Game Day Essentials: Game #23 at Washington

Washington Info

Head Coach: Danny Sprinkle (15th season)

Location: Seattle, Washington 
Conference: B1G

University Alias: "U-Dub"
Nickname: Huskies

Human Mascot: Harry the Husky

Animal Mascot: Dubs II, an Alaskan Malamute

Last time out: Won at Minnesota 71-68

Line: Nebraska by 2

Typical Rotation Depth: 8+

KenPom rank: 92

Nota bene:  

• Washington leads the all-time series 6-3 though Nebraska has won the last 3 dating back to 1976, including two home NIT wins by Danny Nee
• Former Husker Wilhelm Breidenbach players for the Huskies while Braxton Meah formerly played for the Huskies
• Last season Tyree Ihenacho scored 22 points off the bench for North Dakota at Nebraska, including 5-9 from 3.  This season he's 4-23 from 3.
• Danny Sprinkle spent his first 4 years coaching at Montana St followed by 1 year at Utah St before landing at Washington. Star player Great Osabar has followed him Montana St to Utah St to Washington
• Utah St has been a coaching incubator over the last few years. Previous coaches: Sprinkle-> Washington, Ryan Odom -> VCU, Craig Smith -> Utah St. The 5 years Larry Eustachy coached there earned him the Iowa St job in 1999.
• Nebraska nabbed current AD Troy Dannen from U-Dub

Player to watch: Great Osabar

Osabar made waves this off-season following his coach to Washington for a reported 2 million dollar NIL package. Living up to his name, Osabar previous was voted as the top reserve of the Big Sky while at Montana St and Mountain West Player of the year during his year at Utah St. While he has somewhat an outside shot, the length of the B1G has limited his effectiveness inside where he's finishing at 54% as opposed to 64% at previous stops. Osobor leads the Big 10 in FT attempts though only hits at 61.3%. He's one of the best passing big men in the conference, able to find other bigs for easy baskets when double-teamed. He leads the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals. Osabar hails from England.

Player to watch: Vazoumana "Zoom" Diallo

The highly regarded true freshman combo guard is second on the team in assists and 3rd in scoring average, supplementing his lack of outside range with the ability to draw contact driving to the lane. 

Player to watch: Tyler Harris

The stretch 4 transfer from Portland has emerged as Washington's most reliable 3pt threat, shooting 46.7% from 3 on the year and 40.7% in conference. 

Washington 's Roster

Roster/infirmary report

Possible starters for Nebraska

3    Guard    Brice Williams     6-7    214 lbs    Senior

1    Guard    Sam Hoiberg     6-0    185 lbs    Junior

4    Forward    Juwan Gary     6-6    226 lbs    Senior

9    Forward    Berke Büyüktuncel     6-10    244 lbs   

23    Forward    Andrew Morgan     6-10    242 lbs    Senior 

Bench

34    Center    Braxton Meah     7-1    264 lbs    Senior

0    Guard    Connor Essegian     6-4    190 lbs    Junior

2    Guard    Ahron Ulis     6-3    190 lbs    Senior

24    Guard    Rollie Worster     6-5    210 lbs    Senior

31    Guard    Cale Jacobsen     6-4    195 lbs    Sophomore

12    Guard    Gavin Griffiths     6-7    193 lbs    Sophomore

5    Forward    Braden Frager     6-7    220 lbs    Freshman
8    Guard    Jeffrey Grace III     6-3    200 lbs    Junior
20    Forward    Justin Bolis     6-8    225 lbs    Sophomore
25    Guard    Nick Janowski     6-4    208 lbs    Freshman

35    Forward    Henry Burt     6-7    222 lbs    Sophomore

Out for year
51    Forward    Rienk Mast     6-10    260 lbs    Senior

The Skinny: 

Nebraska is on the 2nd leg of their Pacific Northwest trip where the general sentiment was 'split these games' but the context was 'lose at Oregon, win at Washington'.  Nebraska was able to upset the ranked Ducks and find themselves as road favorites vs a Huskie squad that is currently in the cellar of the B1G. The Huskers will likely once again need to bring their own energy to yet another dead former Pac-12 environment.

Washington has an offense predicated around working the ball into the post and a below average 3pt attack, something Nebraska is naturally geared towards defending. Despite the size of their interior players, the Huskies tend to get back defensively to limit transition. However, both of Washington's victories in conference have seen the Huskies pull down a higher level of offensive boards. Don't expect the same sort of fast break offense you saw vs Oregon.

Defensively, Washington is geared towards taking away the 3 and their guards generate steals from opponents attempting to split a double on their way to the hoop. If Nebraska can hold onto the ball while working into the paint they should be able to generate trips to the FT in addition to good looks. 

This looks like a winnable game against an opponent that isn't built to beat Nebraska. That doesn't mean they won't.

Prediction: Nebraska 76 - Washington 68