Inside The Huskies

Squeeze In, Huskies' Game Against No. 4 Michigan Is Sold Out

Interest is picking up in this UW basketball team, which beat Ohio State.
Dan Raley|
Danny Sprinkle can get excited at times while working the UW sideline.
Danny Sprinkle can get excited at times while working the UW sideline. | Dave Sizer photo

Coming off its best performance of the season, a solid 81-74 victory over Ohio State at home this past weekend, the University of Washington basketball team will receive another reward for its efforts.

The Huskies (10-6 overall, 2-3) have been guaranteed a sellout for its game against fourth-ranked Michigan (14-1, 4-1) on Wednesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena, with tipoff at 7:30 p.m. and the game televised by the Big Ten Network.

"That's awesome -- that's Big Ten basketball," UW coach Danny Sprinkle said.

The arena capacity is listed at 9,268, but crowds pushing 10,000 have been known to squeeze inside.

The big draw is a Michigan team (14-1, 4-1) that was ranked No. 1 in the country until getting upset 91-88 by Wisconsin at home this past Saturday.

"I remember when IT and this place was rocking," Sprinkle said, referencing Isaiah Thomas-led UW teams, "it was the hardest place to play on the West Coast."

For the Huskies, they've been battling all season just to get everyone available and that hasn't happened yet.

Guard Wesley Yates III and forward Jacob Ognacevic, two of the team;s better shooters, are coming off injuries and might play against the Wolverines.

The 6-foot-8 Ognacevic, last year's Atlantic Sun Player of the Year for Lipscomb, is coming off offseason foot surgery and hasn't made his UW debut yet.

Yates, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard who averages 14.9 points per outing, has missed the Huskies' last five games a breaking a wrist bone against Seattle U.

"That's kind of the next step is to get both of them back," Sprinkle said.

Out for unknown reasons is 6-foot-6 senior guard Desmond Claude, a 14.5 scorer who missed the Ohio State game and seems to have done something to put himself in arrears with the coaching staff.

"He's on the team," was all Sprinkle would say when asked if Claude would play.

Regardless of who's back, the Wolverines present a considerable challenge. They have six double-figure scorers, topped by Yaxel Lendeborg,, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound big man who averages 14.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.

Wednesday's game will be the first UW sellout in several seasons and could be the beginning of an electric game-day atmosphere that's been in the works.

"We want Alaska Airlines to be rocking," Sprinkle said. "It's got to be like back in the day. ... Our guys haven't seen this place sold out."

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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