The Washington men's basketball team needs all the help it can get to snap a seven-game losing streak and potentially gain a little momentum heading into next month's Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas.
To that end, the health status of Markelle Fultz and Malik Dime's suspension are hot topics for a team that has metaphorically lived under dark and rainy clouds all season.
The news from coach Lorenzo Romar's press conference on Wednesday was somewhat encouraging for Fultz, who returned to practice and is listed as questionable for Thursday after missing the previous two games.
Meanwhile, Dime won't play in the 8 p.m. encounter against Arizona State (12-14, 5-8 Pac-12) at Alaska Airlines Arena and will miss his second straight game due to a suspension.
The 6-foot-9 senior center was suspended by Washington following an off-court incident in which he slapped a Colorado student heckler at halftime during UW's 81-66 loss on Feb. 9.
Before the suspension, Dime missed the previous nine games due to a broken pinkie. He sat out UW's 85-61 loss at Utah last Saturday.
Dime has been medically cleared to play, but it's unclear if or when he'll return this season.
"We're still evaluating everything completely," Romar said. "So we'll see. To be determined."
Fultz's status for Thursday depends largely on how he performed during Wednesday's practice and if he has any lingering issues with a sore right knee that caused him to miss two games last week.
The 6-5 freshman guard had been limited in practice, but participated in 5-on-5 workouts for the first time in days.
