Sometimes it’s not about how you get there or how long it took you to get there but rather that you have arrived. Simply put the Washington Huskies Mens Basketball team returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2010-11 season after earning the No.9 seed in the Midwest Region.
The Huskies will face Utah State at 3:50 p.m. PT on Friday, March 22 in Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena. The winner will take on the winner of No. 1 North Carolina/No. 16 Iona.
The Pac-12’s regulars season Champions are coming off a lethargic 48-68 loss to the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 Tournament title game.
It was the second consecutive win for the Ducks who beat the Huskies 47-55 on March 8th to snap Washington’s 15 game win streak. While the Huskies lost two of their final four games and had to sweat out a Tournament Bid Sunday invitation to the Dance served as a reminder that the Huskies Basketball program is back on the National Basketball scene.
“When you’ve been at a program that you’ve put your heart, sweat, blood, tears all into it, you want to put the program back to where it’s been, back to going to the tournament consistently,” said Senior Guard David Crisp.
Washington has advanced to the NCAA Tournament 17 times now in program history and have an 18-17 record overall. The Huskies, who won the Pac-12 Regular Season Championship this season, currently have a 26-8 record, its most wins since 2009-10.
Utah State is out of the Mountain West Conference and boasts a 26-8 record after finishing first in their league this season under first year head coach Craig Smith. They defeated San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament this week to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Very Cool Maz… ♡