This season hasn't gone the way many expected for the Washington Huskies men's basketball team.

Ahead of their final home game of the season against the USC Trojans at 7:30 p.m. PT on March 4 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, the Huskies have an overall record of 14-15 and 6-12 in Big Ten competition. UW currently stands at 13th in the 18-team Big Ten conference.

Any hopes Washington has at making the NCAA tournament lie solely in a miracle run in the Big Ten postseason tournament. The Huskies would need to win the postseason tourney to break their seven-year NCAA tournament drought.

One thing that has gone right for Washington has been the performance of freshman forward Hannes Steinbach.

The 6-foot-11 big man has emerged as the most effective player for the Huskies this season. He's averaging 18.2 points per game on 57.1% shooting from the floor in addition to 11.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

Steinbach's 11.1 boards per game ranks fourth in the country.

Steinbach's performance has led to him receiving NBA Draft hype. He's also been named to watch lists for several awards and has earned weekly honors, as well.

On Monday, Steinbach earned another weekly award and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for the third time this season.

Steinbach earned the honor for a pair of games against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Feb. 24 and the Wisconsin Badgers on Feb. 28.

Across the two games, Steinbach averaged 23 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. Those two contests accounted for the Wurzburg, Germany, native's 17th and 18th double-double of the season, respectively. That mark is tied for the second-most in the nation and the most by a Big Ten freshman since the 1996-97 season, according to a news release from Huskies Athletics.

Beyond his numbers on the court, Steinbach has also followed a tradition of solid German basketball players at Washington.

Detlef Schrempf (No. 22) and the late Christian Welp (No. 40) both had their jerseys retired by the Huskies this season.

Steinbach and Washington will look to end the season on a strong note in its aforementioned game against USC and its season finale against the Oregon Ducks at 8 p.m. PT on March 7 at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Ore.

After the regular season concludes, Steinbach and the Huskies will take part in the Big Ten postseason tournament from March 10-15 at the United Center in Chicago.

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