Dawgs Turn The Page To Cal

Saturday, February 17

Seattle, WA

5:00 PM

University of Washington

California

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February 16, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes Tickets

SEATTLE – Washington (14-11, 6-8 Pac-12) looks for its third win in a row when California comes to town on Saturday evening.

The game tips off at 5 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena and will be visible on the Pac-12 Networks. A.J. Kanell and Eldridge Recasner have the call on TV while Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton call the action on the Husky Sports Network and in Seattle on Sports Radio 93.3 KJR-FM.

A special performance of Lift Every Voice will be sung pregame. UW will be wearing adidas uniforms that are meant to highlight respect and acknowledgement to the Black leaders and influencers of the past, while celebrating and showing love to those history-makers of today and tomorrow and giving them their flowers while they're still here. Learn more

THE MATCHUP
Washington and Cal meet for the 176th time on Saturday and 86th in Seattle. UW has a one-game advantage in the all-time series, the smallest margin for UW between Pac-12 opponents. The Huskies are looking for their seventh win in a row over the Golden Bears and 10th in 13 meetings in the Mike Hopkins era. Moses Wood hit a buzzer beater in Berkeley to give the Huskies a win in January. The Dawgs look to sweep the Bay Area Schools at home for the third consecutive season and for the 4th time in the Pac-12 era. The Bears have lost three of the last four Pac-12 road games.

LAST TIME OUT
Koren Johnson scored a career-high 30 points and made six three-pointers, and Washington pulled away early in the second half to beat Stanford 85-65 on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena. No Husky had scored over 30 points off the bench in 22 years. UW shot 54% while holding Stanford, which was coming off a program record 19 three-pointers in a 99-68 rout over USC, to 8 of 27 from distance. The Huskies beat the Cardinal for just the third time in the last ten meetings, all three of which came at Alaska Airlines Arena.

TOP DAWGS
UW is one of four teams in the country with players ranking in the top-20 in points per game and assists per game and one of two Power-5 teams with conference leaders in both categories (Kansas). Sahvir Wheeler is tied for first among active DI leaders in assists (802) and ranks in the top 50 in DI history. Wheeler and Paul Mulcahy each rank in the top-ten in the Pac-12 in assists per game and combine for the most career assists of any backcourt in the country. Mulcahy ranks 22nd (540) among active leaders. Wheeler passed Will Conroy's junior season for 10th on UW's single-season list (146).

JULIUS ERVING AWARD WATCH LIST
Brooks Jr. was named a top-10 candidate for the 2024 Julius Erving Award in January. He is one of two DI players averaging 21.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50% overall (Zach Edey). The last Pac-12 player with those averages was Deandre Ayton. Brooks is in the midst of a career year, shooting 50 percent overall and nearly 40 percent from three-point range. Prior to this season, he had never made more than 30 percent of his threes. Fans can vote on hoopshall.com

NON-CONFERENCE RECAP
The Huskies won eight non-conference games for the 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 were to top-30 NET teams (CSU, SDSU).

HIGH-SCORING HUSKIES
The Huskies are averaging 80.9 ppg, the second-most in the Pac-12 and most by a UW team since 2015-16 (83.9). It puts an offense that has scored 90 points five times 32nd in the country. They are also third in the league in shooting percentage and third in fastbreak points.

MISSING THE BIG MAN
UW started the season 7-3 but is 7-8 with big man Franck Kepnang sidelined since.

EXPERIENCED GROUP
The Husky roster has a combined 8,702 career points which is 11th-most in Division I. The team also ranks in the top-15 among active rosters in games played.

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 in December, the Huskies' first commit in the 2024 class.

NEW AT ALASKA AIRLINES ARENA
New LED lights will not only greatly enhance gameday energy and the fan experience, but the technology also supports UW's focus on sustainability. Complete with instant on/off and color takeover capabilities, new LED lighting will enhance team entrances and create other special moments in the arena.

The Huskies are also playing on a new surface with a redesigned court.

Follow the Dawgs all season long @UW_MBB on X and Instagram.