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Pondexter leads No. 14 Huskies

Nov 21, 2009 - 7:17 AM By GREGG BELL AP Sports Writer

SEATTLE(AP) -- Quincy Pondexter got his career high in points and rebounds. He got revenge over Adrian Oliver, his former Washington roommate who jilted him two years ago by transferring. And the Huskies got the win.

The only thing Pondexter didn't get was his rent back.

Pondexter set a career best for the second consecutive game with 30 points, including 13 in a row to begin the second half, and had a career-best 15 rebounds in No. 14 Washington's 80-70 victory over Oliver and San Jose State on Friday night.

"Yeah, I felt stranded ... it was heartbreaking," Pondexter said of Oliver leaving over Christmas break in 2007, after recruiting classmates Spencer Hawes and Phil Nelson had already left the UW for the NBA and Portland State, respectively.

"He left me as a teammate. He left me as a friend. He left me with the rent!"

Asked how much that was for an off-campus apartment in expensive Seattle, Washington's only senior laughed and said, "A lot. Ask my dad."

The season's first Pac-10 player of the week followed his career high of 29 points on Sunday against Portland State by exploiting the foul-plagued Spartans' zone defense. He made 10 of 18 field goals and 10 of 13 foul shots.

Isaiah Thomas added 16 points and the defending Pac-10-champion Huskies (4-0), backing up their highest preseason ranking since 1985, pulled away from the Spartans (1-1) after a ragged start.

Oliver scored 32 points, the second-most in his college career, to lead San Jose State, which beat NAIA school William Jessup in its opener.

"He got what he wanted. He's at a school where he can score as much as he wanted," Pondexter said. "But I'm happy. He got 32 points. I got the win."

The Spartans lost for the 10th consecutive time against a Pac-10 team since beating Stanford 17 years ago.

Oliver, who played in 37 games with 13 starts over 1 1/2 seasons at Washington and was Pondexter's roommate, kept San Jose State in the game by scoring 19 points in the first 25 minutes.

"It was fun coming back here and seeing a lot of old faces, saying hello," Oliver said. "It was nice. It would have been nicer if we had gotten the win.

"Against the No. 14 team in the country? We fought them hard."

Pondexter and Oliver didn't speak from the weeks before Oliver bolted until September when Oliver called him - because he heard a rumor Pondexter had gotten married, of all things. Pondexter was driving at the time and didn't look down at his phone to see the number calling.

"Man, if I would have known it was you, I probably wouldn't have answered the phone," Pondexter told his former friend.

Pondexter contemplated leaving the UW as a sophomore on that same Christmas break when Oliver transferred.

Washington's sure glad he stayed.

He took advantage of the back line of San Jose State's zone defense fearing fourth fouls to score Washington's first 13 points of the second half. On five consecutive plays, Pondexter soared past flat-footed defenders for baskets. The third was a thunderous, right-handed dunk from the baseline over meekly defending C.J. Webster. Webster got a face full of Pondexter yelling and then an ear full from Spartans coach George Nessman for not defending more aggressively.

Washington got its largest lead, 45-37.

Two 3-pointers by Elston Turner, two free throws by the cold-shooting Thomas (4 for 13 from the field), and another soaring dunk from Pondexter off an alley-oop feed from freshman Abdul Gaddy put the Huskies up 66-50 with 8 minutes left.

Upset averted.

Fortunately for Washington, 15 of the 25 fouls in the plodding first half were against San Jose State, which hasn't beaten a ranked team since 1996. The Spartans, picked by coaches to finish eighth in the WAC, had four players with three fouls each in the half.

Pondexter was perfect on all six of his free throws in the period, part of 12-for-17 shooting at the line for the Huskies. They led 37-31 at the break despite shooting just 35 percent from the field.