Nevada Keeps Husky Big Men in Check in 63-53 win

Great Osobor and Franck Kepnang combine for just 5 points in Reno game.

Dan Raley | Nov 10, 2024

Nevada's Tyler Rollison knocks the ball away from the UW's Luis Kortright in Saturday's game in Reno. / JASON BEAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Great Osobor and Franck Kepnang were supposed to be the pillars of Danny Sprinkle's first University of Washington basketball team, but Nevada had other ideas on Saturday night in their non-conference game in Reno.

The Wolf Pack held the two big men to a combined 5 points as they handed the new Husky coach his first loss on the new job, 63-53, in his second outing played at Lawlor Events Center.

Missing all seven shots he took, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound Osobor played 30 minutes and finished with 3 measly points, while the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Kepnang attempted just 4 shots, made one and finished with 2 points in 14 minutes for the Huskies (1-1). Neither player fouled out.

"I thought Nevada, give them credit, they did a good job guarding him," Sprinkle said of Osobor, a 17.8-point scorer last season at Utah State.. "They made him guard on the defensive end and it kind of wore him down, too. He still had four to five layups he needs to make."

Nevada (2-0), led by Kobe Sanders' 20 points, beat the Huskies for the second year in a row after taking an 83-75 victory in Seattle. The Wolf Pack outrebounded the UW 41-33 and blocked 8 shots.

The Huskies trailed just 31-29 at halftime and were still in it with 3:57 remaining, trailing 53-50, but Nevada scored 10 unanswered points to pull away,

North Dakota transfer guard Tyree Ihenacho topped the Huskies with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting, while Portland transfer forward Tyler Harris, drawing his first UW start, was the only other player in double figures with 10.

"He was terrific," Sprinkle said of Ihenacho. "He got us back in the game, going to the rim."

The Huskies return to action on Wednesday night with a home game against Seattle Pacific in a match-up arranged shortly before the season began.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

Published Nov 10, 2024

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.