Cowboys Ride Into Montlake To Face Huskies

THE MATCHUP:
The Washington men's basketball team (2-1) wraps up a four-game homestand to open the season by facing Wyoming (2-0) on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (Pac-12 Network) at Alaska Airlines Arena. It will be the Cowboys' first trip to Montlake since Dec. 5, 2002 when UW won 79-70.

The Huskies lead the all-time series 9-4, but the Cowboys won the last time the teams met, 92-76, on Dec. 6, 2003 in Laramie, Wyoming. The Cowboys have four starters that average double-figure scoring, led by 6-foot-9 forward Graham Ike, who is averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. The Cowboys' two wins have come at home against Detroit Mercy (85-57) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (85-45). Wyoming was picked to finish tied for eighth in the 2021-22 Mountain West preseason media poll.

NOTEWORTHY:
Terrell Brown Jr.  had all nine of the Huskies' assists on Monday vs. Texas Southern. He is the first Pac-12 player to have 9 or more assists and account for all his team's assists since Brevin Knight (9) of Stanford vs. Utah on Mar. 20, 1997. Nationally, the last person to record all of their team's assists with 9 or more was North Texas' Ryan Woolridge, who recorded nine on Jan. 20, 2018 vs. Southern Miss. Since Knight accomplished that feat in 1997, three other Pac-12 players have recorded all their team's assists until Brown: Cal's Ayinde Ubaka (4, 3/11/2006 vs. UCLA), Oregon's Jeremy Jacob (1, 2/20/2010 vs. Cal) and Oregon State's Gary Payton II (3, 1/13/2016 vs. Colorado)  ... the Huskies are 14-of-15 (.933) from the free throw line over the final 5:00 minutes in their two wins ... Emmitt Matthews Jr. led UW with 21 points vs. NAU, the third 20-point game of his career, first since he was a freshman at West Virginia (3/25/19 vs. Coastal Carolina, 21 pts) ... Nate Roberts opened the year with his third career double-double (10 pts/19 rebounds). His 19 rebounds are tied for 19th most in UW single-game history ... Terrell Brown Jr. has scored 20+ points twice this season, 27 times overall.  

• Coach Hopkins (70-61 at UW/5th Year): Head Coach Mike Hopkins is in his fifth year at Washington, and fifth as a head coach after becoming the 19th head coach in UW history. During his 22 years as an assistant at Syracuse, Hopkins was a part of teams that reached the NCAA Tournament 16 times including the 2003 National Championship, four Final Fours, five Elite Eights and 10 Sweet 16s along with four NIT berths. Syracuse never dipped below a 55.0 percent record while Hopkins was on staff. Hopkins is a two-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, winning the honor in each of his first two seasons with the Huskies as he led UW to back-to-back 20 win seasons with postseason appearances each year. (2018 NIT, 2019 NCAA Second Round).