Huskies Get Up Early, Win Saturday Morning Matinee Over Minnesota

The UW collects first Big Ten road win and breaks six-game losing streak.

The Huskies' Tyler Harris defends Minnesota guard Isaac Asuma on Saturday in Minneapolis. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Who knew Danny Sprinkle's University of Washington basketball players were morning people? They should rub their eyes and start their games at 9 a.m. more often. They'd be better off firing up 3-pointers only when the rooster crows.

On Saturday in Minneapolis, the Huskies climbed out of bed and had Minnesota beat by lunch time, taking a 71-68 victory at the Gophers' Williams Arena. It was 11:18 a.m. in Seattle when the final buzzer sounded.

By getting started early, the UW (11-10 overall, 2-8 league) won its first Big Ten road game and ended a six-game losing streak at Minnesota (11-11, 3-8), though it still wasn't quite enough to pull Sprinkle's club out of last place in the conference standings. The game began at 11 a.m. Central Time no doubt to satisfy Big Ten Network TV scheduling needs.

One player ready for some early morning pick-up basketball was the Huskies' Tyler Harris, with the 6-foot-8 sophomore leading his team with 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting, including 4 for 4 from 3-point range.

"It's hard to be consistently good for 40 minutes and I thought he was. ... Offensively, he put a lot of press on them to guard him," said Sprinkle, who actually used Harris for 35 minutes.

From the opening tipoff, the UW played as hard and as well-rounded as it has all season, hitting the boards for a 33-25 advantage and converting 7 of 15 3-point shots while answering every Minnesota run.

The Huskies also benefitted greatly by getting the Gophers' 6-foot-11, 234-pound Dawson Garcia -- arguably the Big Ten's top player and someone who supplied a game-high 28 points against them -- into foul trouble some 10 and a half minutes into the game and sitting him down for the rest of the half.

Before everything kicked in, the UW fell behind 11-5 with Garcia scoring Minnesota's first five points before yawning and stretching and getting to work. The former Marquette and North Carolina player now back in his home state drove to the basket on the game's first possession and hit a 3-pointer his next time down the floor.

However, the Huskies received a huge break when Garcia drew his second foul at the 10:28 mark of the opening half and was pulled out. While he watched from the Gopher's sunken bench below an elevated floor, the UW took advantage by enlarging a four-point lead to a 40-30 edge at halftime.

The UW's Great Osobor and Minnesota forward Dawson Garcia battle in Saturday's game. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Garcia, a 19.8 scorer coming in, went nearly a full half without scoring, not finding the basket again until 12:36 remained to play, when he drove to the basket, got bumped by a pair of Huskies and completed a three-point play.

His return to the scoring column didn't come without a complication for the Gophers. Teammate Frank Mitchell inexplicably got whistled for a technical foul during the play, enabling the Huskies' DJ Davis to shoot a pair of free throws between Garcia's basket and free throw, and leaving the UW on top 49-44.

Yet that was enough to get Garcia going as he scored 11 consecutive points to put the Gophers back in front at 52-51 with 8:13 left to play for their only second-half lead.

The UW's Zoom Diallo, who finished with 11 ponts and 5 assists, came back with a three-point play, getting fouled as he spun and hit a bank shot and dropping in the foul shot, to put the Huskies back on top 54-52.

The Huskies' Zoom Diallo shoots against Minnesota's Dawson Garcia during the UW's 71-68 win. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Back and forth these teams went with the Huskies hanging in there even with Garcia fully engaged on the offensive end now. The Gophers standout tied the game at 64 by hitting the first of two free throws with 2:44 remaining.

The crowd was into it. The Gophers had momentum. Yet Sprinkle's team didn't buckle.

Osobor, who finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, gave the UW the lead for good at 65-64 by sinking the second of a pair of foul shots with 2:12 left to play while everything remained in doubt until the final seven seconds.

To the buzzer, Osobor tipped in a shot, DJ Davis converted two free throws and Mekhi Mason sank two fouls shots, offsetting Garcia's final four points, including a dunk at the buzzer. The Gophers were hurt by Garcia missing a pair of free throws with 7.2 seconds on the clock with the UW up 69-66.

Everybody was wide awake now as the Huskies celebrated a satisfying morning matinee victory.

"They deserve it," said Sprinkle, who recently sent his team up against five consecutive ranked teams. "We've been playing good basketball. We just played the hardest schedule in the country."

The UW next returns home to face Nebraska (13-8, 3-7) on Wednesday and Northwestern (12-9, 3-7) on the following Saturday, both with 7:30 p.m. tipoffs at Alaska Airlines Arena, and last place on the line in each outing.

Or is that 7:30 a.m.?

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