What Coach Danny Sprinkle Said After Washington Men's Basketball Lost 78-62 To Indiana

SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies men's basketball team was looking up at the rest of the Big Ten when the Indiana Hoosiers came to town for a game on Saturday at Alaska Airlines Arena. The Huskies were unable to claw back from the conference basement and fell 78-62 to the Hoosiers.

Here's everything Washington coach Danny Sprinkle had to say after his team's loss to Indiana.

Opening statement ...

Danny Sprinkle: "Credit to Indiana. I thought they played well. I thought we just couldn't make shots. I thought — I don't even have to go back and watch the film. I known the shots we got. And for us to beat a team like Indiana, we have to knock down some of those (3-pointers). I thought we had — I don't even know how many we shot. Six, 20, whatever. A lot of the shots that we've been making the past six, seven games — to beat an NCAA tournament team, I think you have to make more of those. And when we miss them, they're so big down there, they don't go through too many scoring lulls. Because even if they miss a couple shots, they'll get an offensive rebound put-back or they'll draw a foul and get to the free-throw line. They're a hard team to make a run on. But their shooters made shots. And I thought (Malik) Reneau, he played like an all-league guy tonight. I thought he was tremendous and looked good. We knew how good of a shooter he was coming in. But yeah. I mean, credit to them."

On the play of forward Great Osobor ...

Sprinkle: "Their size — those are two big dudes down there (forward Mackenzie Mgbako, center Oumar Ballo) that can move their feet and they do a really good job protecting the rim. That's where Great scored a lot of his points this year. And so he just never really got into the flow of the game. And then they really make him work defensively to guard one of those guys. It was just one of those games. That's one of their advantages, is their size, and they took advantage of it."

On how he would of wanted his team to respond with Osobor playing poorly ...

Sprinkle: "We got to make some shots, you know? It's been the same thing, even when Great's playing good. When we have open shots, we got to make them. Hopefully the next two games — and, going to worry about the next game — hopefully DJ (Davis) makes them. Hopefully Mekhi (Mason) and Tyler (Harris) get hot. Zoom (Diallo), I'm proud of him. He had a key (3-pointer) — he's made four all year and he knocked down two tonight. He's got to step into those and be confident. He's a capable shooter. He's a driver first and that's his natural instinct. But when he has his feet set, he can shoot that thing. So I was proud of him for doing that tonight. But you know, like I said, if you go back and look at all of our missed threes, those are shots shooters got to make. Their shooters made them."

What he wants from his team in the final two regular season games ...

Sprinkle: "I told our team, we have 80 minutes and we got to compete. You always got to compete for the name on the front of the jersey. But in moments like this, too, these are some character moments, some pride. You got to play a little bit for the name on the back of the jersey, too. You got to come out and represent, you got to fight, you got to play hard. And with the way USC beat us here — like I told our team, that's all we're worried about is that next 40 minutes. We got to be able to play harder. We got to show that we're a better team. Because they're a really good team. And they're big across the board. Really well-coached. And we're gonna have to play our best to win that game."

How he's handling the down season after years of success ...

Sprinkle: "Yeah, I've never lost like this. And it's hard. It's hard. ... I'm looking at what we need to do as a program moving forward. And I always have to kind of see what's ahead of us as the head coach. And I know what we need to do. It's gonna be hard as hell to do it, especially in this league. But we have to get better. We have to get tougher. ... In every aspect, we got to get better."

On the crowd's energy ...

Sprinkle: "I thank our fans for coming. And Indiana, I mean, it was like the whole place was packed red. It's one of those things that this team. And a lot of — I shouldn't say a lot. The good teams aren't like this. ... There's a lot of teams like us where if you're making shots, your energy's good, your defense is good. And the great teams guard you and play with energy when they're not making shots. And we're not there yet with this group. And to be honest, we haven't shot the ball well enough consistently all year to be a team that can't afford some of the breakdowns that we have defensively, in order to win games in the Big Ten."

How the team finds more consistency in scoring ...

Sprinkle: "It's hard. And you have to have an end-of-clock guy. That's one thing that we've been missing all year. ... When teams are really good, they can guard your actions. And then you have to be able to make a play. You got to be able to get by guys. Or a guard that can create stuff five seconds left on the shot clock. And you look at the best teams that are hard to guard, those are the ones (that have them). They either drive and get a a foul or they can make a shot. And that's been one of our biggest struggles this year is a lot of our end-of-clock stuff."

On what he's learned after a difficult first season in the Big Ten ...

Sprinkle: "I mean, obviously I knew it was going to be a challenge. I knew that before I took the job. I knew it was going to be hard, I knew the first year would be brutal. It is (in) a lot of places. But the main thing, going through the Big Ten schedule now, I know what we have to recruit. And we have to get better at every spot. And we got to get tougher at every spot. We have to have a different mindset at every spot. And then we got to continue to develop some of these young guys that I think have a chance to be really good players here. But our competitiveness and our competitive spirit — to play against the Michigan States and the Indianas and Michigan, you could go down the whole list, everybody's got really good players. I mean everybody. And it comes down to that, and then it comes down to how tough is that group going to be. And I, for whatever reason — and it's my fault at the end of the day — we haven't been connected (to) where it's important to everybody. And that's just the truth. We have some guys, it's not the most important thing. And that's a problem. And I recruited them here, and that's on me. ... Moving forward, it's got to be the most important thing if you want to compete at this level. And I'm not calling anybody out. I'm just saying what it is."

On how he'll set the lineup in the final two games of the season ...

Sprinkle: "I'm gonna play the guys that help us win. And I don't care who it is. And if they help us win in those matchups ... then that's what we're gonna go with. But, like I told our guys, I'm gonna play who it's important to. And that's the only way you win. And when you get off the court, you got to produce."

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