3 Takeaways from Husky Basketball's Opening-Night Victory

The pros and cons from Danny Sprinkle's team in its debut.

Zoom Diallo was impressive in his UW basketball debut. / Scott Ecklund/UW Athletics

No matter what sort of impression the University of Washington basketball team left on anyone from its season-opening win over UC Davis, good or bad, it should be tempered with the disclaimer that most college entries struggle early in the season.

Don't shoot well. Don't pass well. Often play an overmatched opponent, which can distort things early on.

That said, three takeaways came to mind about Danny Sprinkle's Huskies as his team ventures forward following its 79-73 victory over its Big West opponent on Tuesday night. We'll begin with something uplifting.

1. Staying Power. With 6-foot-11, 253-pound Franck Kepnang and 6-foot-8, 250-pound Great Osobor paired together, the Huskies have something not seen in Montlake in decades, maybe since dural 7-footers Todd MacCulloch and Patrick Femmerling played together -- a physical presence inside that that involves more than one player.

More often, the UW has had to deal with a big-man combo that is too much to handle. In Osobor and Kepnang, the Huskies have that now. As happened against UC Davis, they can have one of these guys get in foul trouble and not immediately give away the paint. With both available, they can be a handful.

In the opener, Osobor and Kepnang combined for 25 points, 21 rebounds and 5 blocks, and shot 9-for-18 from the floor.

2. 3-Point Range. As with past Husky teams, this one likely will struggle when shooting from behind the line. There's just not a bunch gifted outside marksmen on this team. Butler transfer DJ Davis was supposed to be the go-to guy for a trey, but UC Davis effectively took him out of his comfort zone and watched him go 0-for-5 from 3-point distance and 0-for-8 altogether.

While Sprinkle suggested many of his guys might have had opening-night jitters, shooters need to show up at all times. Against UC Davis, the Huskies finished 2-for-14 from behind the line, with guard Mekhi Mason making them both -- on bank shots.

This could be a season-long sore spot for this UW basketball team, permitting Big Ten opponents to slack off and make things tougher for the guys inside.

3. Zoom Meeting. The Huskies didn't have much offensive flow in the opener, but this freshman point guard got everyone excited and moving whenever he came off the bench. He played the second most minutes behind Osobor, 25 to the big guy's 38, and had the most assists of anyone in the game with 4.

His impact was so obvious, Sprinkle's staff started Diallo to begin the second half. And no one should be surprised if he finds his way into the starting lineup before long. "He was an A for me," Sprinkle said in handing out a grade. "His energy was off the charts."

The player named Zoom has star power that radiates and gets the fans excited. While his 3-point shooting is a little suspect -- he had an airball in the exhibition game -- he scored 12 points on 4-of-8 overshooting against UC Davis

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