The Washington Huskies are 3-1 through their first four games under coach Danny Sprinkle but still have plenty of room for improvement before the start of Big Ten play.
His top focus needs to be the Huskies’ field goal percentage. As a team, Washington has shot 40.16 percent from the field, which ranks No. 316 out of 355 Division I programs.
That includes a 27.03 percentage from three-point range, which places the Huskies at No. 319 in the nation. Their 57.8 percentage from the free-throw line is even worse, ranking No. 348.
After the Huskies secured a 74-69 victory over UMass Lowell on Sunday, Sprinkle acknowledged that he has faith in his team to improve from the field, but admitted that he’s running out of patience waiting for the very fixable issue to correct itself.
“I know we’re so much better which excites me because I know we’re not that bad,” he said on Sunday. “I see these guys all the time in practice finishing, knocking down free throws, I see us go through stretches where we’ll make five or six threes when we’re defending well in practice. I know it’s there and the problem is these guys know once you show me you can do it, my expectation and standard is you do it every time.”
Washington has put together one solid shooting half, when the Huskies were down 11 at halftime against Division II Seattle Pacific, and shot 54 percent from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range on their way to a 77-62 victory.
“My standard is not going anywhere,” Sprinkle continued. “We just have to continue building with this team and I expect us to break out, I really do, but my patience level? I’m never patient.”