Things are going so well right now for the Seattle U men’s basketball team that not even minus-9-degree temperatures on a holiday dash home to Anchorage, Alaska this past week could spoil the mood for senior guard Brayden Maldonado.

Maldonado and the Redhawks enter West Coast Conference play Sunday sporting an 11-2 record — the program’s best in nearly 60 years, since the 1966-67 season. There’s more: 

— They have won six games in a row and are 4-1 in road or neutral-site games.

— They have a No. 94 NET computer ranking, one of five West Coast Conference teams in the top 101, with Gonzaga at No. 4, Saint Mary’s at No. 28, Santa Clara at No. 89 and Pacific at No. 101.

— The Redhawks beat Stanford on the road and Washington at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, giving them back-to-back wins over the Huskies for the first time since the series began in 1953. 

— Their only two defeats were by a combined margin of five points. 

All of this by a team set to make its return to the West Coast Conference for the first time since the 1979-80 season, and against the backdrop of being picked eighth in the conference in the preseason coaches poll. The Redhawks aren’t looking back . . . or too far ahead.

“We’re super excited this being our first year in the conference. We know how good this conference is and we know every night it’s going to be a battle against a great team,” said Maldonado, whose squad is set to take on San Francisco at the Redhawk Center at 5 p.m. on Sunday. “The basketball we’ve been playing recently has been a great brand of basketball, so we’re going in with a lot of confidence and a lot of joy to be in the conference.”

Maldonado, whose 15.9 scoring average is seventh in the West Coast Conference, feels that joy for nearly everything that’s currently happening in his basketball life. With one notable exception: A missed free throw. His only one all season.

Maldonado is one of just two Division I players nationwide to currently boast a 50-40-90 shooting accuracy line, joined only by Kory Mincy of George Mason. Maldonado is converting 51.2 percent from the field, 45.2 percent from 3-point range and 97.9 percent from the free throw line. Not even Stephen Curry — the game’s greatest shooter — ever went 50-40-90 for a full season during his college career.

Asked if he’d like to pull off the feat this season, Maldonado acknowledged, “For sure, that’s the goal. Being efficient as a guy who has a ball in his hands a lot is something that’s going to help us win.”

Maldonado is second nationally in free-throw accuracy only because he missed one against Texas State on Nov. 28. He once made 100 in a row in practice with his sister rebounding for him, but that one miss on a neutral site in Las Vegas leaves him at 47 for 48 this season. “It was super annoying,” he said.

In the big picture, it’s a microscopic blemish on what has been a very nice start to the season for Seattle U. Fifth-year head coach Chris Victor, seeking his fourth 20-win season, wasn’t sure what to expect from this team. He doesn’t set goals for victory totals and needed to see how young players on the team might grow into their roles.

It’s helped, Victor said, that returnees, led by Maldonado and point guard Maleek Arington, made improvements in their games and emerged as leaders. But others have enjoyed substantial jumps in their performance. Sophomore forward Will Heimbrodt, who averaged 2.0 points a year ago, is giving the Redhawks 13.8 this season. South Korea-born senior forward Jun Seok Yeo is averaging 12.2 points after getting limited opportunity the past two seasons at Gonzaga.

Sophomore Austin Maurer, a 7-foot center who totaled 19 points last season at Grand Canyon, has played so well he was moved into the starting lineup a couple weeks back. The result: 14.7 points and 7.0 rebounds over three games since the change.

“He’s gotten stronger, more physical and he keeps getting better,” Victor said of Maurer. “He’s earned that starting role and ever since he got it. He’s done pretty well.”

Maldonado expected big things from this team, but he also figured it might take some time for chemistry to develop with newcomers joining the mix. “I would say it came together faster than I expected,” he said. “Guys have played their roles really well and we have an unselfish team so that helps it all come together super fast.”

Unselfishness and aggressive defense are central to the Redhawks’ success. “We like to get out in transition and try to get easy buckets,” Maldonado said. “But we’re a defensive team, a very unselfish team. We play for each other and we play hard.”

Seattle U leads the West Coast Conference in steals (8.92 per game) and blocked shots (5.31), but there is an offense/defense balance to this team. The Redhawks are third in the league in both scoring (81.0 points) and defense (66.5), the only team among the top three in both categories. When the Redhawks keep turnovers to a minimum they’re a tough out, Victor said.

Asked if his team’s confidence is growing, Victor suggested that’s never been a problem. “I think this team’s always believed in itself. One of the strengths of this group is they have great confidence in each other,” he said. "But the more experience they get and with some of these games we’ve won, that’ll help kind of build that, as well.”

Maldonado averaged 23.3 points over the season’s first four games, giving the Redhawks an offensive focal point while others grew into their roles. Victor said Maldonado has helped teammates flourish since then, even as opposing defenses make him a bigger part of their scouting report.

“He got off to such a good start teams are now really keying on him,” Victor said. “He’s such an unselfish player, he’s really doing what the team needs. He’s been a great defender for us. He’s been a great team captain. He can score — he’s proven that. He’s also selfless enough, he gets other guys the ball when that needs to happen.”

Now, with the arrival of conference play, the stakes are higher. After facing USF on Sunday, the Redhawks take on in-state rival Washington State at Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday. Then they embark on the league’s toughest two-game road test, with games at Gonzaga on Jan. 2 and Saint Mary’s two days later.

“This is our first time in this conference, the first time going to a lot of these places or playing these programs in Seattle,” Victor said. We’re going to learn a lot throughout this conference. That will be a part of our success, how quickly we can adapt and learn and understand what we need to do.”

Sunday’s opening-day West Coast Conference schedule: 
Men
Washington State (5-8) at Portland (7-6), 2 p.m.
Santa Clara (9-4) at Oregon State (7-6), 3 p.m.
Pacific (9-4) at San Diego (5-7), 3 p.m.
Saint Mary’s (11-2) at LMU (9-4), 4 p.m.
Gonzaga (12-1) at Pepperdine (5-8), 5 p.m.
San Francisco (8-5) at Seattle U (11-2), 5 p.m.
All games on ESPN+

Women
Pepperdine (9-3) at Washington State (1-12), noon
San Diego (6-7) at Santa Clara (10-3), 1 pm.
Seattle U (4-7) at Pacific (5-6), 1 p.m.
Oregon State (8-5) at San Francisco (7-4), 2 p.m.
Portland (6-6) at Saint Mary’s (9-4), 2 p.m.
LMU (6-5) at Gonzaga (8-5), 2 p.m.
All games on ESPN+