SAN JOSE, Calif. — New Mexico head coach Steve Alford didn't need to watch game film to formulate a preliminary scouting report for today's NCAA Tournament showdown with the University of Washington.

He saw all he needed to see in the moments after the Huskies, the No. 11 seed in the East Region, defeated the No. 6 Marquette Golden Eagles on Thursday night in the HP Pavilion.

"My eye test," said Alford, "just passing them in the hall, they looked good walking up and down the hall."

The athleticism of the Huskies (25-9), the Pac-10 tournament champions who were ranked as high as No. 12 in the country earlier in the season, is obvious.

What may not be so apparent to the casual basketball fan is just how good a basketball team they've become in the last month of the season.

Washington has won 13 of its last
15 games, thanks to a maturation process and its combination of slashing guards and big, physical post players.

"We were a younger-minded team earlier in the year," Lorenzo Romar, Washington head coach, said. "But I think as the season progressed, we grew up."

They certainly looked that way Thursday night in an 80-78 upset over Marquette.

Today, the Huskies will look for another upset, at least in terms of beating a higher-seeded team, against the No. 3 Lobos (30-4).

Tipoff from San Jose's HP Pavilion is slated for approximately 3:50 p.m.

The key to beating the Huskies may be in the balance of the Lobos offense.

"Washington is a good team," Roman Martinez, UNM senior forward, said. "They do well in transition. We've got good 3-point shooters, but we have a lot of guys that can attack the rim and that's what we've done all year. I think we're going to be fine with that."

The attack-the-rim mentality of the Lobos, and junior point guard Dairese Gary in particular, is no surprise to the Huskies.

"He's a strong, aggressive driver, so we're going to want to pick him up full-court" said Washington junior guard Venoy Overton. "Myself and Isaiah (Thomas) are going to try to slow him down and not let him come off on balls and feel comfortable. We would rather him shoot a contested shot than getting all the way to the cup."

Gary's ability to penetrate into the paint is a big reason the 6-foot-1, 205-pounder was able to get to the free-throw line a team-high 255 times this season, including 10 times in the final 3 minutes, 36 seconds of Thursday's win over No. 14 Montana.

While Gary has the Huskies attention, so, too, does the versatility of junior guard Darington Hobson, whose injured left wrist won't prevent him from playing today.

"You've got to guard him as a team," Romar, Washington head coach, said of Hobson. "As I mentioned earlier, he is a match-up nightmare."

Hobson, who was recruited out of high school by Romar and UW, is averaging 16.0 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

The Lobos, meanwhile, will try to make sure Huskies forwards Quincy Pondexter (6-6) and Matthew Bryan-Amaning (6-9), who average a combined 28.5 points and 13.4 rebounds per game, don't enjoy the same success as Montana center Brian Qvale did Thursday night in a career-high 26-point, 13-rebound performance against the Lobos.

Romar doesn't see that stat line as an indication of things to come against the Lobos.

"The same big man (Qvale) had his way with us earlier in the year — I've got to start with that," Romar said. "When he's playing, he does that to anyone. ... (The Lobos) don't have a lot of holes. I think (Thursday) night had more to do with how good a basketball player the opponent was."

The Lobos are expecting to have their hands full with Washington's athleticism all over the court today, not just on the inside.

"Watching a little bit of film on them, they are a pressure team that can get up in you, but we've been pressured all year," said Gary. "It's not anything different. ... I think we're going to be ready for that pressure."