In a thrilling opener to the Big Ten Conference Tournament, the University of Washington men's basketball team pulled off an impressive 83-79 overtime victory against Southern California on Wednesday afternoon in Chicago. The Huskies, seeded No. 12, now stand at 16-16 for the season, while USC's campaign concludes at 18-14.
Up next, Washington faces No. 5 Wisconsin in the third round on Thursday afternoon, with the game set to tip off 25 minutes after the first game of the day, which begins at 9 a.m.
PT.
The Huskies' win was no walk in the park. They found themselves trailing at halftime and by 11 points before mounting a spirited comeback. It was a day of comebacks in Chicago, with teams trailing at halftime going 4-0 in the tournament-an unprecedented feat.
Looking ahead to Thursday's schedule:
- No. 9 Iowa vs.
No. 8 Ohio State (9 a.m.
PT)
- No.
12 Washington vs. No.
5 Wisconsin (25 minutes after the first game)
- No.
15 Northwestern vs. No.
7 Purdue (2:30 p.m. PT)
- No. 14 Rutgers vs.
No. 6 UCLA (25 minutes after the previous game)
Wisconsin, boasting a 22-9 record, previously defeated Washington 90-73 on February 28.
Key performances for Washington included:
- Freshman Hannes Steinbach, recently named to the third-team All-Big Ten, notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds, marking his 21st of the season.
- Zoom Diallo led the scoring with 22 points, hitting 7-of-20 from the field.
- The team connected on 11 three-pointers, shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc.
In other news for the Huskies, former head coach Mike Hopkins is reportedly drawing interest for the head coaching position at Syracuse University. Syracuse recently parted ways with Adrian Autry following a 15-17 season and an early exit from the ACC Tournament.
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