Huskies pass major test

The Huskies walked into the classroom last night -- in this case, Hec Edmondson Pavilion -- ready to take on their first big test of the season.

Having beaten the likes of Morgan State and Idaho en route to a 6-0 record, there were lingering questions about whether this team was for real, or if the patsy schedule had made them look better than they actually were.

Plus, this was the battle for a year's worth of bragging rights in the state of Washington. Rights that Gonzaga has held for the last seven years, and rights the Huskies desperately wanted back.

After they put down their pencils and everything was said and done, important questions were answered; the Huskies passed with flying colors by beating the Bulldogs 99-95.

We learned that we can beat talented teams. We learned that we can compete against top teams in the nation and win. We learned that the Pac-10 title is more of a reality with Stanford and Arizona struggling.

In the blink of an eye, the Huskies morphed from underrated to the frontrunners for the Pac-10 crown.

Sure Gonzaga was bigger and stronger, but the Huskies were quicker and better. Plus, they had something that the Zags couldn't hope to match, a capacity crowd that was high energy from the opening tip-off to the final shot of the game.

Washington snapped the Bulldog's streak of seven straight wins in the series and extended their own nation-leading 29-game home winning streak in the process.

And the two most important things we learned from this test was that these Huskies are for real. Not only that, they have more than one player who can take over when a game is close down the stretch.

Sure, they lost a lot of talent last year, but they haven't missed a beat so far into this young season. With a starting lineup of three seniors and two freshmen, they have the perfect mix of youth and experience that once March comes around will be ready to roll.

And of those five starters, it was freshman Justin Dentmon who was responsible for the victory last night.

So far this year -- his first in the purple and gold -- he has shown that if the Huskies are in a dogfight, he is willing to take the lead.

"Tonight he stepped it up, and it was big time at the right moment," Jamaal Williams said.

While the team's usual clutch time performer, Brandon Roy, succumbed to early foul trouble that caused him to struggle through the whole ballgame, it was time for Dentmon to shine.

With just four points and one assist in the first half, he put the entire team on his back when they needed him the most.

It was when the Bulldogs took a 4-point lead -- their biggest of the game -- that Dentmon stepped into the driver's seat, scoring 10 points over the final ten minutes.

He finished the night with 17 points and six assists while turning the ball over just once on the night.

"Justin has made big shots his whole life," coach Lorenzo Romar said. "He is a gamer. The bigger the game, the bigger [he] plays."

Making big shots against the biggest of opponents, Dentmon made the leap from being just a freshman point guard to being Will Conroy's replacement. They both have a flair for the dramatic.

And with his help, the Huskies passed the first big test of a season that will feature many more to come.