LAS VEGAS — In just about every way that matters, the Huskies now belong to freshmen guards Keyon Menifield and Koren Johnson.
The once-heirs apparent and freshmen guards who were an afterthought in the regular-season opener four months ago are now fully entrenched in the driver’s seat of the Washington men’s basketball team.
That’s not to suggest senior forward and leading scorer Keion Brooks Jr. and junior center Braxton Meah, who both received Pac-12 postseason recognition Tuesday, aren’t vital to the Huskies’ ambitious pursuits this week in Las Vegas.
However, Mike Hopkins made it clear that if No. 8 seed Washington (16-15) is going to make an extended and improbable run in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament that begins with a 12 p.m. first-round matchup against No. 9 seed Colorado (16-15), then Menifield and Johnson will need spectacular performances in their postseason debuts.
“Our young guys have to grow up fast,” the UW coach said when asked about keys to beating the Buffaloes. “They’ve got to put their nose in the game, especially rebounding against physical teams.”
The Huskies have become dependent on their freshman duo because senior guards Noah Williams and PJ Fuller II haven’t played in weeks. Williams has been bothered by a knee injury that forced him to miss 12 games early in the season. Hopkins has been vague about the reason for Fuller’s absence, which has been described as an illness.
Without Williams and Fuller, Washington has had to endure first-year foibles from Menifield and Johnson, who have a tendency to struggle offensively on the road.
“The two young guys have been a little inconsistent, but they’re very aggressive and good,” Hopkins said. “It would just be nice to have another (guy) and be able to teach by substitution and bring guys out to talk to them.
“But this is also a great experience for them. They’ve gotten to learn sometimes the hard way. They’ve been doing a really good job. Just the consistency isn’t there and normal freshman stuff.”
Take Washington’s previous trip, when Menifield tallied 16 points, five rebounds and five assists while Johnson finished with 10 points, three assists and two steals during a 65-56 win at California.
Three days later, both were ineffective while combining to convert 5 of 21 field-goal attempts and each scoring eight points in an 81-69 loss to Stanford.
“The other night, they had it going and today just wasn’t there day,” senior guard Jamal Bey during the Bay Area trip. “That’s part of being a freshman. … They’ve got the talent. That much is obvious. What comes next is just learning about this league and figuring out how you can make plays that lead to winning.
“Sometimes we need Keyon to score because he can do that as well as anybody in the league. … And sometimes we need Koren to score, too. What’s so great about them is they find ways to be effective and they do it in different ways.”
The rail-thin Menifield, who is 6-foot-1 and 150 pounds, is a dynamic scorer with deft ballhandling skills who has scored 21 or more points in five games. He’s averaging 10 points and leads the Huskies in steals (35) while starting 20 of 31 games.
Johnson is a little bigger at 6-2 and 175 pounds, and the defensive-minded guard has tallied 34 steals while averaging 6.5 points in 28 games off the bench.
The next stage in their development is being able to positively impact a game when their shots aren’t falling and they’re not collecting steals.
“Both (Keyon) and Koren have the ability to make everyone around them better,” Hopkins said. “They also have the ability to score. But they have to think when they’re running the team and they got the ball that they’ve got to get us organized and get us in a set. They got to find others and then the last resort is to look for your opportunities. That’s part of the maturation process for young guards.”
For the most part, Menifield or Johnson are solid ballhandlers who have 51 and 50 turnovers, respectively.
Johnson has tallied just 50 assists, while Menifield, who was voted by the Pac-12 coaches to the league’s All-Freshman team, has garnered early acclaim due, in part, to his team-leading 93 assists.
“I think both of them are really talented,” Hopkins said. “They still have a lot to learn, but they’re fearless. They’ve got great chemistry. They play well together. They’ve gotten some high-level experience.”
And maybe that will be the most significant achievement to emerge from an otherwise indistinguishable season that’s included a handful of thrilling wins and several disappointing defeats.
“I’m excited to see what those two young guys do next season,” Bey said. “Man, if they can grow up together, then in two to three years they could really have something special. The team is in good hands with them.”
NOTES
— Following Saturday’s game, Colorado coach Tad Boyle announced Buffaloes leading scorer and point guard KJ Simpson missed the regular-season finale due to mononucleosis and will not play in the Pac-12 Tournament.
— Husky fifth-year senior Jamal Bey is 17 points away from becoming the 43rd player to score 1,000 at UW.