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Mike Hopkins era ends at UW as the Husky men fall to USC in first round of Pac-12 tournament

Head coach Mike Hopkins of the Washington Huskies calls a time out after Keion Brooks Jr. missed a shot against the USC Trojans in the second half of a first round game in the Pac-12 Conference basketball tournament at T-Mobile Arena on March 13, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Trojans defeated the Huskies 80-74. (Getty Images)
By Percy Allen Seattle Times

LAS VEGAS – The Mike Hopkins era came to an end in a game that resembled his mercurial seven-year tenure as the Washington men’s basketball coach.

The No. 8-seeded Huskies started quickly Wednesday afternoon and had their finest moments while controlling the first half.

UW lost control in the final minutes, however, and fell 80-74 to ninth-seeded USC in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament.

Hopkins compiled a 118-106 record, including 62-72 in the Pac-12 during his seven-year tenure.

Washington (17-15) announced Hopkins would not return last Friday and its season-ending defeat starts in earnest a coaching search, which presumably begins with Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle, who is reportedly UW’s top choice.

Other early candidates include: Florida Atlantic’s Dusty May, Colorado State’s Niko Medved, Drake’s Darian DeVries and Washington State’s Kyle Smith.

Huskies athletic director Troy Dannen, who attended UW’s game, may hang around Las Vegas this week to watch Utah State and Colorado State in the Mountain West Tournament or Washington State in the Pac-12 quarterfinals.

The Huskies came to play at the start and Koren Johnson came out firing, scoring eight points in the first 6 minutes to stake UW to a 19-10 lead.

The Trojans answered with a 9-0 run to tie it at 19 and led 27-25 with 5:42 left in the first half when Moses Wood took over.

The sixth-year player delivered a display of long-range accuracy while scoring 14 of the final 16 points for the Huskies, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer as time expired in the first half that put them up 42-37.

Washington went up seven points early in the second half and was ahead 59-54 after another Wood 3-pointer with 8:11 left.

USC’s 10-0 run, however, turned its five-point deficit into a 64-59 lead at the 5:51 mark.

Momentum swung again toward UW, which used a 6-1 spurt to tie it at 65 with 3:58 remaining.

The Trojans secured their ninth straight win over the Huskies while outscoring Washington 15-9 the rest of the way.

USC (15-17) will meet the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats (24-7) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

In their final games, Sahvir Wheeler had a team-high 20 points and seven assists. Wood (five 3-pointers) and Johnson combined for 17 points, and Keion Brooks Jr. had 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting from the field, and eight rebounds

.