A Husky Hoops Photo Gallery Before UW Tips Off Against Cal

Mike Hopkins' team comes off win over Stanford after breaking a five-game losing streak.

Dan Raley | Jan 14, 2023

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Washington Huskies

For the serious Seattle basketball follower, this winter has been far from satisfying, if not a little maddening.

The city still has no Sonics and the University of Washington men's team has struggled throughout.

After losing five consecutive games, with most of them not close, Mike Hopkins' Huskies emerged with an 86-69 victory over last-place Stanford on Thursday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.

That's a step in the right direction.

Yet will it lead to any prolonged success? Will Hopkins be able to keep his job? With spring football just two and a half months away, do people care?

A lot of questions remain as the UW (10-8 overall, 2-5 Pac-12) hosts the California (3-14, 2-4) at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Bears are coached by Mark Fox, the one-time UW assistant and another conference head coach whose continuing employment has to be on the line, too.

The ever flexible Keyon Menifield leans back as he gets close to the basket and prepares to launch a shot against Stanford.

Braxton Meah was 8 for 10 in shooting against Stanford, with each one of his field goals coming on a dunk shot, often off a lob pass.

Jamal Bey is a sixth-year Husky senior now coming off the bench after starting early, with the UW going with a youth movement.

The Huskies and Cardinal had to be separated a couple of times late in the game as tempers flared a bit between two teams struggling this season.

Keion Brooks had a productive yet quiet double-double against Stanford, supplying the UW with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Mike Hopkins and Jamal Bey share a few words at the scorer's table before the Husky swingman gets waved in against Stanford.

Braxton Meah gets helped off the floor by Keion Menifield and Cole Bajema.

Freshman guard Koren Johnson provided a career-best 15 points for the UW, hitting 4 of 6 shots from behind the 3-point line.

Injured big man Frank Kepnang is never far from his teammates, joining the Huskies for the pregame huddle against Stanford.

For the Huskies, they've had plenty of pieces to be more successful than they've been, but the following obstacles have got in the way:

1) Hopkins lost two of his incoming transfers, 6-foot-11 Frank Kepnang (Oregon) and 6-foot-5 guard Noah Williams (Washington State), to knee injuries and surgeries, with Williams attempting to play again but struggling and Kepnang out for the season.

2) The UW has a pair of exciting freshmen guards in Keyon Menifield and Koren Johnson, who offer moments of brilliance but then remember they're first-year players and disappear for awhile.

3) And Hopkins doesn't know how to use a big man to his full advantage, with 7-foot-1 Braxton Meah drawing plenty of lob passes for dunks in his last outing but not shooting any short jumpers or soft hooks around the basket, which would make him more of an offensive threat.

As the Huskies head into Saturday's game, we offer a photo gallery from Skylar Lin, a UW student and skilled photographer, all in one, from the Stanford victory. Lin captures all kinds of expressions, conversations and exultations. Check it out.

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Published Jan 14, 2023

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.