Hot-Shooting Ohio State Humbles Huskies

Against the Buckeyes, the University of Washington basketball team came away with black eyes.

Deep-purple, swollen-shut sockets.

On Wednesday night in Columbus, Ohio, the Huskies looked like Sylvester Stallone in one of the "Rocky" movies, staggering around Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and bellowing out "Osobor" after taking a 93-69 defeat to hot-shooting Ohio State.

The Buckeyes (15-10 overall, 7-7 Big Ten) were dead-eyes with the ball in their hands in this one, especially over the first 20 minutes, when they shot a blistering 72.7 percent (20 for 29) to jump comfortably in front. They finished the night at a solid 61.1 percent.

"It was a team effort of not playing very good on defense right now," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said in a Big Ten Network interview.

The Huskies (12-12, 3-10) led only at 2-0 on Zoom Diallo's game-opening lay-in and were last tied at 8 before everything got away from them. Sprinkle's 17th-place team did itself no favors in trying to qualify for the Big Ten tournament, which takes only the top 15 in the standings.

In terms of margin, this tied the UW's second-worst setback of the season, exceeded only by an 88-54 drubbing at Michigan State in early January, some 250 miles away. The Huskies also lost to USC by 24.

Eleven minutes into this one, Ohio State held a 12- point lead when highly accurate freshman guard John Mobley dropped in a 3-pointer for a 29-17 advantage. Mobley shot 4 for 5 in the opening half, all from behind the line.

Even more productive early on was 6-foot-6 grad transfer Micah Parrish, formerly of Oakland and San Diego State, who had 14 points by halftime, connecting on 5 of 7 shots, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

Mobley and Parrish each had 21 points to lead all scorers, finishing up at 7 for 9 and 7 of 13, respectively, for the night. The Huskies were topped by Tyler Harris, DJ Davis and Diallo, who each provided 14 points.

Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (9) shoots the ball as Ohio State forward Aaron Bradshaw (4) gets out on him. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

A smooth lefty, Parrish put the Buckeyes up by 18 when he drove to the basket and scored, was fouled by Great Osobor and completed the three-point play for a 49-31 advantage.

"Just them being aggressive, we didn't respond to it," Sprinkle said.

The Huskies never knew what hit them or simply didn't want to play defense, take your pick.

They actually weren't bad on the offensive end, hitting 46.2 percent (12 of 26) in the opening half, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range. But they committed 10 first-half turnovers and all they had to show for their efforts was a 51-36 deficit at halftime.

In the second half, Sprinkle's team remained a steady punching back, falling behind by 21 before three minutes had been played, when Bruce Thornton's mid-range jumper gave the home team a 59-38 advantage.

The UW trailed by as many as 30, at 86-56, when Mobley sank a pair of free throws with 5:52 left to play.

The Huskies next play on Saturday morning at last-place Penn State (13-12, 3-11) in match-up of the two worst teams in the Big Ten. Tipoff is 11 a.m. PT.

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