Washington Visits No. 9 Arizona For Pac-12 Opener

Pac-12 Men's Basketball: Washington (5-5, 0-0) at No. 9 Arizona (11-1, 1-0)
When: Monday, 5:00 p.m. PST
Where: Tucson, Ariz. (McKale Center) 
Watch: Pac-12 Networks (Ted Robinson and Don MacLean)
Listen: Washington Sports Network (Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton

After a bevy of scheduling changes, the Huskies (5-5, 0-0 Pac-12) will finally open up their Pac-12 slate on Monday at 5:00 p.m. when they make the trip to Tucson to take on the No. 9 Arizona Wildcats...In addition to being the conference opener, it will also be the first time UW faces a ranked opponent this season... The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks with Ted Robinson and Don MacLean on the call. Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton will call the action on the Washington Sports Network, locally on Sports Radio KJR-AM 950 ... It will mark the 88th matchup all-time between the two schools, with Arizona holding a 56-31 advantage.

Notable: UW wrapped up its nonconference slate in December against Utah Valley and heads into conference play sitting at 5-5 ... Wednesday's game in Pullman is the first true road game of the season for the Huskies ... Through 10 games, The Huskies have yet to allow an opponent to shoot better than 50% from the field ... Terrell Brown Jr. enters Tuesday's game having played 98 career games. He is on track to join Daejon Davis (114) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (102) in the century club ... Cole Bajema made the first start of his career against Utah Valley, playing 23 minutes ... Daejon Davis had a career high six steals vs. Seattle. Brown ranks second in the league with 2.0 spg ... Emmitt Matthews Jr. recorded just his second career double-double (17 points/11 rebounds) against Seattle U ... Brown currently leads the Pac-12 and ranks 6th nationally in scoring at 21.4 points per game. In 10 games he has 214 points, already surpassing the 190 he had in 26 games with Arizona in 2020-21 ... Brown needs 32 points to reach 1,500 for his career (1,468 through 98 games) ...  Brown is the only Husky to reach double-digit points in all nine games. He has scored 20+ points in five games, and 30+ in two, including a career-high 32 vs. South Dakota State. He has eclipsed double-digits 54 times in 97 career game, 20-plus 30 times and 30-plus six times.
Coach Hopkins (73-64 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).

The Team: The Huskies have two returning starters from 2020-21, Jamal Bey and Nate Roberts. Bey is the Huskies leading returning scorer at 10.3 points per game and shot a Pac-12 leading 50.8% from three-point range. The Huskies added four transfers from Division I schools -- Terrell Brown Jr. (Arizona), Daejon Davis (Stanford), PJ Fuller (TCU) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (West Virginia) -- that bring with them 12 years of high-level playing experience. Combined, the foursome who all hail from the Seattle/Tacoma area, entered the year having played in 336 games (256 starts), scored 3,238 points, grabbed 1,295 rebounds and dished out 964 assists. Brown enters the year with 1,254 points in three seasons (1 at Arizona, 2 at Seattle U) and Davis 1,064 career points and 429 assists.

Signing Day: The Huskies added 6-7 forward Tyler Lindhardt (Seattle, Wash./King's HS) and 6-2 Keyon Menifield Jr. (Mount Morris, Mich./Phoenix [Ariz.] Prep) to the roster for 2022-23. Lindhardt is the No. 1 rated player in the state of Washington and averaged 21.8 ppg, 12.3 rp and 3.5 apg as a sophomore. Menifield played four years at Beecher HS in Flint, Mich. and was the Michigan Division 3 POY in 2021 after averaging 26 ppg, 9.3 apg, 6.6 spg and 4.7 rpg. He is currently enrolled at Phoenix Prep.

NBA Connections: Not only are there nine former Huskies currently active in the NBA, but there are two former players on the Huskies' coaching staff with NBA experience. Seventh-year coach Will Conroy spent part of four seasons in the NBA, while first-year coach Quincy Pondexter just wrapped up a nine-year career in 2019. Isaiah Thomas became the ninth former Husky to join a NBA roster when the Los Angeles Lakers signed him to a 10-day contract on Dec. 17. The following nine players are currently on NBA rosters: Markelle Fultz (Orlando Magic), Justin Holiday (Indiana Pacers), Jaden McDaniels (Minnesota Timberwolves), Dejounte Murray (San Antonio Spurs), Jaylen Nowell (Minnesota Timberwolves), Terrence Ross (Orlando Magic), Isaiah Stewart (Detroit Pistons), Isaiah Thomas (LA Lakers) and Matisse Thybulle (Philadelphia 76ers). Additionally, Marquese Chriss began the 2021 season with the Portland Trailblazers.