When fall quarter ended for the UW, the No. 20 Husky basketball team was undefeated and about to venture onto the road for the first time this season. As of today — the start of another quarter — coach Lorenzo Romar's young Huskies (10-3 overall, 0-2 Pac-10) no longer rank among the nation's unbeaten.

While they defended their winning streak at home, the Huskies struck out on the road, losing at Gonzaga and again in Southern California to USC and No. 1 UCLA. The most recent losses — to the Trojans and Bruins — kicked off the Pac-10 season for Washington.

Against USC (11-3 overall, 1-1 Pac-10) last Thursday, the Huskies made a bid to win their first road game, but fell short in double overtime. With four starters — including sophomores Justin Dentmon and Jon Brockman — fouled out of the game, Romar's second team simply ran out of gas against Nick Young and the Trojans.

Spencer Hawes put out a solid effort, setting a career-high in points with 24, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that sent the game into the second overtime. It was not enough, however, as Young contributed five of his 25 points in the final period and USC pulled away, winning 86-79.

Three days later, the Huskies found themselves in the hands of the top-ranked Bruins and never had a chance.

Led by Arron Afflalo's 27 points, UCLA (13-0 overall, 2-0 Pac-10) completely dominated the Huskies from the outset. The shooters for Ben Howland's team were dead-on all game, shooting 59.7 percent from the field for the game — 72 percent after the first half. UCLA also took advantage of the Huskies' 22 turnovers, converting the miscues into 34 points.

The Bruins reeled off an eight-point run in the opening minutes and did not fall behind once.

"When you're up against the No. 1 team in the country you have to be the one that throws the first punch," Hawes said to the Associated Press. "We didn't do that. We knew how explosive of a team they were and their ability to really jump on you."

Ryan Appleby did his best to bring Washington back from the dead, spearheading a 16-5 run to pull within 11, but UCLA bounced right back, sealing Washington's fate, 96-74.

Washington was overmatched against Gonzaga on Dec. 9, losing 97-77. Inexperience was a limiting factor for the three starting freshmen who played in their first road game ever.

Hawes led the team with 20 points, but was held in check for most of the first half with foul trouble. Adrian Oliver went just 5-11 from the field and the three freshmen contributed nine turnovers. The Huskies also missed production out of the back court, as Dentmon and Appleby combined for just 10 points on 3-20 shooting.

The Bulldogs — feeding off the home crowd and a recent loss to WSU — caught fire from beginning of the contest and never looked back.

"We were not totally committed on the defensive end," Romar said. "Every time we cut [the lead] down to 11 or 12 [the Bulldogs] would have something happen. When that happens, eventually the dam breaks."

Derek Raivio and Matt Bouldin both eclipsed the 20-point mark for Gonzaga to help the home team roll over the Huskies.

"It was one of those games you want to forget about," said Brockman, who had 13 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. "It means we have to wake up. That's a reality check right there, and we have to learn from our mistakes."

Sandwiched between the road trips to Gonzaga and Los Angeles were three home games, headlined by a match against No. 15 LSU.

After blowing out Portland State 105-73, Washington took on the nationally heralded Tigers — a Final Four team just last year.

It took a joint effort from Brockman and Hawes, but they successfully shut down Glen "Big Baby" Davis, one of the nation's best players. Davis garnered eight points in 37 minutes.

Meanwhile, Brockman and Hawes helped Washington jump out to a 23-point lead, with 19 and 23 points respectively.

Brockman had the difficult task of guarding the nearly 300-pound Davis. By the end of the game, the UW sophomore wore a bandage under his left eye and had several scratches on his face and arms--evidence of a physical night. Davis referred to Brockman — who also had 14 rebounds — as a "pounder" afterward.

Romar called the 88-72 win Washington's most impressive outing of the season.

The Huskies then closed out the home stand with an 80-51 blowout of Weber State before heading to UCLA and USC.

Despite the back-to-back losses to open Pac-10 play, Washington is still ranked in the nation's top-25. And even though its next opponent is No. 7 Arizona, the team is confident that it can get back on track.

"We have a lot of work to do and a lot of things to improve," said Quincy Pondexter (cqq), Washington's second-leading scorer. "We are going to get better."

Reach reporter Justin Chartrey: justinchartrey@thedaily.washington.edu