His last game in Tucson ended well.
Backup power forward Austin Seferian-Jenkins watched Washington teammate Tony Wroten reject Josiah Turner's last-second shot to secure a two-point win at McKale Center.
"The fans were great - they were loud," he said. "It was a 'Whiteout.'
"We beat them."
Seferian-Jenkins left Tucson a little-used basketball player - he averaged 7.2 minutes in 17 games - and returns as an elite tight end intent on willing the Huskies to a season-swinging victory Saturday at Arizona Stadium.
The sophomore, who publicly is undecided about a basketball return, figures to make a larger impact on Tucson's grass than its hardwood.
Here are three reasons the UA should fear him:
1. He's the best. The 6-foot-6, 266-pounder leads all FBS tight ends with 29 catches. He's 20 off UW's single-season record, set in 2000 by Jerramy Stevens.
The Fox Island, Wash., native's 337 receiving yards rank second on the team.
He said he's "not really aware of my own personal stats," and preferred to focus on the team offense.
The 3-3 Huskies rank No. 109 in the FBS with 317.5 yards per game. They, however, have already faced No. 3 LSU, No. 8 Stanford, No. 2 Oregon and No. 11 USC.
"Our offense is getting better," he said. "I don't think anyone's really worried about that."
2. The Wildcats struggle with tight ends. Pac-12 teams average 12.6 yards per catch against the UA. Tight ends, though, average 19.1.
Three of the seven receiving scores the UA has allowed to league opponents went to tight ends, who have totaled 14 catches and 267 yards.
"We've had problems with it this year just from a size standpoint," UA coach Rich Rodriguez said.
"Everyone knows that we're not a very big team defensively. We've struggled with some big, tall physical receiver tight end types."
Oregon's Colt Lyerla caught two passes for 53 yards against the UA. One week later, Oregon State's Connor Hamlett caught a game-winning touchdown.
Stanford's Levine Toilolo caught five passes for a career-best 141 yards and a score; teammate Zach Ertz had six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown.
"We just have to try to put pressure on the quarterback and mix up the coverages a little bit," Rodriguez said. "You have to make a play on the ball."
3. He knows the game is huge. After beating Stanford on Sept. 27, the Huskies fell to UO and USC by a combined 41. The 3-3 Wildcats haven't won in a month.
"This is a big game for both teams," Seferian-Jenkins said.
UA linebacker Jake Fischer said whoever covers Seferian-Jenkins "has to go hard as he can," the way the UA did, in vain, at Stanford.
"They just made some plays on us, but we just have to do what we did against Stanford," he said.
"Which is, don't make it easy for them."
ASJ MVP?
Washington's Austin Seferian-Jenkins leads FBS tight ends in receptions.
Here's how he got there:
Wk Opponent Rec Yds Lg TD
1 San Diego State 9 82 20 0
2 LSU 6 51 18 0
3 Portland State 5 78 40 1
4 Stanford 2 10 7 0
5 Oregon 2 33 28 0
6 USC 5 83 34 1
Staff writer Ryan Finley contributed to this story
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