SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies men's basketball team's season has been defined by two words this season: "if" and "almost."

"If" the Huskies weren't hammered with injuries this season, their 10-7 record might have two-to-four more games in the win column.

Despite having a thin bench most of the year, Washington has "almost" come out on the winning end against several of the better teams in the Big Ten.

In an 82-72 loss against the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines on Jan. 14, the Huskies cut the game to two possessions several times. They "almost" came out on the winning end.

Senior forward Jacob Ognacevic and sophomore guard Wesley Yates III both returned to the lineup against Michigan. The former was out the entire year and the latter has been out since a game against Seattle University on Dec. 19 due to a broken bone in his wrist.

"If" Ognacevic and Yates didn't miss as much time, maybe they'd be 100% against the Wolverines and UW could have made the final push to come out with the win.

"I think having (Ogancevic) back today was huge for us," Freshman guard JJ Mandaquit said after the loss against Michigan on Jan. 14. "This was his first game all season. For him to come in and make the impact he had on the game, I think is huge for us and he's only going to continue to get better. (Yates is) getting back into the swing of things and for us, it's just extra depth (and) the leadership they bring. ... I think that's huge for our team and it's only going to make us better in the long run."

Amidst the strings of "if's" and "almost's," there's two major takeaways for Washington at this point: it can compete against the best the Big Ten has to offer and it has to start stringing wins together soon.

The Huskies' next two games are both against ranked opponents. Washington will play No. 12 Michigan State at 3 p.m. PT on Jan. 17 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle and No. 8 Nebraska at 6 p.m. PT on Jan. 21 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

Washington proved against No. 5 Purdue (81-73 loss on Jan. 7) and against Michigan that it can compete.

If the Huskies want to continue to have a legitimate chance at making their first NCAA Tournament since 2019, they have to take down at least one of their ranked opponents. Barring an unexpected run in the postseason Big Ten tournament.

Luckily for Washington, the aforementioned players should assist in that effort once they get back to full strength. Backup center Lathan Sommerville, who's been out since the game against Seattle U due to a knee injury, could also return soon. He's been day-to-day with a knee injury.

"It's huge (to get healthy)," Head coach Danny Sprinkle said in a postgame interview Jan. 14. "In this league, as we learned last you, you better have depth. You just have to. There's going to be games where guys are in foul trouble and this was the highest-intensity game that we've played at that speed. ... I was proud. I was concerned a little bit coming into the game that we hadn't seen that speed and that pace constantly for 40 minutes."

The Huskies are 2-4 in Big Ten play this season. None of their losses have been by more than four points and they've lost by an average of 7.5 points.

Talent and ability isn't in question for the men's team. But at a certain point results need to start coming in. And there won't be a better time for Washington to do that than the next two games.

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