Sunday, December 31
Salt Lake City, UT
3:00 PM
University of Washington
at
Utah
Huskies Shift To New Year's Eve Tilt At Utah
December 30, 2023 | Men's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Washington (8-4, 0-1 Pac-12) continues its opening weekend of Pac-12 play with a visit to Utah on New Year's Eve.
The final game of 2023 will tip off at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on the Pac-12 Network with A.J. Kanell and Don MacLean on the call. Tim Bickford and Jason Hamilton will call the action on the Husky Sports Network and in Seattle on Sports Radio KJR 950 AM.
After facing a nine-win Colorado team on Friday, UW will take on the ten-win Runnin' Utes. The Huskies return home to play the Oregon schools next week. Tickets are on sale.
THE MATCHUP
Sunday's game will be the Huskies' second true road game outside of the state of Washington this season. UW is 15-19 in 34 prior meetings against Utah, the fewest amount of games played against a Pac-12 opponent in Washington history. The teams met just once last year, with Utah winning 86-61 in Salt Lake City, snapping a three-game UW winning streak in the series. The Huskies are 4-11 as visitors in the series with just two wins at Utah since 2012.
LAST TIME OUT
Keion Brooks Jr. scored 20 points for the eighth time this season and grabbed eight rebounds, but Washington's four-game winning streak was snapped by Colorado. Sahvir Wheeler scored 17 and added seven assists and Moses Wood scored 14 for the Huskies. Those three combined to go 18 for 51 from the floor, accounting for 78% of the Huskies' shot attempts.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
The Huskies have won eight non-conference games for second straight season, which equals their most since winning 10 in 2019-20. UW scored at least 74 points in each of its first 10 games in 2023-24 after only reaching the 74-point mark three times in their first 10 games last season. Two of the Huskies' three losses are to top-36 NET teams, both of whom are ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25.
TOP DAWGS
Keion Brooks Jr. is the only Pac-12 player to rank in the league's top-five in points and rebounds. Paul Mulcahy and Sahvir Wheeler combine for over 12.0 assists per game. UW's backcourt is the only such backcourt in the country and the only major conference team with two players averaging over 5.0 apg. Wheeler and Mulcahy both rank in the top-five in the Pac-12 in assists per game. Wheeler is the active DI leader in assists (734) and is 89th on the all-time list. Mulcahy ranks 16th (509) among active leaders. The Huskies rank second in the Pac-12 and 30th in the country with 5.1 blocks per game. The team ranked in the top-10 in DI in blocks last season. They are also second in the league and 19th nationally in fastbreak points.
EXPERIENCED GROUP
The Husky roster has a combined 7,558 career points which is 10th-most in Division I. The 943 career games played is 13th.
THE RETURNERS
UW is one of three Pac-12 teams to return multiple All-Conference honorees, behind only USC. Preseason first-team All-Conference choice Keion Brooks Jr. headlines the core of returners as the leading returning scorer in the entire Pac-12. He averaged 17.7 points and 6.7 rebounds to earn Second Team All-Pac-12 honors. Braxton Meah is back for another season in purple and gold after shooting over 70 percent in 2022-23 to lead the league and set a new single-season Husky record. He was selected to the All-Defensive team after averaging 1.6 blocks per game.
Koren Johnson enters his sophomore season following a stellar freshman campaign in which he racked up 34 steals, which were tied for second on the team. Franck Kepnang adds depth to the frontcourt after missing the majority of the 2022-23 season due to injury.
THE NEWCOMERS
Kentucky grad transfer Sahvir Wheeler highlights an experienced group of newcomers. Wheeler twice led the SEC in assists, both times ranking in the top five in the NCAA with over six helpers per game.
Wilhelm Breidenbach (Nebraska), Nate Calmese (Lamar), Anthony Holland (Fresno State) Paul Mulcahy (Rutgers) and Moses Wood (Portland) also arrived in Seattle via the transfer portal. Four-star guard Wesley Yates III headlines the freshman class of four.
SIGNING DAY
Head Coach Mike Hopkins and the Huskies signed four-star guard Casmir Chavis to a letter of intent on National Signing Day Wednesday, the Huskies' first commit in the 2024 class.
Follow the Dawgs all season long @UW_MBB on X and Instagram.
The final game of 2023 will tip off at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on the Pac-12 Network with A.J. Kanell and Don MacLean on the call. Tim Bickford and Jason Hamilton will call the action on the Husky Sports Network and in Seattle on Sports Radio KJR 950 AM.
After facing a nine-win Colorado team on Friday, UW will take on the ten-win Runnin' Utes. The Huskies return home to play the Oregon schools next week. Tickets are on sale.
THE MATCHUP
Sunday's game will be the Huskies' second true road game outside of the state of Washington this season. UW is 15-19 in 34 prior meetings against Utah, the fewest amount of games played against a Pac-12 opponent in Washington history. The teams met just once last year, with Utah winning 86-61 in Salt Lake City, snapping a three-game UW winning streak in the series. The Huskies are 4-11 as visitors in the series with just two wins at Utah since 2012.
LAST TIME OUT
Keion Brooks Jr. scored 20 points for the eighth time this season and grabbed eight rebounds, but Washington's four-game winning streak was snapped by Colorado. Sahvir Wheeler scored 17 and added seven assists and Moses Wood scored 14 for the Huskies. Those three combined to go 18 for 51 from the floor, accounting for 78% of the Huskies' shot attempts.
NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
The Huskies have won eight non-conference games for second straight season, which equals their most since winning 10 in 2019-20. UW scored at least 74 points in each of its first 10 games in 2023-24 after only reaching the 74-point mark three times in their first 10 games last season. Two of the Huskies' three losses are to top-36 NET teams, both of whom are ranked or receiving votes in the AP Top 25.
TOP DAWGS
Keion Brooks Jr. is the only Pac-12 player to rank in the league's top-five in points and rebounds. Paul Mulcahy and Sahvir Wheeler combine for over 12.0 assists per game. UW's backcourt is the only such backcourt in the country and the only major conference team with two players averaging over 5.0 apg. Wheeler and Mulcahy both rank in the top-five in the Pac-12 in assists per game. Wheeler is the active DI leader in assists (734) and is 89th on the all-time list. Mulcahy ranks 16th (509) among active leaders. The Huskies rank second in the Pac-12 and 30th in the country with 5.1 blocks per game. The team ranked in the top-10 in DI in blocks last season. They are also second in the league and 19th nationally in fastbreak points.
EXPERIENCED GROUP
The Husky roster has a combined 7,558 career points which is 10th-most in Division I. The 943 career games played is 13th.
THE RETURNERS
UW is one of three Pac-12 teams to return multiple All-Conference honorees, behind only USC. Preseason first-team All-Conference choice Keion Brooks Jr. headlines the core of returners as the leading returning scorer in the entire Pac-12. He averaged 17.7 points and 6.7 rebounds to earn Second Team All-Pac-12 honors. Braxton Meah is back for another season in purple and gold after shooting over 70 percent in 2022-23 to lead the league and set a new single-season Husky record. He was selected to the All-Defensive team after averaging 1.6 blocks per game.
Koren Johnson enters his sophomore season following a stellar freshman campaign in which he racked up 34 steals, which were tied for second on the team. Franck Kepnang adds depth to the frontcourt after missing the majority of the 2022-23 season due to injury.
THE NEWCOMERS
Kentucky grad transfer Sahvir Wheeler highlights an experienced group of newcomers. Wheeler twice led the SEC in assists, both times ranking in the top five in the NCAA with over six helpers per game.
Wilhelm Breidenbach (Nebraska), Nate Calmese (Lamar), Anthony Holland (Fresno State) Paul Mulcahy (Rutgers) and Moses Wood (Portland) also arrived in Seattle via the transfer portal. Four-star guard Wesley Yates III headlines the freshman class of four.
SIGNING DAY
Head Coach Mike Hopkins and the Huskies signed four-star guard Casmir Chavis to a letter of intent on National Signing Day Wednesday, the Huskies' first commit in the 2024 class.
Follow the Dawgs all season long @UW_MBB on X and Instagram.
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