Huskies Are 1-and-Done at Pac-12 Tourney, Ousted by Colorado

The UW finishes 16-16, wondering if head coach Mike Hopkins will return.

The basketball game began shortly after noon, similar to  pick-up ball at the local club, where guys way past their prime use their lunch break to throw up all sorts of bad shots.

Except this was the University of Washington basketball team opening — and closing out — the Pac-12 Tournament against Colorado on Wednesday in a forgettable manner, losing 74-68 in Las Vegas.

Ending an uninspiring season, the Huskies (16-16 Pac-12, 8-12 Pac-12) packed up their stuff and went home, uncertain if Mike Hopkins would accompany them beyond this trip to Nevada and continue on as their coach. 

In this outing, the UW leader failed at getting his team ready to play against the ninth-seeded Buffaloes (17-15 overall, 8-12 Pac-12), who were missing three players who had been starters and conveniently forgot they were swept in the regular season by the No. 8 Huskies.

"There's no one more disappointed than me because I know the group that we have," Hopkins said. "We underperformed."

To make it happen, sophomore guard Julian Hammond stepped up with a career-best 21 points and forward Tristan da Silva added 18 to lead Colorado to the next round against UCLA. 

The UW was paced by Cole Bajema's 16 points and freshman guard Koren Johnson's career-high-tying 15 points as the Huskies lost for a third consecutive time to end the season.

Koren Johnson tied his career-high 15 points in the Pac-12 Tournament :: Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

Always offensively challenged, Hopkins' crew came out flatter than flat for this basketball matinee on casino row and fell behind 5-0 and 9-2, hit just 1 of its first 9 shots and scored a season-low 20 first-half points. 

No one could have felt good about the UW performance in the opening half. With his job security already in question with four consecutive mundane or even disastrous seasons, Hopkins may have sealed his fate because his team was so unprepared when the ball was tossed up at T-Mobile Arena.

Mike Hopkins voices his displeasure at the Pac-12 Tournament.  :: Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports

With 2:25 left in the first half, the Huskies faced their biggest deficit at 26-12 when Hammond dropped in a long 3-pointer and things looked exceptionally bleak. 

Finally, these guys from Montlake showed some life, if not way overdue accuracy, by outscoring Colorado 8-2 to the break. They came up with nearly as many points over the final 132 seconds as they did over the first 17-plus minutes to trail 28-20. 

Coming out of intermission, the Huskies showed even more of a pulse when Keyon Menifield and Jamal Bey each dropped in 3-pointers to pull them within 28-26. The chase was on.

The UW was now as persistent as it was feeble early on. Nine minutes later, the Huskies led for the first time at 47-46 when Johnson drove to the hoop, got bumped and somehow tossed the ball in before ending up on the floor.

Johnson put his team ahead for a second and final time at 49-48 with another more conventional lay-in with 9:01 left in the game.

The Huskies managed to tie things at 66 with 1:25 left, when Bajema drove to the basket, got fouled and flipped the ball in similar to Johnson's earlier shot. Yet he missed the free throw, a sign of bad things to come to the final buzzer.

With 59.8 seconds left to play, Colorado's Luke O'Brien settled this issue when he drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 69-66 lead, enabling the Buffs to close with an 8-2 run to finish off the UW.

The Huskies put their balls away and will await word on Hopkins' future, on whether he gets let go or receives yet another reprieve.

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