Danny Sprinkle and the Washington Huskies have been on a struggle bus the last few games. Losing three in a row versus Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska before finally righting the ship against Oregon in a rivalry contest. Sprinkle was clearly relieved in his post-game presser, and he opened up the whole thing with a quote all UW fans will enjoy: "Anytime you can beat Oregon, it's great."
The rivalry between Oregon and Washington isn't just a football thing; Washington loves beating the Ducks in every single way possible. Shoot, Huskies like to hear when the chess team beats Oregon. Cheer competition, beat the Ducks, Robotics, beat the Ducks. It's a universal hate for all things Oregon.
Beating the Oregon Ducks is always sweet in any sport and this one was an easy win
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So not only did the Huskies need the big win for their own season, but it's always nicer to take out the annoying rivals to the south. It was a big win too, 72-57, and a lot of that came from a former Duck turned Husky in Frank Kepnang. Kepnang had 10 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
Washington's score came from spreading the offense around. The leading scorer had 12 points, and actually three players had that total: Quimari Peterson, Zoom Diallo, and Jacob Ognacevic. The Huskies also had two players with 10 points: Kepnang and Hannes Steibach.
It was just an all-around team win, with the bench playing plenty of minutes, as the game was never in doubt. If the Huskies are going to beat their rivals, doing it handily made it all that much sweeter.
Now the Huskies will have a tough road test against the Illinois Fighting Illini, who are ranked NET 6 as of this writing. So far, Washington hasn't fared well against ranked teams or teams inside NET 50. They could really use the win, though, to boost their tournament resume and find their way at least into the bubble.