Washington To Defend Acrisure Series Title In Palm Desert

Thursday, November 27

Palm Desert, Calif.

1:30 p.m. PT

University of Washington

Nevada

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Washington To Defend Acrisure Series Title In Palm Desert

November 26, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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PALM DESERT, Calif. – Washington men's basketball will look to defend its crown in the desert over the holiday, kicking off the Acrisure Holiday Classic on Thursday, facing Nevada at Acrisure Arena.

Based on results, the Huskies will face either Colorado or San Francisco on Friday.

Thursday's game will tipoff at 1:30 p.m. PT, airing on CBS Sports Network. Tony Castricone and Jason Hamilton will have the radio call on 950 KJR-AM. Links to live stats are available at HuskyStats.com.

OPENING TIPS
» Washington looks to defend its crown in Palm Springs, winning the 2024 Acrisure Invitational
» UW has won two of its last three MTE tournaments
» Thursday's game will end an eight day break between games
» UW is looking to snap a six-game losing streak to Nevada
» The Huskies are coming off a 99-93 double overtime win over Southern
» It was the sixth double overtime game for UW since 2010
» UW improved to a perfect 4-0 when scoring at least 70 points in a game
» Making his Husky debut after missing the first four games due to injury, Desmond Claude scored 20 points over 35 minutes
» Franck Kepnang set a career-high with six blocks
» UW has out-rebounded its first five opponents of the season for the first time since 2008-09

ABOUT NEVADA
» Nevada is in its seventh season under head coach Kevin Johnson
» A veteran with 35 seasons of experience, Alford ranks ninth among active Division I head coaches with 704 career wins
» Nevada enters Thursday's game with a 4-2 record, snapping a two-game skid Saturday with a 77-64 home win over UC-Santa Barbara
» Thursday's game will be Nevada's second away from Lawlor Events Center
» The Wolf Pack rank 11th in the nation at 31.2 free throw attempts per game
» Nevada ranks second in the Mountain West in blocks per game at 4.2
» UNR boasts two of the MWC's top-10 scorers in guards Corey Camper Jr. (16.8) and Tayshawn Comer (15.8)
» The Wolf Pack are paced in rebounding by forward Elijah Price at 9.2 per game, 3.5 more than the next closest player
» Reserve guard Peyton White is shooting 57.9 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent from behind the arc

SERIES HISTORY - NEVADA
» This season marks the third straight season UW and Nevada have played
» Winning each of the last six meetings, Nevada owns a slight 7-6 edge in the series' history
» Washington last defeated UNR in 2010, a 90-60 victory in Seattle
» In the only previous neutral site meeting, Nevada defeated UW 81-62 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

DEFEND THE CROWN
» Washington returns to Palm Springs looking to defend its Acrisure Invitational title from last season
» The Huskies pulled out tight wins over Colorado State and Santa Clara to claim the event
» UW received one of its best shooting performances behind the arc in the win over Colorado State, making 10-of-22 attempts
» Great Osobor averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists to earn the tournament's MVP honors
» UW has won two of its last three MTEs, also winning the Wooden Legacy in 2022-23

BREAK OUT THE WINDEX
» The Huskies have outrebounded their first five opponents for the first time since the 2008-09 season
» UW ranks fourth in the Big Ten in rebounding average, third in offensive rebounding
» Hannes Steinbach leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the nation at 12.8 RPG
» Steinbach is averaging 5.25 offensive rebounds per game, ranking fourth nationally and second in the Big Ten

LIKE CLOCKWORK
» Hannes Steinbach is the first Husky to record a double double in three straight games since Keion Brooks Jr. during the 2022-23 season
» Steinbach is one of 51 players in the nation with three or more double doubles, one of six in the Big Ten

CAN'T CATCH A BREAK
» Through five games, five different UW players have combined to miss 16 games due to injury

OUR STATE
» Washington picked up its third straight win over Washington State on Friday, defeating the Cougars 81-69 for a second consecutive win in Pullman
» UW improved to 11-2 in its last 13 games against in-state teams duringnon-conference play
» Wesley Yates III scored 26 points, the most by a Husky this season
» Yates knocked down four three pointers, tying the season-high for UW, and pulled down a career-high seven rebounds
» Making his first start of 2025-26, Zoom Diallo tied his career-high with 20 points
» Hannes Steinbach secured his third straight double double, grabbing 13 rebounds and adding 14 points

LETTING IT FLY
» Quimari Peterson is fourth in the Big Ten with 39 total three point attempts
» The senior has attempted at least seven shots behind the arc in all five of UW's games, four of those games off the bench
» As a team, UW has attempted at least 20 threes in 3-of-4 games
» The Huskies have launched 25 three pointers in 2-of-5 games, a mark reached just twice during the entire 2024-25 season

STATEMENT START
» Washington opened the 2025-26 season with a 94-50 victory over UAPB
» It was UW's first 40+ point victory since 2017, when the Huskies defeated Bethune-Cookman by 51, 106-55
» The victory marked Washington's first 40+ point win in a season opener since 2007 and UW's 44-point margin of victory was its largest in an opener since defeating Morgan State 118-51 (67 points) on Nov. 13, 2005
» Monday's win was UW's fourth-straight to open a season
» A year after opening the season with just two makes from three, the Huskies knocked down 10 makes from behind the arc, led by four from Quimari Peterson
» UW held UAPB to a .254 field goal percentage, the worst shooting performance by a Husky opponent since USC shot .200 from the field on Jan. 2, 2020
» True freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies in his college debut with 21 on 9-of-11 shooting, adding seven rebounds
» In his first-ever college start, Bryson Tucker posted his first career double double with 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds
» Point guard JJ Mandaquit dished out eight assists in his college debut

BAND'S BACK TOGETHER
» 2025-26 sees the return of a pair of former Huskies in cousins Wesley Yates III and Quincy Pondexter
» A top-40 recruit out of high school, Yates signed with UW ahead of the 2023-24 season, sitting out the campaign due to injury
» Yates, who played last season at USC, was one of the Big Ten's top scorers during conference play with averages of 17.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists
» Pondexter, a three-year assistant at UW, spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach for Yates and the Trojans, returning to his alma mater this summer
» An eight-year NBA veteran, Pondexter was an All-Pac-10 and Honorable Mention All-American for the Dawgs, ranking fifth all-time in scoring
» Pondexter led Washington to the 2009 Pac-10 Regular Season Championship and the 2010 Pac-10 Tournament Title, the latter of which he captured with fellow UW staffer Abdul Gaddy

NEW LOOK DAWGS
» Washington returns just two players from the 2024-25 roster in Zoom Diallo and Franck Kepnang
» Diallo appeared in all 31 games, including 22 starts and ranked second among all Huskies in points (11.2) and assists (3.1) per game during Big Ten play
» Kepnang missed a string of 17 games due to injury, starting the final eight contests of the season

PORTAL HOPPING
» UW revamped its roster with one of the most heralded transfer classes in the nation, ranking as the No. 3 class by On3.com
» Three of UW's transfers are ranked in the top-100 in the class, including two inside the top-30 in Wesley Yates III (24th, 247Sports) and Desmond Claude (29th, On3.com)
» Claude and Yates were the two leading scorers at Big Ten foe USC a season ago
» Quimari Peterson was ranked at No. 73 in the class by 247Sports
» Washington's transfer class was ranked No. 8 in the nation by HoopsHQ, while ESPN rated UW as the No. 5 team that added the most talent in the transfer portal

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
» The Dawgs also bolstered its squad with a nationally heralded freshman recruiting class
» UW's class was ranked as the 15th-best in the nation by 247Sports, the top class in the Big Ten
» UW's class was also ranked No. 21 by On3 and No. 25 by ESPN
» Per 247Sports, Washington added four four-star true freshmen
» Hannes Steinbach was rated as UW's top-signee with a rating of 97, but was not included in 247Sports' national player rankings
» JJ Mandaquit was ranked as the No. 74 player in the class, the No. 10 PG
» Jasir Rencher was ranked as the No. 90 player in the class, the No. 24 SF
» Courtland Muldrew was ranked as the No. 103 player in the class, the No. 18 SG
» Mady Traore was rated as a three-star, the No. 5 ranked JUCO player in the nation

CREAM OF THE CROP
» Washington is one of three teams in the nation featuring multiple players that were named their conference's player of the year, joining Big Ten rival Iowa and Kansas State
» Quimari Peterson reeled in Southern Conference Player of the Year Laurels, leading the conference in points, points per game, field goals, steals, steals per game and three-point field goal percentage
» The 6-1 guard was named a Finalist for the 2025 Lou Henson Award
» Peterson reached double-figure scoring in 31-of-32 games, including 15 20+ point outings
» Jacob Ognacevic was tabbed the ASUN Player of the Year after leading the league and ranking 19th in the nation in scoring at 20.0 points per game
» Ognacevic was efficient too, shooting 57.5 percent from the field, the 25th best average in the country
» The Wisconsin native also pulled down 8.0 rebounds per game, 4th in the ASUN
» Ognacevic will be sidelined indefinitely with a foot injury sustained during the preseason

TAKING THE WORLD STAGE
» A pair of freshman Huskies battled it out on the world stage this summer at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup as JJ Mandaquit and Hannes Steinbach battled it out in the Gold Medal game
» Mandaquit and Team USA captured the Gold, with the Hawaii native averaging 5.4 assists per game, 12.8 per 40 minutes
» In the Gold Medal game, Mandaquit led Team USA with six assists, adding seven points on 3-of-4 shooting
» The McDonald's All-America nominee shot 44.4 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from behind the arc, knocking down all 13 free throw attempts
» Steinbach was one of the standouts of the tournament, leading Germany to Silver and earning All-Star Five honors
» The Würzburg native scored 17.4 points per game, the eight highest average of the tournament
» Steinbach pulled down 13.0 rebounds per game, second most at the World Cup
» Steinbach finished with four double doubles over seven games, including 19 points and 19 rebounds in the opener against Slovenia
» Against Serbia in the Round of 16, Steinbach dropped in seven field goals and nine free throws for 23 points, while reeling in 19 boards
» Additionally, sophomore transfer Christian Nitu played for Romania at 2025 FIBA U20 Eurobasket

DEUTSCH CONNECTION
» Hannes Steinbach is the latest in a German pipeline to Montlake
» Christian Welp, a native of Delmenhorst, West Germany, is UW's all-time leading scorer with 2,073 points
» Welp was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection ('85, '86, '87)
» Welp was named the 1984 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and 1986 Pac-10 Player of the Year
» Welp was drafted No. 16 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1987 NBA Draft
» Welp played three seasons between the 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors before seeing his NBA career cut short due to injury
» A teammate of Welp's for two seasons, Detlef Schrempf moved to Centralia, Washington, from Leverkusen, West Germany, for one season before joining the Huskies
» Schrempf ranks 18th all-time in scoring at Washington with 1,449 points
» Schrempf was a two-time First Team All-Pac-10 honoree ('84, '85)
» Schrempf was named a Third Team All-American by the NABC in 1985
» Schrempf was drafted No. 8 overall in the 1985 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks
» Schrempf enjoyed a 17-year NBA career with the Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, Seattle Supersonics and Portland Trailblazers
» Schrempf earned three NBA All-Star selections ('93, '95, '97), was tabbed Third Team All-NBA in 1995 and won back-to-back Sixth Man of the Year Awards in 1991 and 1992
» Welp and Schrempf won back-to-back Pac-10 Championships with the Huskies in 1984 and 1985
» Schrempf was inducted into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1995, while Welp followed in 2001

MONTLAKE MAGIC
» Over the last 20 seasons, Washington is 243-95 (.719) at Alaska Airlines Arena
» The Huskies have posted a winning record at home in 17 of those 20 seasons, registering double-digit home wins 16 times
» UW has posted at least a .600 home record in 13 of the past 20 seasons
» Washington has won at least 80% of its home games eight times over the last 20 seasons, including 90% or more three times

SPRINKLE ON TOP
» Danny Sprinkle has led his team to 25 or more wins in three of the last four seasons, guiding three-consecutive teams to NCAA Tournament appearancesbetween Utah State and Montana State
» Sprinkle has twice been named his conferences coach of the year, earning the 2023-24 honor from the Mountain West and 2021-22 award from the Big Sky
» Sprinkle led Utah State to its first NCAA Tournament win since 2001
» Montana State's ninth-leading scorer all-time, Sprinkle led his alma mater to its first NCAA Tournament bid since 1996 (2022 & 2023)
» An MSU Hall of Fame inductee in 2021, Sprinkle led the Bobcats to consecutive 25+ win seasons for the first time since 1927-29

Meant for Montlake is officially live! Catch the first five episodes of this deep dive podcast into the serendipitous, intertwining stories that brought this season's Washington team together. Brought to you by the voice of the Huskies, Tony Castricone, and presented by Colburn Law, Meant for Montlake is available at GoHuskies.com/MeantForMontlake or wherever you get your podcasts.

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