Can Justin Holiday erase a 17-point differential?

Published Feb. 4, 2010 at 6:01 p.m.

Washington didn't have defensive ace Justin Holiday (left) on Jan. 10 when the Huskies absorbed a 17-point beatdown (87-70) at the hands of Arizona. The 6-6 junior forward missed the Wildcats and Arizona State games because an eligibility issue.

This week he said he knew he would have made a big difference in the ASU game because "I felt I could have stopped or at least helped slow down (Rihards) Kuksiks and Jamelle (McMillan)."

When asked about Arizona, Holiday said: "When we played Arizona, a lot of energy was needed. Hopefully I can help bring a little bit there."

After the Arizona trip, coach Lorenzo Romar inserted Holiday into the starting lineup and the Huskies are 4-2, including a buzzer-beating loss at UCLA.

Photo credit: AP PHOTO - Elaine Thompson

Holiday's impact is difficult to measure in statistics. He averages 4.7 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 assists. He's been called the captain of the defense and before freshman Abdul Gaddy's arrival, Holiday was the best at passing from the perimeter into the post players.

Still, shutting down three-point specialists is his forte. He did it against Stanford's leading scorer leading scorer Landry Fields, holding him to 5 of 12 shooting. And he did it last Saturday against Klay Thompson, limiting him to a season-low seven points in the 92-64 UW blowout.

Holiday could be paired against Arizona's Jamelle Horne sank 5 of 8 three-pointers on UW en route to a game-high 30 points.

AROUND THE PAC-10:

--- Washington State is encouraging fans to create a "Gray Out" at Beasley Coliseum for Saturday's game against Arizona. The Cougars have been 3-1 while wearing gray jerseys. They beat Eastern Washington at home, San Diego in the Great Alaska Shootout title game and LSU in Seattle.

They lost in gray at Washington last weekend. The school is selling gray t-shirts for $9.99 at Saturday's game.

--- The Arizona Daily Star details the Wildcats' unique travel difficulties. Arizona and Washington State are the only schools in the Pac-10 that has to take an extra flight because the campuses are in small cities.

--- Freshman Reeves Nelson opens up - perhaps a little too much - in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Nelson, who teammates nicknamed 'Rage' tells the LA Times: "Guys try to muscle me up, but then I push back. First time down court, I give them a shoulder in the middle of the chest. Sometimes you can tell the next time down the court that it's going to be easier. People don't like getting hit in the sternum."

Gotta to believe a few Pac-10 refs will read this story and keep a close watch on Nelson. Still, it's hard to not like the freshman reserve center who is undersize at 6-8 and still averages 12.4 and 6.2 rebounds.

--- If things don't go well for co-conference leader California in the second half of the Pac-10 season, it sounds as if the Golden Bears will blame it on their injury problems.

--- USC senior guard Dwight Lewis will become the Trojans all-time leader in games played tonight, passing Brandon Glanville (1999-2002) for the record.

--- ABC's Good Morning America did a segment this morning on Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, who talked about what it's like being the First Brother-in-Law to First Lady Michelle Obama.

--- ESPN's Andy Katz caught up with UCLA's Ben Howland who admits if the current Bruins were in the Pac-10 two years ago, then they would not be in contention to win a conference title.

"We would have won two games, maybe three games, if we were playing with this current team, especially in 2008," Howland said "The league was that good, that talented."

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