Washington Hosts Utah On Saturday Afternoon

Pac-12 Men's Basketball: Washington (10-8, 5-3) vs. Utah (8-13, 1-10)
When: Saturday, 2:00 p.m. PST
Where: Seattle, Wash. (Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion)
Watch: Pac-12 Networks (Roxy Bernstein and Eldridge Recasner)
Listen: Washington Sports Network (Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton)

SEATTLE -- Winners of three straight home games, the Washington men's basketball team will look to stay hot at Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday afternoon against Utah. It is the second game of the season between the two schools, with the Huskies winning 74-68 in Salt Lake City on Jan. 6th. Saturday's game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks with Roxy Bernstein and Eldridge Recasner on the call. Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton will call the action on the Washington Sports Network, locally on Sports Radio KJR-AM 950.

Notable: The Huskies won their third straight home game and fourth out of their last five overall on Thursday night against Colorado ... Terrell Brown Jr. scored a game-high 26 points for his 11th game of 20+ points and continued his streak of double figures in every game this season ... Emmitt Matthews Jr. had his second double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds ...  Brown Jr. currently leads the Pac-12 in scoring (21.2 ppg) and steals (2.6 spg) and is the only player in the country averaging 20 ppg, 3.5 apg and 2.5 spg ...Daejon Davis currently sits at 481 career assists, just 19 short of 500 for his career ... With seven assists and six steals against Cal, Davis joined Brown Jr. with at least two games this season with five each. They are the first Huskies since at least 2010 with two such games in a career, let alone a season ... Jamal Bey played in his 100th career game against Colorado, after Brown Jr. broke the century mark just three days prior ... The Huskies have held opponents to 50% or lower shooting from the field in 16 of 18 games this season ... Terrell Brown Jr. has reached double-digit points in all 18 games. He has scored 20+ points in 11 games, 30+ in two, including a career-high 32 vs. South Dakota State. He has eclipsed double-digits 62 times in 106 career games, 20-plus 37 times and 30-plus six times.

Coach Hopkins (81-73 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.