Minnesota, Washington chase reset as skids collide

Minnesota will look to break out of a slump when it travels to Seattle on Saturday for a Big Ten tilt against Washington.

At this point, watching game film has left Minnesota coach Niko Medved feeling stuck in a loop.

Kind of like Bill Murray's character, TV weatherman Phil Connors, in the 1993 classic "Groundhog Day."

Only Medved is watching his Golden Gophers, a different type of burrowing rodent.

"It's kind of the same movie," said Medved, referring to a 67-62 loss to visiting Maryland last Sunday in which his team allowed the final seven points. "We just had to find a way to get a few more stops down the stretch, and we still would have found a way to get out of here with a win, and we just couldn't."

Minnesota (11-13, 4-9 Big Ten) has lost eight of its past nine games, the only win in that stretch a 76-73 upset of No. 10 Michigan State on Feb. 4.

"Just look at our entire schedule over the whole season," Medved said. "The margin for error is really, really small. We have to play one way and have to play with a certain edge regardless of our opponent."

Washington coach Danny Sprinkle can relate. The Huskies (12-13, 4-10) have lost three in a row, including a 63-60 decision Wednesday against Penn State -- the Nittany Lions' first Big Ten road victory of the season.

"It was a game that you have to win at home," Sprinkle said. "We can't have some of our best players playing like that from an energy standpoint and a production standpoint if you're going to win. They made plays. We didn't."

Senior Cade Tyson leads Minnesota with 19.4 points per game and shoots a team-best 38.5% from 3-point range. Washington is paced by freshman Hannes Steinbach, who averages 17.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game.