Quincy Pondexter had to play 2 1/2 college seasons and travel wintry back roads to Pullman, Wash., to learn what it takes to consistently win away from home in the Pac-10.
The Huskies' only senior will lead No. 24 Washington into Arizona State on Friday night.
Almost a year ago to the day, Pondexter walked onto Washington State's Friel Court for the first conference road game of the 2008-09 season. He and the now-departed Jon Brockman and Justin Dentmon, Washington's three captains then, brought March-like intensity while burning to end the Huskies' seven-game losing streak to its biggest rival.
They did. Washington scorched the Cougars and their national-best defense in a 68-48 win. The Huskies scored 19 more points than Washington State was allowing per game in a resounding victory that catapulted them to their first outright league title in 54 years.
``We believed. We fed off that fire,'' Pondexter said this week. ``It's something we need to carry over to this season.''
Starting now.
Ten wins in 13 games over two months of mostly non-conference games offered little indication of whether the Pac-10's only ranked team will successfully defend its title.
Washington's only game on an opponent's floor so far came Dec. 3 at Texas Tech, an overtime loss in which the Huskies blew chances to win late. The only other time they have been away from Seattle, they lost to Georgetown in Anaheim, Calif., on Dec. 12.
The last three seasons that Washington has risen to the top of the Pac-10 - 2009, 2006 and 2005 - it started with wins on the road in the conference.
The last few times the Huskies have plummeted to losing records in the league - 2008, 2007, 2003 - they have lost on its opening road weekend in conference.
Yes, Pondexter and his young pups know the value of winning at Arizona State and Arizona this weekend, especially with the Sun Devils 0-2 in the Pac-10, Arizona at 1-1, and Washington (1-1) coming off a loss to Oregon that snapped an 18-game home winning streak.
Coach Lorenzo Romar thinks the key to road success is related to what Pondexter learned in Pullman: having a strong will.
``Hopefully you get to where you play one way whether it's at home or on the road,'' Romar said. ``The whole key is, are you mentally tough enough where it doesn't make a difference?
``I do believe this: the more experienced you are and the better guard play you have on the road, the more chance you have of being successful.''
The versatile, 6-foot-6 Pondexter plays inside and out, and is 15th in the nation averaging 21.3 points. Guard Isaiah Thomas broke out of a shooting slump last weekend by scoring 44 points against Oregon State and Oregon. Last year's Pac-10 freshman of the year is averaging 18.2 points, although no other Husky is in double figures.
Asked if the Huskies are still the team to beat in the conference despite the loss to Oregon and lack of road tests so far, Thomas said breezily, ``Yeah, no doubt about it.''
``We're not cocky,'' he said. ``I mean, you've got to be confident in this game or everyone will stomp on you.''
There are other guard subplots to Washington's trip to the desert, where it has won six in a row at Arizona State (10-5) but lost three straight at Arizona (7-7).
On Friday, guard Venoy Overton will meet ASU's Derek Glasser for the first time since Glasser hovered over the defensive pest and Overton bumped him while trying to get off the floor in the second half of the Sun Devils' win in last spring's Pac-10 tournament. Both coaches had to break up a near brawl.
Overton says his issue with Glasser, a senior averaging 11.1 points and who is second in the conference with 5.2 assists per game, is merely a competitive one.
``Just been in some scuffles, some close games when we're talking back and forth,'' said Overton, who has irked more than just the Sun Devils in his three seasons at Washington. ``We've both got an attitude. We're both winners. After the game, we're cool.''
Sunday in Tucson, Washington freshman Abdul Gaddy faces Arizona, to which he twice reneged on commitments to a scholarship, first when former coach Lute Olson took a leave of absence and then after he retired.
``It will be a real high-energy game for me, big time,'' said Gaddy, the former Washington state high school star rated as one of the nation's top point-guard recruits last year.
Asked what reception he expects from Wildcats fans, Gaddy deadpanned: ``It's not going to be the greatest thing in the world, I don't think.''
