The University of Washington men's basketball team will kick off its Big Ten Tournament run on Wednesday morning when they take on Southern California in Chicago.

The tournament kicks off on Tuesday with seeds 15-18 playing. The Huskies finished as the No. 12 seed for the tournament while USC is No. 13. They'll play on Wednesday as part of seeds 10-14 getting in on the action.

Seeds 5-9 begin play on Thursday while seeds 1-4 play on Friday. The championship is slated for Sunday right before the Selection Show for the NCAA Tournament.

In total, Washington would have to win five games in five days to capture the championship. They've been given astronomically long chances to do that, as evidenced by the odds that were released earlier this week.

The Huskies are a disappointing 15-16 on the campaign after being saddled with close losses and injury issues, but there have still been some positives for Danny Sprinkle's team.

Those positives were recognized by the Big Ten Conference on Tuesday, as a pair of Huskies received league honors.

A freshman from Germany, Steinbach was named to the third-team All-Conference roster and the All-Freshman team.

A force in the middle of the lane, he's averaging 18.6 ppg and 11.6 rebounds while shooting 58.6 percent from the floor and 35.6 percent from three-point range. He has 20 double-doubles on the season, including a 22-point, 24-rebound performance against USC in the penultimate game of the regular season.

His 20 double-doubles are the second-most in the nation.

He is the first Huskies freshman to win an All-Conference accolade since 2020. He's also the first Huskies player to receive league recognition since the program entered the Big Ten before last season.

Steinbach is projected to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft if he leaves Montlake after one season.

A sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., Diallo landed on the Sportsmanship team for the Big Ten. He played in all 31 regular season games, a feat in itself considering the injury attrition on the roster. He averaged 15.3 ppg and 3.8 rebounds as well as 4.2 assists. He shot 49.2 percent from the floor and will look to help the Huskies beat the Trojans again on Wednesday.

After losing to top-seeded UCLA in the Big Ten quarterfinals, the UW women's basketball team will wait for its NCAA Tournament fate. The Huskies are expected to make the field of 68 when it's released on Sunday night.

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