UW Basketball Team Handed First Loss At Baylor

The University of Washington basketball team understands opponents are going to do what they can to neutralize or offset 6-foot-11 freshman sensation Hannes Steinbach, but on Sunday night Baylor tried something unique.

The Bears responded with their own German big man.

They turned to 6-foot-8 Michael Rataj for the go-ahead points on a three-point play in their Sunday night match-up and held off the Huskies the rest of the way for a 78-69 victory in Waco with an ESPN TV national audience watching.

While the UW (2-1) lost for the first time and in a hostile Big-12 environment, Danny Sprinkle's guys didn't seem too overwhelmed by any of it. The Huskies just didn't shoot very well, hitting only 3 of 20 3-point attempts.

"I thought we played well," Sprinkle said. "I thought we played hard. We just couldn't make a shot."

A bigger concern was the loss of starting forward Bryson Tucker, the Indiana transfer, to a sprained ankle that left him limping badly and sent him to the locker room with 11:52 remaining and not to return.

The Huskies never trailed over the first 10 minutes and had the upper hand until Rataj, an Oregon State transfer who hails from Augsburg, Germany, scored on a give-and-go lay-in, was fouled and converted everything for an 18-17 advantage.

Baylor (2-0) never trailed again and led by as many as 11.

Meantime, Steinbach started slow but finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds -- his second consecutive double-double -- and blocked 3 shots.

Baylor's Isaac Williams (10) shoots over the UW's Lathan Sommerville (24) and Quimari Peterson (0). | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

Rataj scored 9 of his 11 points in the opening half in helping the Bears to a 38-32 lead at intermission and finished the game with 4 rebounds.

He had plenty of help, too. He was one of six Bears who scored in double figures, topped by guard Cameron Carr's 16 points, all but three coming in the first half.

The UW was led by sophomore guard Zoom Diallo, who scored 15 points before fouling out in the game's final minute.

Once Tucker went out for the UW, helped off the floor by JJ Mandaquit and Steinbach, the Huskies banded together and made their first of two second-half runs.

With 9:39 remaining, Wesley Yates III, back in his home state of Texas, knocked down a 3-pointer, the UW's first of the game, to pull his team within 57-53.

Baylor, however pushed the lead back to 10 before the Huskies made a final run, creeping back within 73-68 on Quimari Peterson's 3-pointer with 2:10 left.

Huskies Zoom Diallo (5), Lathan Sommerville (24) and Hannes Steinbach (6) share a moment in Waco. | Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The Huskies, who went without injured USC transfer guard Desmond Claude again, return to the Northwest to play Washington State (0-2) in Pullman on Friday night, with an 8 p.m. tipoff.

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