In Dismal UW Season, Tsohonis Deserves Better, Should Start At Oregon

The University of Washington basketball team, low on talent and even lower on motivation, is playing out the string.

The Huskies (3-13 overall, 2-9 Pac-12) are suffering through one of their worst seasons in program history. They're likely down to just nine games.

Playing at Oregon at 1 p.m. on Saturday and coming off a 91-71 setback to Oregon State, these guys in the deep purple uniforms are really hard-pressed to give their followers any good reason to tune in.

Yet digging deep, there's always Marcus Tsohonis.

The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard from Portland is usually good for plenty of intrigue.

He doesn't start, but he often leads the Huskies in scoring. That is, if he gets in the game at all.

In his last seven outings, the most misused player on the UW roster has scored 24, 27 and 22 points, sitting out one along the way.

"Marcus is a heckuva player," UW coach Mike Hopkins acknowledged. "He's scoring at a very good rate. He has the ability to get a lot of assists, too."

Only one other Husky player, senior guard Quade Green, has supplied multiple 20-point games over that time, scoring 25, 20 and 20.

In a maddening season full of uneven UW performances and few rewards, what would it hurt to play one of your most consistent players in a featured role?

Let Tsohonis have his name called out as a starter over the public-address system, if they even do that anymore in these empty arenas.

Against the Beavers, the UW suffered through another slow start, falling behind 21-6 before Hopkins got the ball in Tsohonis' hands.

He immediately hit a pair of 3-pointers. He totaled 12 points by halftime. Playing a little more than half the contest, he finished with 22.

His points came from the perimeter and in the key on a variety of creative floaters.

Hopkins, however, has resisted shaking things up, waiting forever for his underachieving starters to achieve.

Tsohonis seems unruffled by it all. The losing. The minutes. The lack of a lead role.

He just goes about his business, puts the ball in the basket and sits down.

What would it hurt to start him and let him pull extended minutes for a change?

The old way hasn't been working.

A new approach centered around Tsohonis might make these guys competitive.

Not necessarily winners, but competitive.

Follow Dan Raley of Husky Maven on Twitter: @DanRaley1 and @HuskyMaven

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