Year No. 1 of the MIke Hopkins era at Washington is off to a better start than expected. The Huskies are 7-3 with a win over then No. 2 ranked Kansas in Kansas City. Washington has beat every team they were supposed to beat and lost to three teams that will likely be in the NCAA Tournament by the end of the season.
“To be 7-3… you know, I look at blocks of 10 (games) and moving forward with the rest of our non league schedule ahead of us – I’m proud of them – not happy,” Coach Mike Hopkins said after Washington’s 97-70 loss against No. 12 Gonzaga. “No one should be happy about a loss but I’m proud of them. We’ve been able to play some great programs. Some of the great programs in college basketball. NCAA Tournament teams, teams that have gone to the National Championship and won, teams that have been to the Final Four. So it gives you, this is what it looks like, this is what it feels like. And the only way you can get that is through experience. But with that being said, believing with our plan that we can do this.”
The Huskies season begin with a late comeback win against a solid Belmont team. Washington then struggled in a 79-69 win over Eastern Washington. After that, UW traveled to Madison Square Garden for the 2K Classic, where they lost to Providence and Virginia Tech. Returning home, the Huskies won four straight before heading to Kansas City to face the No. 2 Jayhawks. Washington would go on to shock the world and beat Kansas despite being 21.5 point underdogs. The Huskies’ five game winning streak came to a screeching halt last Sunday night in UW’s blowout loss to Gonzaga.
Through 10 games, the Huskies have done better under Hopkins than anyone could have imagine. Washington is thin in the front court and very thin at point guard – with David Crisp having to play nearly 40 minutes per game. Despite all that, UW has beat all the teams they were supposed to beat and pulled off a huge upset.
Last season, the Huskies started just 5-5, including a season-opening loss to Yale. The season quickly spiraled out of control, as Washington finished 9-22 and 2-16 in conference play.
Washington’s blowout loss to Gonzaga likely won’t be their last flat performance of the season. Their upset win against Kansas, likely won’t be their last upset of the year either. This team will have plenty more of ups and downs as the team continues to learn Mike Hopkins’ new system. But so far, so good.
