Husky Basketball Way Down In Numbers For Next Game

On Monday, freshman forward Hannes Steinbach watched University of Washington basketball practice from a front-row seat with his injured ankle elevated.

Sophomore forward Bryson Tucker, the Indiana transfer, soon came over and sat down next to him, similarly dealing with a weakened ankle. Lathan Sommerville, another sophomore forward and a Rutgers transfer, stood behind his teammates likewise idle with his own ankle issues.

"We are the sprained-ankle capital of the world right now," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said.

Three days from their next game against Nevada (4-2) at the Acrisure Holliday Classic, the Huskies (4-1) practiced with just eight players, including walk-on BJ Roy.

Sprinkle was far from certain what kind of team he will field on Thanksgiving Day in Palm Desert, California.

He listed Steinbach, Tucker and Sommerville each as questionable for the two-day even.

"We're going to have to get used to playing some funky lineups," Sprinkle said. "It might be five guards at times."

On top of the aforementioned walking wounded, Sprinkle lost 6-foot-11 center Mady Traore to a foot injury for the season and 6-foot-8 forward Jacob Ognacevic, the Lipscomb transfer, to a foot problem at least until early January.

Christian Nitu, the 6-foot-10 sophomore and Florida State transfer, previously was said to be redshirting, but wasn't with the team for Monday's practice. His coach has referred to Nitu's status as an "internal situation."

Without all of these big men, the Huskies basically are down to the services of 6-foot-11 senior Franck Kepnang, who injured a knee in the non-conference segments of each of the three previous seasons. He's in the best shape he's been for some time.

Now, he's the one enjoying good health and is needed more than ever to compensate for the flurry of injuries greatly disrupting this Husky team.

If the UW doesn't get anyone healthy for Thursday's game, Sprinkle will lean on Kepnang and guards Zoom Diallo, Quimari Peterson, Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude to fill out a lineup, with freshmen Jasir Rencher and Courtland Muldrew in reserve, and even the younger Roy available if necessary.

The Huskies are coming off a 99-93 double-overtime victory over Southern, one that required that Peterson, the East Tennessee State transfer, play all 50 minutes because of the limited manpower on hand.

"We're going to have to do some different things, whether it be offensively or defensively, to get through this," Sprinkle said.

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