Analysis: After UW’s hot start and upset of Gonzaga, are the Husky men for real?

SEATTLE – When the Washington men’s basketball team trailed by 11 points early in the second half against then-No. 7 Gonzaga on Saturday, Keion Brooks Jr. knew what UW fans were thinking: Same old Huskies.

And who could blame them?

Washington had a seven-game losing streak against GU and had dropped 14 of the previous 15 matchups before upsetting the Zags 78-73, which sparked a storm-the-court celebration at Alaska Airlines Arena.

“I don’t think a lot of people really believed we could go out there and win this game,” Brooks said. “I feel like a lot of people, when they went on their run were like, ‘Here’s the same old Washington.’

“But I was just proud of how much we fought, how much we stayed together and how our coaches put us in a position to win and we went out and executed.”

Washington (6-3), which received two votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week, improved to No. 55 in the NET and 51st in the KenPom ranking.

For the first time since 2019, ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi included the Huskies in his latest NCAA Tournament projections. UW is slotted among the “Last Four In” quartet that includes New Mexico, Cincinnati and Butler.

Lunardi has UW as a No. 11 seed playing Butler in a First Four game for a chance to advance to a first-round matchup against Colorado State in the Spokane region that includes top-seeded Gonzaga.

It’s a rosy forecast for UW, which has a four-year NCAA Tournament drought.

Here are three thoughts on the Huskies.

That second-half defense can beat anybody

In their three losses, Washington allowed an average of 89.7 points, which directly contributed to their demise. Nevada scored 83 points, San Diego State had 100 in an overtime game and Colorado State put up 86.

Gonzaga came into Saturday’s game with an offense ranked 13th nationally, averaging 87.2 points.

The Zags were seemingly unstoppable while shooting 55.9% (19 of 34) from the field and taking a 48-42 lead into halftime.

But in the second half, everything changed.

The Huskies held the Bulldogs to 7-of-27 shooting (25.9%), including 0 for 9 on 3-pointers.

More to the point, Washington was able to defend without fouling – GU converted 16 of 20 free throws while UW was 21 of 25. And the Huskies outrebounded the Zags 36-28.

“We’ve been focused on defensive rebounding, and we just did a lot better job of playing more physical in those situations where we retain the ball,” Hopkins said. “Obviously, we still have to get better at that, but way bigger improvement.”

UW had better fix its turnover troubles

Hopkins has raved about the advantages of having two experienced playmakers in the starting lineup with fifth-year seniors Sahvir Wheeler and Paul Mulcahy, who are second and fourth in the Pac-12 while averaging 6.5 and 5.4 assists, respectively.

On most nights, they make life easier on the offensive end for Brooks, sharpshooter Moses Wood and UW’s trio of big men (Franck Kepnang, Braxton Meah and Wilhelm Breidenbach).

On Saturday, however, Wheeler and Mulcahy combined for 11 of Washington’s season-high 19 turnovers. It was the first game this season in which the Huskies had more turnovers than assists (11).

“I always say, ‘Hit singles,’ ” Hopkins said. “Sometimes you got to bunt and don’t always go for the home run. Just read the situation and make the right play. … You can’t go up and leave your feet and just expect somebody is going to be there. I felt like we were trying to make things out of nothing. ”

Washington averages 16.4 assists per game, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12. The Huskies’ 13 turnovers per game rank eighth in the conference.

Are the Huskies for real?

Well, that’s impossible to know and depends – in part – on your faith in Hopkins, who could very well be coaching for his job.

A glass-half-full prognosticator like the eternally optimistic UW coach would say Washington is two shots from being 8-1 and possibly ranked for the first time since December 2019.

In the final seconds, Mulcahy missed a free throw that would have beaten San Diego State and misfired on a 3-pointer that could have sent the Colorado State game into overtime.

There’s no denying, myriad offseason changes – eight newcomers, coaching staff shake-up, replacing the zone defense with a man-to-man scheme and installing a high-tempo offense – has led to vast improvements.

Washington is averaging more points (82.8 compared to 69.2), the defense has had shining moments while allowing just 64.2 points in wins, and UW is outscoring opponents by 9.5 points compared to minus-1.1 last season.

Still, a pragmatic Husky fan who is impatient with Hopkins after four nonwinning seasons, might say the Huskies started 7-2 last year and had a promising 9-3 record before a five-game losing streak and a four-game skid torpedoed their season and led to a disappointing 16-16 finish.

It remains to be seen how Washington, which was picked ninth in the Pac-12 preseason media poll, handles prosperity and a significant boost in tepid expectations this time.

The Huskies finish the nonconference season against Seattle U. (6-3) and Eastern Washington (2-6) before a Pac-12 road-opening trip against Colorado (7-2) and Utah (7-2).

Hopkins, who has a year remaining on his contract after the season, believes a big nonconference win can set the tone for the season. In 2017, Washington upset No. 2 Kansas 74-65, which he said led to a surprising 21-win season during his first year at Montlake.

“When you get that game that gets you over the hump, it’s an unbelievable feeling and that there is now evidence,” Hopkins said. “What I was trying to tell them is we haven’t done anything yet. It’s a great win. But there’s a lot more ways that we can become better than a team and that’s our goal. … What can we become?”

The answer will impact Hopkins’ future at UW.