Huskies Return to Action, Try to Put Big Men Off Nights Behind Them

Danny Sprinkle's team will host Seattle Pacific on Wednesday night.

Nevada’s Nick Davidson passes between Great Osobor and Wilhelm Breidenbach of the Huskies. / JASON BEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It took just two games into a new season to see how opponents were going to deal with the University of Washington basketball team -- by making a concentrated effort to shut down the Huskies' proven big guys.

In somewaht stunning fashion, Nevada pulled this off over the weekend in a 63-53 win in Reno by limiting 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward Great Osobor to 3 points and. 6-foot-11, 250-pound Franck Kepnang to 2 while this pair of front-liners combined to shoot 1-for-11 from the floor.

These are players who have had their way with a lot of teams, with Osobor averaging 17.8 points per game at Utah State last season and guiding the Aggies into the NCAA Tournament, while Kepnang memorably led a 78-73 upset of then No. 7-ranked Gonzaga last December with a 14-point, 7-rebound, 5-block effort.

"They made it a point to go after Great," Husky coach Danny Sprinkle said. "They did a good job of doubling and making it hard on him. But even at the end of the day, those two they have to play better, and they are better than they played."

On Wednesday night, the Huskies (1-1) will try to get Osobor and Kepnang back on track when they host likely overmatched Seattle Pacific (0-3) at Alaska Airlines Arena at 7 p.m.

As he puts a new team together, trying to mesh eight transfers into a cohesive unit, Sprinkle said his players weren't as focused as they neededto be at Nevada for whatever reason. He pointed out how Kepnang had a wide-open dunk on the first possession only for the Huskies to lose the ball out of bounds.

It's also quite possible the UW ran into a coach in Nevada's Steve Alford who simply knew what needed to be done defensively and acted on it. He faced both of these Husky big men last season and his team had success each time.

A year ago in November, Alford's Wolf Pack traveled to Seattle and beat the UW 83-76 while holding Kepnang scoreless and to one shot in 12 minutes of play. Three months later, Nevada limited Osobor to 4-for-7 shooting and 11 points in a 77-63 victory over then 22nd-ranked Utah State in Logan, Utah.

The new Husky coach knows his big men need to come ready to play at all times.

"I would hope that doesn't happen again," Sprinkle said. "They're both really good players. Nevada did a really good job defensively of guarding them, but they're still talented enough where we can't afford for those guys to combine for 5 points."

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