Rebounding seems like a simple thing in basketball. It’s probably more complex than some want to give it credit, but the general process doesn’t seem too crazy difficult to pull off. So, it’s a little worrisome that Danny Sprinkle’s Washington Huskies were outrebounded by the Seattle University Redhawks.
This is a Seattle team that just won its fifth game of the season when it upended Sprinkle and the UW men’s basketball team, by the way. It’s not like the Redhawks are particularly good, folks. They just aren’t. And yet, they beat Washington by nine points and won the rebounding battle by a margin of 36 to 33.
That was a problem against Seattle and there’s a good chance it’ll be a problem for Sprinkle and the Huskies as we get right back into Big Ten play.
Washington Huskies struggle to rebound and fall flat against Seattle Redhawks
Seattle’s Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe had a monstrous game against the Huskies as he managed to put up 23 points and then also came down with 16 rebounds. Just a frighteningly great game for Moncrieffe.
And while I don’t want to take away from what he was able to accomplish, how on earth did the Huskies allow for that to happen? And what on earth will Washington do as it tries to handle the depth of Big Ten frontcourts?
On the season, Washington hasn’t been particularly great at getting rebounds. The Huskies are averaging just 35.9 rebounds per game, which happens to be one rebound per game more than what UW is allowing its opponents to grab at 34.9 rebounds per game.
And if the Huskies are going to get beaten on the boards regularly, they just won’t be able to get many wins. Or, well, it’ll be considerably more difficult for Sprinkle’s team to end this season with a winning record if that’s the case.
It’s worth noting that it’s not that rebounds are the end all be all sort of metric that determines success. Still, it’s concerning that Washington isn’t able to beat out a team like Seattle when it comes to getting rebounds.