brockman, Dentmon, Pondexter, Gant and Thomas. Cal also has the same starting lineup that it did in that classic triple-overtime game Jan. 10 in Seattle.

However, it's either going to be a late-arriving crowd, or not much of a crowd is going to take in the rematch.

Anyway, here we go.

7:05: Former Husky/current Sacramento King Spencer Hawes is in the arena to watch his old team tonight. He apparently also spent part of the day visiting with his former teammates at the team hotel.

Pregame: It's a rainy day in the Bay Area, delaying lots of flights, including mine. But we're all settled in now at Haas Pavilion, ready for the Huskies' rematch against Cal.

The Huskies need a win to catch up to UCLA, who pulled a half-game ahead last night with a surprisingly easy win over USC.
Here's my game story from today's paper.

Tipoff is 7:30 p.m., and it's on FSN.

And while Haas has never been one of my favorite gyms in the league, we talked to Jon Brockman about it a bit this week, and he seems a fan.

"It’s a fun place to play," he said. "I think I’ve been in foul trouble there a lot. But it’s a great arena, good crowd. I really enjoy playing there."

Meanwhile, usual game night plan: pregame notes here as they happen, an in-game update or two, and then postgame notes and quotes.