They’re not dead yet.
To be fair that’s not the official rally cry of the Washington men’s basketball team, although it sums up the state of affairs for a program gasping on proverbial life support with three regular-season games remaining.
After a frustrating winter of their own making, the Huskies stumble into Saturday’s 3 p.m. “whiteout” matchup against Indiana (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten) at Alaska Airlines Arena with a three-game losing streak, knowing another loss potentially ends their postseason pursuit.
Washington is 13-15 overall and last in the Big Ten at 4-13 behind Penn State, Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern and USC. The bottom three teams will miss the conference tournament.
“When you’ve had a season like ours, they want to finish strong,” first-year coach Danny Sprinkle said. “We want to see what we can do in these next three games because our Big Ten tournament hopes, they’re not over. We still have a realistic chance at that.
“Now, do we need a little more help than we did a couple weeks ago? Yeah, but we still control some of that. And with two home games and a tough road game at USC, we have to play our best these next three games.”
And therein lies the rub.
During their first Big Ten season, the Huskies have been unable to sustain a high level of play for an extended period of time.
Washington beat Maryland on Jan. 2 for its best win of the season, then lost six straight, which included defeats to five ranked teams. After posting a 1-6 record in January, UW appeared poised to make a run in February when the schedule seemingly softened.
However, Washington alternated wins and losses during a seven-game stretch capped by a heartbreaking 89-85 overtime defeat to Rutgers in its last home outing Feb. 19.
A win against the Scarlet Knights would have pushed the Huskies into 15th place in the Big Ten standings above the cutoff for the league tournament.
Instead, Washington fell to the bottom of the 18-team conference during last week’s road trip, which included losses against Iowa (85-79) and No. 11 Wisconsin (88-62).
“This is on us, we know how we got here, but like (Sprinkle) and the coaches said, all we can do now is go out there and play hard and see where we finish,” senior forward Great Osobor said. “The season is not over. Not even close. These games matter. … No one wants to finish last in anything.
“Call me crazy or not, but I believe if we can get to the (Big Ten) tournament, then we’ve got a run in us. We’ve played good basketball and won some games, so we know we can do it.”
For the record, Sprinkle is not in favor of the Big Ten’s new format in which the three teams at the bottom of the standings are left out of the conference tournament.
“It just sends the wrong message. It’s hard. Everybody’s fighting. Everybody’s scrapping,” he said. “We could — I don’t want to say easily — but we could have 5-6 more wins in league. So could Penn State and so could Northwestern. To not have that opportunity in a tournament format to where you never know if you can make a run, that’s the disappointing thing.”
Sprinkle acknowledged the Big Ten’s rule changes added intrigue and suspense to late regular-season games among teams scrambling for a spot in the conference tournament.
“But I’m against it,” he said. “If you compete in a long season in one of the best conferences in the country, at least give the kids and the seniors a chance to compete in the (conference) tournament.”
— Since Indiana coach Mike Woodson announced he’s not returning next season, the Hoosiers are 3-2, including wins at No. 11 Michigan State and against No. 13 Purdue. According to ESPN bracket guru Joe Lunardi, Indiana is projected to nab one of the final four berths to the NCAA tournament and will land a No. 11 seed in the First Four games.
“They’re playing with a different urgency,” Sprinkle said. “They’ve always been one of the most talented teams in the league.”
