There weren't many fans in the stands, certainly not the 5,618 that the UW reported as being in attendance. Not a lot of points scored. No primary Husky assistant coaches or Jamal Bey to be seen on the bench. Zero 3-pointers made. Two overall team assists (both by Brown). Without Conroy, Pondexter or Jones on the bench the UW went back to playing mostly a 2-3 zone with very little man to man or full court pressure on defense. While on offense it was all one on one basketball in the half court. No in game adjustments were seemingly made by Mike Hopkins. While Utah Valley's head coach (ex Stanford Cardinal and NBA player Mark Madsen) was making visible in game adjustments all game long. The UW athletics department hasn't even upload the Mike Hopkins, UW players post game presser onto YouTube which is usually customary after every game. Time to fire Mike Hopkins mid-season ala Jimmy Lake and let Conroy, Pondexter or Jones take over for the rest of the season. Next Game: Dec 29 @ *WSU (8-4)
https://wsucougars.com/sports/mens-basketball . *WSU has a non conference game on December 22nd vs Boise State.
Go Huskies
https://gohuskies.com/news/2021/12/21/mens-basketball-huskies-fall-68-52-to-utah-valley.aspx
UWDawgPound
https://www.uwdawgpound.com/2021/12...-loss-to-utah-valley-uw-washington-basketball
https://twitter.com/HuskyMaven/status/1473516376388030464
Seattle Times
https://www.seattletimes.com/sports...hampered-by-covid-issues-fall-to-utah-valley/
The COVID-19 outbreak that forced a two-week suspension of team activities and wiped out three marquee games is still plaguing the Washington men’s basketball team more than three weeks after the initial positive tests for the virus.
Senior forward Jamal Bey was placed in COVID protocols and missed Tuesday’s 68-52 nonconference loss against Utah Valley at Alaska Airlines Arena.
The short-handed Huskies (5-5 and 0-1 Pac-12) were also without assistants Will Conroy, Wyking Jones and Quincy Pondexter who are in health and safety protocols.
Still, coach Mike Hopkins downplayed UW’s absences and attributed another lackluster performance to the wide range of problems that have plagued the Huskies all season.
Washington, which ranks last in the Pac-12 in three-point shooting percentage (28.5%), went 0 for 11 from downtown.
The Huskies also shot 35.2% from the floor and were 14 of 26 on free throws, which explains why they tallied their fewest points since scoring 42 against UC Riverside on Dec. 1, 2020.
And inexplicably, UW got off to another slow start and was behind at halftime for the seventh time this season. Washington, which trailed for more than 35 minutes, was down 30-27 at the break and never got closer than four points in the second half.
“We just didn’t come out and play as hard as we have to play,” Hopkins said. “We started off the game just like 90% of the season and got a little lackadaisical.”
Despite Hopkins’ assertion to the contrary, Bey’s absence more than likely disrupted UW’s offense.
He’s their best three-point shooter and is tied for fourth among the Huskies in scoring (9.1 points per game) and third in rebounding (4.9) while averaging 30.3 minutes. He’s also a UW co-captain who made 28 straight starts and appeared in 71 consecutive games before Tuesday.
“It’s definitely more challenging,” Terrell Brown Jr. said when asked about Bey’s absence. “We depend on Jamal’s scoring.”
Despite its depleted roster, Hopkins, who normally opts for an 8-man rotation, used 10 players with hopes of finding someone other than Brown (23 points, six rebounds, two assists and three steals) who might trigger a dormant offense.
“He’s one of the toughest guys I’ve ever been around mentally and physically,” Hopkins said about Brown. “He’s a really good leader. He’s got the ability to score as well as make plays for others. When he feels like the other guys aren’t as engaged as he is, he looks to put us on his back.”
At times Brown, who entered the game ranked ninth nationally among Division I players while averaging 21.2 points, has been able to carry an incoherent offense that’s ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (69.7 points).
However, his heroic exploits were undone by the frigid shooting of starters Daejon Davis, Nate Roberts and Cole Bajema, who replaced Bey. The trio combined for five points on 2-for-16 shooting, while Emmitt Matthews Jr. added 10 points.
“The other guys, we’ve got to step up in a lot of different positions,” Hopkins said. “A lot of guys got opportunities and they’ve got to play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Backup center Riley Sorn made his season debut as Hopkins searched in vain for anyone who might bring some energy off a Husky bench that was uncharacteristically lifeless.
Unwittingly, backup Sam Ariyibi gave the Huskies a spark after casually throwing a pass that was intercepted at midcourt.
After the play, Brown verbally chastised Ariyibi and admonished the freshman forward for standing at midcourt while Wolverines guard Le’Tre Darthard (16 points) flushed an uncontested fast-break dunk that put Utah Valley up 54-39 with 7:49 left.
“The only thing that we can really provide for our coaches is hard work and play hard,” Brown said. “They’re not really upset if you make 100 shots or miss 100 shots. As long as we play hard and let the results be the results.”
Following a UW timeout, the Huskies went on an 8-2 run to pull to 56-47 with 5:02 left. However, that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
Washington, which had its Pac-12 opener at Arizona rescheduled to Jan. 25 and forfeited its conference home opener against UCLA, starts league play at Washington State on Dec. 29.
“We may not have the best nonconference record, but I know that this team can persevere through a lot of stuff,” Brown said. “The players that we have are really good players. I’m excited and they’re excited. Even though we took this loss, you can see the potential is there. We just need to reach it.”
