Huskies, Colorado Paired in First Round of Pac-12 Tournament

In need of good news, any positive development, the University of Washington basketball team will play Colorado — an opponent it swept this past season — in the opener of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday in Las Vegas.

The eighth-seeded Huskies (16-15 overall, 8-12 conference) and the No. 9 Buffaloes (16-15, 8-12) will tip off at noon at T-Mobile Arena in the initial offering of four first-round games.

Should the UW beat Colorado a third time, it will face the top-seeded and nationally fourth-ranked UCLA Bruins (27-4, 18-2) on Thursday at noon.

Mike Hopkins' team drew the higher seed because the UW scored 73-63 and 75-72 victories over Colorado in the regular season, playing on Dec. 4 in Seattle and on Jan. 19 in Boulder, respectively.

Forward Keion Brooks scored 25 to secure the road win, while center Braxton Meah and forward Cole Bajema shared scoring honors in the earlier victory.

With a fourth consecutive break-even season or worse, the Huskies could be in for some big changes once they're done with the tournament.

Hopkins' job appears in jeopardy as he finishes up his sixth season. Also, Brooks and Bajema, one-time transfers from Kentucky and Michigan, respectively, were saluted this past Thursday as departing seniors yet have remaining UW eligibility should they choose to use it.

The tournament schedule goes as follows:

PAC-12 BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

Wednesday, March 8

Game 1: No. 8 Washington (16-15, 8-12) vs. No. 9 Colorado (16-15, 8-12), 12:00 p.m. PT, Pac-12 Network

Game 2: No. 5 Washington State (16-15, 11-9) vs. No. 12 California (2-28, 2-18), 2:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Game 3: No. 7 Utah (17-14, 10-10) vs. No. 10 Stanford (13-18, 7-13), 6:00 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Game 4: No. 6 Arizona State (20-11, 11-9) vs. No. 11 Oregon State (11-20, 5-15), 8:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Thursday, March 9

Game 5: No. 1 UCLA (27-4, 18-2) vs. Game 1 winner, 12:00 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Game 6: No. 4 Oregon (18-13, 12-8) vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m., Pac-12

Game 7: No. 2 Arizona (25-6, 14-6) vs. Game 3 winner, 6:00 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Game 8: No. 3 USC (22-9, 14-6) vs. Game 4 winner, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Friday, March 10

Game 9: Semifinal, 6:00 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Game 10: Semifinal, 8:30 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, March 11

Game 11: Championship, 7:30 p.m., ESPN

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