Huskies Get A for Effort, Yet Land Alone in Last Place

Cellar dweller. Bottom feeder. Basement occupant.

No matter what you call it, the University of Washington basketball team on Tuesday night gave a valiant effort but it wasn't enough to avoid a 82-71setback to the 15th-ranked Oregon Ducks in Eugene -- and a precipitous fall into sole possession of last place in the Big Ten Conference.

The Huskies (10-9 overall, 1-7 league) were left all alone as the 18th team out of 18 after losing to their Northwest rival and, two time zones away, having Minnesota ((10-9, 2-6) pull a 72-67 upset of Iowa on the road to move out of a last-place tie.

Dropping their fifth consecutive game -- all to nationally ranked opponents -- the Huskies went up by eight in the opening half and for the longest time tried to stave off another defeat on this road trip to the Willamette Valley before tailing off in the closing five and a half minutes.

Great Osobor topped the UW with 20 points, scoring 12 consecutive for his team at one point in the second half, while Oregon guard TJ Bamba, a former Washington State Cougar, led all scorers with 21 points.

Danny Sprinkle's guys went nearly the first 17 minutes of the first half before trailing to the Ducks (16-3, 5-3), until reserve guard Keeshawn Barthelemy dropped in a 3-pointer for a 26-25 edge for the home team.

The Huskies were hurt by their inability to shoot from 3-point range, hitting just 4 of 21 attempts, but they had just just 9 turnovers to Oregon's 10.

"I thought we did a better job of taking care of the basketball to keep us in the game," Sprinkle said.

For the most part, it was an overly physical contest with the officiating crew permitting both sides to do just about anything just short of breaking bones and knocking out teeth. There was a lot of bumping, pushing and shoving alll without repercussions, which is the Big Ten way of playing basketball.

In one second-half sequence, the Huskies' Osobor was left face down on the floor following a flagrant foul, this after teammate Wilhelm Breidenbach got tangled up with the Ducks' Brandon Angel and both ended up on the floor in great pain, with Angel forced to leave the game temporarily.

Down by two at the half, the UW fell behind 41-36 before Tyler Harris, the Portland transfer making his return to the state of Oregon, hit a pair of 3-pointers to enable the Huskies to reclaim the lead.

It was a battle thereafter as the the teams made it a one-possession game for the next 13 minutes.

Huskies guard Luis Kortright (12) tries to back in against Oregon guards Jackson Shelstad and guard Jadrian Tracey. | Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images

With the game tied at 62, Oregon finally wore the Huskies down. Bamba dropped in a pair of free throws to the put the Ducks ahead for good with 5:36 remaining, setting off a 6-0 run. The UW never got closer than four the rest of the way.

Hoping to dig themselves out of last place, the Huskies return to action on Friday night against UCLA (13-6, 4-4) at home, with tipoff at 8 o'clock.

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