Washington forward Hannes Steinbach (center) takes a chance during the Oregon Ducks’ game against the Washington Huskies at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon, March 7, 2026. The basketball seasons have been remarkably similar for Southern California and Washington, which face off Wednesday in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.
The 12th-seeded Huskies (15-16 overall) and 13th-seeded Trojans (18-13), who entered the campaign with NCAA Tournament aspirations, will need a long run, if not a Big Ten title, to advance to the Big Dance.
Both teams were plagued by injuries and lost star players Desmond Claude to Washington and Chad Baker-Mazara to USC to somewhat mysterious circumstances that were never fully explained.
“I think we’re an NCAA tournament team if we’re healthy,” said USC coach Eric Musselman, who entered the postseason on a seven-game losing streak. “We have no doubt that it was or will be.”
The Huskies swept the season series with USC.
Washington snapped an 11-game series loss by coming from an 18-point deficit to win 84-76 in Los Angeles on Dec. 6. Freshman Hannes Steinbach had 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Huskies, while Claude and Wesley Yates III, who transferred from USC after last season, added 22 and 16 points, respectively.
On March 4 in Seattle, Zoom Diallo scored a career-high 26 points and Steinbach added 22 points and a season-high 24 boards as the Huskies got off to a late start en route to a 91-72 win. The rebound was the fourth most in program history.
What beat USC for the third time?
“It’s difficult, especially against a good team,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “Our guys have a lot of respect for USC and the players. They know what they can do. It was one of those games where it was half a story in the first meeting and the second meeting.
“One important thing is we played better in the second half and ran out the clock (on the Trojans),” he continued. “The first half? They kicked our asses in the first half. There’s a lot we need to do a lot better to continue to be successful against them on Wednesday.”
–Field level media
