Down Two More Players, Huskies Have Enough to Rout San Diego

On a rainy night in Seattle, the University of Washington basketball team avoided the deep puddles and didn't spin out against San Diego.

Before a larger than expected crowd because of the nasty weather outside, the Huskies just stayed in their lane and went about their business to pull away from their West Coast Conference visitors and finish them off 86-56 on Monday night at Alaska Airlines.

Danny Sprinkle's team (8-4 overall, 1-1 Big Ten), down two more players as residue from last Friday's loss to Seattle U, also a WCC member, put together an emphatic 20-0 run beginning midway through the opening half to settle this one.

"We challenged our guys to be consistent defensively for 40 minutes," Sprinkle said. "I didn't care what happened offensively. We haven't been playing great offensively. We'd had some defensively the last three or four games. We really challenged our guys to win the wars."

This one was so lopsided, the Huskies had 6-foot-11 freshman Hannes Steinbach sit out long stretches of the second half before the German sensation finished with a game-best 21 points and 14 rebounds -- his seventh double-double outing.

The Huskies had a clear advantage inside with Hannes Steinbach enjoying another double-double performance. | Dave Sizer photo

Sophomore starting guard Wesley Yates III found himself right back where he was two years ago, sitting on the UW bench injured and unavailable. He wore a black brace on his right wrist and it was unclear how long he'd be missing.

This was a guy who sat out the entire 2023-24 season for the Huskies with a foot injury, transferred to USC last year and returned to Montlake in good health. Until Friday's game against SU.

Yates was joined on the sideline iin sweats by sophomore forward Lathan Sommerville, with the 6-foot-10 Rutgers transfer said to be dealing with a knee injury from a Saturday practice.

Sprinkle said both players needed MRI tests and he was unsure about their possible return.

Leading 16-14, the Huskies left San Diego (5-6) in its wake when Steinbach got the big run started by taking a lob pass from fellow freshman JJ Mandaquit and laying it in with 11:17 in the half.

It was only UW points for the next six and a half minutes. Mandaquit closed out the scoring streak with a pair of free throws to make it 36-14. The Toreros never got any closer than 16 the rest of the night.

With just 10 players available, the Huskies used 6-foot-10 Serbian newcomer Nikola Dzepina early and often in this one. He'd never been to the U.S. before. College basketball compared to international ball is a challenged for him, as well.

"Pretty much the physicality is harder," he said. "All of the rules and that stuff, I'm learning. It's pretty much different."

Nikola Dzepina lets fly with a 3-pointer against San Diego. | Dave Sizer photo

He drained a corner 3-pointer right before the big run began and added a couple of free throws before the break. He proved entertaining at times, and not just for wearing bright neon orange sneakers.

With just over a minute left in the first half, Dzepina grabbed a rebound and flung it the length of the floor while falling and watched as Zoom Diallo ran it down and scored on a lay-in for a 44-24 lead.

"He can shoot it from anywhere," Diallo said. "We noticed that the first time when he actually came on the scout team the first time and he lit the starting five up pretty early. He's one of those guys who can stretch the floor out."

The Huskies headed to the locker room on top 46-26. Steinbach led them at the break with 15 points and 9 rebounds, which are final-game numbers for most people.

Things only got worse for the Steve Lavin-coached team when the Huskies went on a 10-2 run to open the second half.

Dzepina played 20 minutes and supplied 7 points and 7 rebounds. The new guy is going to play.

"We have plenty of guys we recruited and I believe in all of them," Sprinkle said. "Now it's time for other guys to step up."

The UW takes a week off for Christmas and doesn't play again until next Monday night against Utah (8-4), its former Pac-12 rival and now a Big 12 member. Tipoff is at 8 p.m. for a game televised on FS1.

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