10 Takeaways From UW's Exhibition Loss to WSU

With Alaska Airlines Arena half full on a lazy Sunday afternoon, the University of Washington basketball team went through its second and final exhibition walk-through before the regular season begins and lost to Washington State 84-80.

Forty minutes seemed like more than enough time to form 10 impressions of what to expect from Danny Sprinkle's third group of Huskies.

"It was good to go through that," Sprinkle said in the postgame. "We'll learn from it."

1. Foremost, this is a UW team that leans to the small side, which will make the Big Ten even more challenging than before. There are no Hannes Steinbachs, Franck Kepnangs or Great Osobors to clear out the key inside. Against WSU, the Huskies opened with a starting lineup of 6-foot-1 Tayshawn Comer, 6-foot-4 Wesley Yates III and 6-foot-7 Steele Venters in a three-guard alignment, 6-foot-10 Lathan Sommerville at center, and 6-foot-5 LeJuan Watts at a forward spot. Watts, in fact, plays almost like a fourth guard. San Francisco transfer point guard Ryan Beasley didn't play, still dealing with concussion protocol.

2. Jasir Rencher's pace-maker works just fine. Against the Cougars, the 6-foot-5 swingman, who missed most of his freshman season with heart-related issues, threw down a dunk and was so inspired by it he stood over his fallen opponent, let out a roar and was whistled for a technical foul. The heart was beating with no problem.

3. Serbian forward Nikola Dzepina is a much improved player. Coming off the bench, the 6-foot-10 second-year player had a final stat line of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists over 30 minutes against WSU. When the Huskies want to go bigger, he'll be in the starting lineup.

4. Yates is going to need significant time to round into top basketball shape again after breaking his wrist last season and dealing with blood clots during the offseason. He went 1-for-6 shooting against WSU, missing all four of his 3-point attempts.

5. The UW brought in Davidson transfer Parker Friedrichsen and Gonzaga transfer Steele Venters to bolster the 3-point shooting. It wasn't evident right away in this outing, with each player putting up a pair of treys and missing all of them before Venters finally hit one with 15 seconds remaining.

6. Sore-kneed big man Mady Traore is being saved for the real thing by Sprinkle. The 7-foot-1 former Maryland and New Mexico State center and native Frenchman sat out the WSU game and played only a minute in the first exhibition against Boise State.

7. Watts and Rencher look like they could be brothers. Same facial features. Same haircut. Same size. Which is a little amusing since the 6-foot-5, 223-pound Watts has a younger brother, DeSean, a 6-foot, 315-pounder, who plays defensive tackle for the UW football team. Watts emerged as the leading UW scorer on Sunday with 28 points, hitting 7 of 12 from the floor, 2 of 4 behind the line and 12 of 13 free throws.

8. The UW's international additions will require plenty of adjustment to pull significant minutes. While Dzepina appears to be more comfortable in hi second season as a college player, Brazilian big man Wini Braga drew just 3 minutes in the opening half, Australian guard Tristan Devers just a minute while Bosnian forward Harun Zarno and Traore didn't play, with Traore again purposely held out.

9. Sommerville had a workmanlike effort with 19 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the key and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. He could use another big body next to him rather than having to go it alone inside. The UW lost the rebound battle 40-32 to the Cougars. "We need to rebound better as a team," Sommerville said.

10. Next up is the season opener on Monday, Nov. 2, against Colgate, which was an 18-15 team in 2025-26 and should provide the Huskies with a good workout, according to Sprinkle. However, the game will tip off opposite the second half of a Monday Night Football game between the Chicago Bears and Seahawks in Seattle, which could cut into attendance.

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