BERKELY, Calif. – Believe it or not, there’s a chance the Washington men’s basketball team can finish the regular season tied for fourth in the Pac-12, which seemed like an impossibility not so long ago.
Despite a couple of horrendous midseason stretches in which the Huskies were 3-7 and most recently 1-5, they’re hovering above .500 at 15-13 and tied for eighth in the conference at 7-10 with two weeks left in the regular season.
Washington hasn’t recorded double-digit conference wins in consecutive seasons since doing it in 2010-11 and 2011-12. Of course, the Pac-12 added two league games for a 20-game conference schedule in 2020-21.
Somewhat miraculously, the Huskies have a realistic shot at a 20-win season that would require a road sweep this week in the Bay Area, a win over cross-state rival in the regular-season finale and a couple of wins in the Pac-12 tournament.
And yet, coach Mike Hopkins isn’t overly concerned about postseason possibilities or rosy scenarios that might quell speculation about his job security.
“Our main focus is how do we become the best team today?” the UW coach said. “How can we get Keion Brooks to have one of his best games of the year? How can Braxton (Meah) stay out of foul trouble? And (how) Keion Menifield can get a 2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio in a game? Those are the things we’re focused on.
“That’s the journey of seeing that improvement. We see it in practice and you get in the game and certain things happen. But we’re seeing growth. If we have a chance to make a big run, then those are the things we have to do because those have been our Achilles heel in those close games. We’re close, but it’s a turnover. It’s getting a stop and not getting the rebound. It’s missing a foul shot late. Those things you have to do to win.”
It’s a matter of sports talk debate if the Huskies are truly a contender or a pretender as it pertains to college basketball relevancy, although the metrics would suggest the latter.
Washington is No. 101 in the KenPom rankings and No. 113 in the NET in large part due to an unimpressive 2-9 record in Quad 1 games.
The Huskies can improve their abysmal 1-8 road record this week, but Thursday’s 6 p.m. game against California (2-14, 3-24) at Haas Pavilion won’t significantly help their resume because the Golden Bears are No. 300 in the NET.
Ostensibly, Washington will need to avoid overlooking a beleaguered Cal team that has an 11-game losing streak and is reportedly looking to make a coaching change at the end of the season.
“I don’t know about that,” Hopkins said. “They were a centimeter from beating us. We know they’re physical. I know Mark Fox. I know he’ll have his team ready to fight and play.
“They’ve had some injuries, which has hurt them. It’s hard to win on the road. I don’t think the overlook is there at all. I think it’s the opposite. We understand how good they are and what we’ll have to do to compete and win this game.”
In their previous matchup, the Huskies barely escaped Alaska Airlines Arena with an 81-78 overtime win on Jan. 14.
“They beat us in every statistical category when we played them in the first game, but they just missed foul shots,” Hopkins said referring to Cal’s 12-for-21 shooting on free throws. “It was 13-7 second chance points and 12-5 points off turnovers. Fast break points we only had 3. We have to defend better. That’s when we’re getting in transition and easy baskets.”
Hopkins is also looking to improve the Huskies’ rebounding, limit the 17 turnovers that nearly cost them in their previous outing and get the aforementioned Brooks back on track.
In the past three games, the 6-foot-7 senior forward is averaging just 11 points on 14-for-44 shooting (31.8%) on field goals. Brooks tallied at least 22 points in six of the previous seven games while shooting 48.3%.
“He’s getting double-teamed,” Hopkins said. “Guys running at you on the bounce or on the catch. (Opponents) putting their best defensive player on him. You have that wear and tear of the season. Getting that much focus it also opens up for other guys. That’s where you become a team when other guys step up and make plays.”
Washington had five players score in double figures – including a team-high 15 points from Jamal Bey – in its last outing, a 61-47 win against Oregon State last Sunday.
“We’re still in the quest to play a perfect game,” Hopkins said. “We’re still trying to get better. We’ve been very process driven. One game at a time as been our mentality, but that’s the great thing about March. Anything can happen.
“If we’re going to make a run and play our best basketball, we got to clean up some areas. Two areas that have been our Achilles heel has been defensive rebounding and turnovers.”