Washington's Romar: 'We're all fighting, man'

Markelle Fultz returned and it made no difference.

Despite getting 19 points from its star guard in his return from a knee injury Thursday, Washington lost its eighth straight game, an 83-81 defeat at home versus Arizona State.

Each wrong decision has made the Huskies' lofty preseason goals look sillier and sillier, but coach Lorenzo Romar said afterward that his team isn't ready to wave the white flag on 2016-17.

"We've had a lot of disappointment. But I don't think our chins are on the floor," Romar told reporters, according to Christian Caple of The News Tribune. "I think our guys know that we have one more home game. We have a few weeks left in this season. We need to continue to try to get better for the Pac-12 tournament."

The Huskies are now 2-12 in the Pac-12, ahead of only Oregon State in the conference standings. Washington will need to win the Pac-12 tournament to book an NCAA tournament berth, but the chances of that happening appear slimmer than those of Fultz holding off on the NBA draft in favor of a sophomore campaign.

"We're all fighting, man," Romar added. "And as the leader of this team, they need to see that fight over there on that sideline, and we tried to give it to them."

It didn't work against the Sun Devils, but Romar will hope for better luck Saturday against No. 5 Arizona before closing out the regular season with three consecutive road games.