Fast-Starting Huskies Don't Finish Well, Lose to Illinois

Two time zones from home, Danny Sprinkle's guys got off to a confident start at Illinois, played tough well into the second half and demonstrated once more they're a good basketball team when they want to be.

However, it wasn't nearly enough to knock off a great team -- and an incredibly young lineup at that -- which is what the ninth-ranked Illini were all about.

After jumping out to a 7-0 lead four minutes into this one, this University of Washington entry couldn't take advantage of its early success on Thursday night and went down to a 75-66 defeat in the middle of America.

"I thought mentally we weren't quite tough enough to do it consistently for 40 minutes," Sprinkle said.

Early on, the Huskies (11-10 overall, 3-7 Big Ten) used a 3-pointer from Wesley Yates III and dunks from Bryson Tucker and Hannes Steinbach to momentarily stagger the Illini (18-3, 9-1), but then the counter punch arrived.

Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) grabs the ball in front of Hannes Steinbach. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

The slow-starting Illini immediately went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good, led by the nation's top freshman in 6-foot-6 guard Keaton Wagler -- who was coming off a 46-point outing. On this night, he settled for 22 and it was more than enough. He also kicked in 8 assists.

Wagler, who's from Shawnee, Kansas, and resembles former Husky RaeQuan Battle with lean build and frizzy hair, hit a deep 3-pointer four minutes into the game to finally get his team moving. He drove to the basket twice. He lit a fire under his guys.

Add in a 3-pointer by another extra talented freshman, 6-foot-9 forward David Mirkovic, and these orange-shirted Illini youngsters proceeded to send the Huskies home with yet another setback to a top 10 team. Mirkovic, from Montenegro, was good for 19 points.

The UW, of course, had its own high-quality freshman in 6-foot-11 Hannes Steinbach, and he was good once more for a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds -- his 13th -- but he could have used some help.

Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo likewise came up with a double-double, supplying 12 points and 10 assists, but it wasn't enough.

Over the past two games, the UW has had four double-double outings with two by Steinbach, one by Frank Kepnang and Diallo's output.

To the Huskies' credit, they never let this one get out of hand until the final minute, when they fell behind by 14 before settling for the final margin.

Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) and Huskies guard JJ Mandaquit (23) chase down a loose ball. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

The UW could never get closer than five over the final 17:53 of play, the last time at 60-55 on a pair of Steinbach free throws.

"We're going to continue to have to get better and learn from the mistakes we made tonight," Sprinkle said.

The Huskies will stay in Illinois and play next at Northwestern (10-11, 2-8) -- against an average not a great team -- on Saturday with a 5 p.m. PT tipoff.

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