Huskies Add to Long-Running Mississippi Valley State Misery

The UW wins its second game in as many outings with a 3-point shooting barrage.

Huskies Nikola Dzepina and Tayshawn Comer chest bump each other at Alaska Airlines Arena. | Dave Sizer

On a most unusual night for the University of Washington basketball team, the Huskies were permitted to shoot 3-pointers whenever and however much they wanted and their aim was good enough to hand Mississippi Valley State a 77-64 defeat at Alaska Airlines Arena.

Danny Sprinkle let his guys launch 50 shots from behind the line, which was a school record and one shy of a Big Ten record.

They made 17, which tied a school record set 15 seasons earlier.

Here's how weird this one was: the Huskies tried just 17 regular shots and made 11.

With this take-no-prisoners approach, Sprinkle unleashed his imported 3-point shooters in Davidson transfer Parker Friedrichsen and Gonzaga newcomer Steele Venters and they were two of the Huskies' three top scorers.

The 6-foot-4 Friedrichsen led the Huskies (2-0) in points by coming off the bench to score 17 on 5-for-11 shooting from behind the line.

Venters chipped in 15 points by connecting on 5-for-13 treys, his most in three injury-hampered seasons since he played for Eastern Washington, before Gonzaga.

"Me and Parker, in those situations, can let it fly as much as we want," said the 6-foot-7 Venters, who's originally from Ellensburg.

Add to them starting point guard Ryan Beasley, who finished with his first career double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, with the playmaker having his own success behind the line by dropping in 4 of 9. Mississippi Valley State had to wonder what hit it.

The Delta Devils (2-0) were a lot better than the typical Southwestern Athletic Conference entry that's often been described as America's worst college basketball team.

In their three prior seasons, they were 3-30, 3-28 and 1-30, and they had won just 19 of 210 games since 2020.

Yet with a new coach in Mike Davis, the former Indiana leader, and an influx of junior-college talent, Mississippi Valley State was far more competitive than expected.

Against the Huskies in a gym maybe a third full, the Delta Devils actually built an early 8-3 lead and looked like they wanted to shock Seattle.

However, the Huskies unleashed those imported long-range shooters and this one suddenly tilted in the favor of Sprinkle's team.

In the opening minutes, Venters immediately drained a pair of treys from left of the basket to get it going.

"I think the team looks a lot different when I'm knocking down shots," he said.

Four minutes into this one, Friedrichsen came in and hit 4 of 8 3-pointers while the UW went up by 10 by halftime.

"He and Steele are elite," Sprinkle said. "When he's open, he needs to shoot it."

Over the course of the game, the coach substituted liberally and used 12 players, 11 just a dozen minutes into the game.

Led by Friedrichsen's 12 points, the Huskies headed for the locker room with a 43-33 lead at halftime.

Over those first 20 minutes, the Huskies were good on 11 of 28 treys, with Venters and Friedrichsen dropping in a combined 7 of 16 attempts.

UW coach Danny Sprinkle offers instructions to his team. | Dave Sizer

After the break, the Delta Devils closed within 44-40, but the UW went on a 13-0 run to pull away with 13 minutes left to play, with Beasley capping the run by dropping in consecutive 3-pointers.

The Huskies return to action on Saturday against significantly tougher competition when they travel to Salt Lake City to face the University of Utah (2-0), the first of three Utah-based teams they'll meet in non-conference outings.

They'll need to bring their 3-point shooting prowess with them.