When Danny Sprinkle’s Washington Huskies managed to beat the Washington State Cougars by 26 points, it really seemed like this team had taken a considerable step forward as it works to find an identity under this new coaching staff.
When the Washington men’s basketball team fell flat against the Seattle University Redhawks, it really seemed like Sprinkle’s Huskies took a huge step back. It’s hard to tell which team is the real UW men’s basketball team because of how different they looked from one game to the next.
And that’s going to be a problem for Washington. If the Huskies can’t play consistently decent basketball, they’re going to suffer some very real setbacks. Like a nine point loss to a WAC team that led Washington for over 38 minutes.
That’s a pretty big setback.
Still, while Washington lost this game, there were some Huskies that looked pretty good against Seattle. Especially a few of the younger players on the roster.
Washington Huskies vs. Seattle Redhawks: 3 Huskies who deserve credit despite UW’s frustrating home loss
Here are three Washington Huskies who deserve a bit of recognition for the way that they played against Seattle.
No. 1: Tyler Harris was electrifying for Washington in the second half against Seattle
Tyler Harris was such a huge reason for anything that resembled UW success against Seattle. Washington lost, yes, but Harris played lights out basketball and he deserves a ton of recognition for the way he performed for UW.
He managed to lead the Huskies in scoring as he put up 20 points. Speaking of his points, 17 of those 20 points happened in the second half. So, Harris was a huge reason that Washington was even able to make this game look like it was close. Oh, and he was pretty efficient as he made 70 percent of his shots.
No. 2: Great Osobor dominated in the first half against the Redhawks
If Tyler Harris was the star of the second half, then Great Osobor deserves a ton of credit for keeping the Washington Huskies in this game early on. While everyone else around him was struggling to score, Osobor was in the double digits scoring by halftime and really looked impressive against the Redhawks.
In the first half alone, Osobor scored 13 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out a couple assists, and blocked a shot. He had nearly half of Washington’s first half point total. Osobor was huge for Washington early on and made the comeback attempt possible.
No. 3: Zoom Diallo had a quiet start, but surged in the second half vs. Seattle
He’s young and exciting to watch. Zoom Diallo is going to be a fascinating piece that Washington should be able to build around for as long as he wants to stay in Seattle. And while he didn’t have a huge first half against the Seattle Redhawks, his second half performance was pretty strong.
Diallo managed to score 11 points and grabbed four rebounds in the 13:50 that he played in the second half vs. the Redhawks. Diallo did get into some foul trouble, which limited how much he was able to play, but he can definitely help this offense get moving in a hurry when he’s on the court.
Washington must move forward from frustrating home loss as Big Ten play gets closer once again
Following this frustrating home loss against Seattle, the Huskies are now tasked with getting ready to get back into Big Ten play. There’s one more non-conference game up ahead as Washignton will welcome NJIT to town on Sunday, December 29, but that game no longer feels like an absolute certainty. Which is frustrating.
Washington really blew an opportunity to get an easy win against Seattle. Now the Huskies need to guarantee that they beat NJIT. Otherwise, this season might take a bit of a turn. The Big Ten isn’t exactly a league anyone can just cruise through, especially note a team that is still in its first year of a rebuild.