The Washington Huskies earned a 75-69 victory over the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday night, their first in the Big Ten. The win sent a message that the Huskies have what it takes to grind out tough games in their new conference.
“You’re not going to trick any of these coaches,” coach Danny Sprinkle said after the game. “You’re not going to trick the players. You’re not going to come up with a new play out of a time out, like things like that.
“You have to screen. You have to cut hard. You have to play with physicality. You got to finish at the rim with physicality. It’s the basic basketball stuff that wins in this league, and you have to do it at an extremely high level.”
Sprinkle had his team slow the game down and control the pace against a Terps offense that came into Alaska Airlines Arena ranked No. 12 in the country, averaging 87.2 points per game, by playing through his star, Great Osobor.
The senior finished with his fourth double-double of the season, stuffing the stat sheet with 20 points on an efficient 8-12 from the field, adding 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block, while also giving the ball away 6 times.
“If you don’t expect to win these games, you might as well not show up,” Osobor said after the game.
Coming off the bench, freshman guard Zoom Diallo showed up too. The Tacoma product added 18 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks as the former high-profile recruit continues to establish himself as an important part of Washington’s backcourt.
The Huskies trailed Maryland by as many as 9 points early in the second half, but never rolled over despite forward Julian Reese’s best efforts. The senior finished with 22 points and 7 rebounds before fouling out in the game’s final seconds.
Down the stretch, Washington managed to do what it hasn’t all season long, shoot the ball. With 2:28 to play, senior DJ Davis buried a three-pointer to give the Huskies a six-point lead before converting at the free throw line to seal the victory.
Thanks to a 6-6 performance at the charity stripe from Davis, the Huskies shot 78.3 percent from the line, while Maryland struggled, converting just 68.2 percent of its free throws. Washington also won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Terps 33-29, and held one of the conference’s top three-point shooting teams to just 2-11 (18.2 percent) from long range.
Maryland, which ranked No. 24 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and just outside the top 25 of the AP Poll, was just the start of the toughest part of Washington’s schedule. Five of the Huskies’ next six opponents are ranked inside the top 25, with the No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini up next on Sunday, January 5 at 1:00 inside Alaska Airlines Arena, who are coming off a blowout win over the No. 9 Oregon Ducks.