UW Men's Basketball Notebook: Time to Get Hopeful?
Week of February 3 - 9: Washington tries to build off win at Minnesota
Overall Record: 11-10
Big 10 Record: 2-8
Net Ranking: 93
Last Week’s Recap
Washington ended their six game losing streak behind a strong performance from Tyler Harris. Great Osobor showed up in a big way as well with another double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) as the Dawgs won 71-68 on the road. The Huskies shot 7 of 15 from three point range as a team which will need to continue at home this week in order to beat Nebraska and Northwestern.
Player of the Week
With only one game last week, it has to be Tyler Harris who scored 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting (including 4 of 4 from deep). Harris added four rebounds, one block and one steal to lead the Huskies to a big road win.
Stat of the Week
The Huskies are 18th in offensive efficiency and 15th in defensive efficiency in Big 10 conference games. Gross.
This Coming Week
Washington hosts Nebraska on Wednesday at 7:30 pm (Big 10 network).
Nebraska is rolling right now after two big wins over ranked teams in Oregon and Illinois. The Cornhuskers are led by National Player of the Week Brice Williams (who averaged 27.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in the two wins). Juwan Gary (12.7 points) and Connor Essegian (11.0 points) round out the double digit scorers for Nebraska.
Washington hosts Northwestern on Saturday at 7:30 pm (Big 10 network).
It was an emotional week for head coach Chris Collins and the Northwestern Wildcats. Leading scorer Nick Martinelli hit a game winner against USC on Tuesday after previously hitting a game winner against Maryland this season. Martinelli makes the Wildcats go at 19.7 points per game (3rd in Big 10). At the same time, second leading scorer Brooks Barnhizer was ruled out for the season with a foot injury. Northwestern and Washington are statically similar except the Wildcats are best in the conference in turnovers per game at only 9.7 per contest.
National Games to Watch
#15 Missouri at #4 Tennessee
Wednesday, February 5th at 4:00 pm on SEC Network
#12 St. John’s at #19 UConn
Friday, February 7th at 5:00 pm on FOX
#6 Florida at #1 Auburn
Saturday, February 8th at 1:00 pm on ESPN
#13 Texas Tech at #20 Arizona
Saturday, February 8th at 7:00 pm on ESPN
Big 10 Standings
Big 10 record and net ranking in parentheses
Purdue (10-2, #10)
Michigan State (9-2, #20)
Michigan (8-2, #17)
Wisconsin (8-4, #16)
UCLA (8-4, #26)
Maryland (7-4, #15)
Illinois (7-5, #12)
Oregon (5-6, #36)
Ohio State (5-6, #27)
USC (5-6, #67)
Indiana (5-7, #64)
Nebraska (4-7, #50)
Iowa (4-7 #65)
Rutgers (4-7, #76)
Northwestern (4-8, #54)
Minnesota (4-8, #95)
Penn State (3-9, #62)
Washington (2-10, #93)
Recruiting Corner
Top 100 point guard JJ Mandaquit showed out this week at the Montverde Academy Invitational Tournament (MAIT). Mandaquit plays for Utah Prep alongside projected #1 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, AJ Dybansta. (Note: if you are hoping Mandaquit is good defensively, don’t watch these highlights)