It’s a wrap!
The Washington Huskies men’s hoops team made history last season, but not in a good way, as they became the very first team to win a major conference and not head to the Big Dance.
Personally, I thought their snub was ridiculous, as even though the Pac 12 was down last season they still won it and deserved an NCAA Tournament selection.
Overall, the Huskies finished 24-11 and lost to Minnesota in the semifinals of the NIT.
Here are 5 things were learned about Washington hoops last season.
1. The new guys stepped up
Not many gave Washington a chance last season since they lost their top 3 scorers from the 2010-2011 season of Isaiah Thomas, Matthew Bryan-Amaning, and Justin Holiday. However, sophomores Terrence Ross (15.3 ppg) and C.J. Wilcox (14 ppg) and freshman Tony Wroten (16.7 ppg) stepped up and played well.
On a side note, you would think these young guys give Washington high hopes last season they have a big hole to fill after Wroten recently declared for the NBA draft.
2. Washington did not start the season well
One of the reasons the Huskies were left out of the Big Dance is that they struggled before Pac 12 play began losing to all the good teams they faced. The Huskies lost to 5 teams before conference play began and 4 of those teams made the NCAA Tournament.
These guys stepped up
After winning their first 3 games of the season they lost 5 of their next 7 to St. Louis, Nevada, Duke, Marquette, and San Diego State.
3. The Huskies could score and hit the boards
In the 2011-2012 season Washington ranked 34th in the nation in scoring and 5th in rebounding.
4. UW did not come though in the clutch
I mentioned the losses before the conference season began that really hurt their Big Dance chances, but the Huskies blew it in conference play at the end of the season.
UW looked like a lock to get a NCAA tourney bid, but they lost their last game of the regular season to UCLA and then lost to Oregon State in the first round of the Pac 12 tournament.
Those losses sent the Huskies to the NIT rather than the NCAA Tournament.
5. The Huskies were solid in conference play
Washington went 14-4 in the Pac 12 this season with their only losses at Colorado, Oregon, and UCLA and at home against Cal.
Big Wins for Washington: UCSB, Cal, Oregon twice, Arizona twice, and Northwestern
About Jason Green
