Mason's Penn State Performance Was Worth 1,000 Words

The milestone largely went unnoticed when Mekhi Mason rose up and tossed in his third 3-pointer of the game on Saturday afternoon to pull his University of Washington basketball team within 18-15 of Penn State.

No announcement was made. No souvenir basketball taken out of play. No acknowledgement until later.

Yet at the 10:47 mark of the first half of this Big Ten game, Mason reached 1,000 points in his college career, joining teammates DJ Davis (1,544) and Great Osobor (1,588) as members of what could be considered an elite club.

The 6-foot-5 Mason, a Rice transfer lately getting far more comfortable as a Big Ten player, did this by finishing with a team-high 20 points to increase his three-year career scoring total to 1,011 at his two schools.

He made it happen by hitting 6 of 11 3-point shots while ironically missing all three of his shorter attempts, with the Huskies needing every last one of them to go in to be able to slip away with a 75-73 victory. .

"It seemed like all six of them were at crucial moments of the game," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said. "I thought Mekhi was tremendous."

ICYMI | Yesterday Mekhi became UW's 3rd active member of the 1,000 point club! pic.twitter.com/xJDjMXfsfy
— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) February 16, 2025

For Mason, its' been affirmation that he belongs at this college level after he was lightly recruited coming out of Gilbert, Arizona. Like all of the Husky guards this season, he's struggled at times to adjust to the ultra-competitive Big Ten backcourt players.

He's been in and out of the UW lineup nonstop, opening the first four games of the season, coming off the bench for the next five, starting five more, returning to a reserve role for five and now starting the past five outings.

Welcome to the 1K club, Mekhi! pic.twitter.com/JZl2L7ZLYi
— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) February 15, 2025

At Rice, which plays in the American Athletic Conference, Mason started all 70 games held during his two seasons there.

In his two stops, he's scored 20 points or more in 10 games, with a high of 30 last season against UTSA and a Husky season best of 23 points coming against both Eastern Washington and Nebraska.

As he's settled in, Mason has connected on 15 of his last 28 3-pointers, with his 6 made treys at Penn State a career high for him anywhere. He's shooting 39.4 percent behind the line.

At times this season, it's looked like the UW had no outside game, but Mason is convincing people otherwise with each ball that swishes through.

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