The Huskies made Sprinkle the premiere winner, but it was a struggle

In a gym not even half full, Danny Sprinkle got to work coaching his University of Washington basketball team, winning his coaching debut over UC Davis 79-73 on Tuesday night at Alaska Airlines Arena.

While the new leader got that landmark first win, his Huskies didn’t get any points for a style of play that could best be described as a grinding game. It might be better if more local fans didn’t see it. It was durable.

UW football coach Jedd Fisch, offensive coordinator Brennan Carroll and defensive backs coach Jimmy Dougherty sat courtside and watched for four minutes and either had to get back to work preparing for Saturday’s game at Penn State or they had seen enough.

“I’m glad it’s over,” said Sprinkle, who received the game ball from athletic director Pat Chun and a postgame shower in which players doused him with water.

The Huskies even trailed for most of the second half before tightening up and pulling away in the final six minutes. Backup forward Tyler Harris broke the all-time record of 58 with a lay-in up the middle, sending his team on a 21-15 run to close it out.

The game was tough, with the refereeing team allowing players to hit and be hit without any consequences. Many guys ended up on the floor, but no one seemed to be seriously injured.

The Huskies most often put the ball in the hands of 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward Great Osobor, whether he was feeding it low in the huddle or repeatedly allowing it when that big frame lifted the ball up. floor and try to go one-on-one to the basket. Osobor finished with a team-best 15 points and 17 rebounds. He took only 8 shots and committed 6 turnovers.

It wasn’t the smoothest attacking approach and the situation could prove problematic later on. They aren’t shooters, shooting just 2-for-14 from 3-point range and suffering 21-for-38 at the free throw line on the night.

“This will be our worst night of filming,” Osobor said.

The Huskies are in dire need of a point guard, although rookie Zoom Diallo looks capable and opened the second half as a starter. In his college debut, he recorded 12 points and 4 assists.

While UW struggled offensively, UC Davis had one man, 6-foot-3 senior guard Ty Johnson, who scored a game-high 35 points, most of which came from the perimeter. A free agent and returning All-Big West player, he made 10 of 25 shots and 13 of 16 free throws.

“This was the game we needed,” Osobor said. “It was good to get it out of the way.”

UW initially jumped out to a 12-2 lead, getting 6 points from 6-foot-11 center Frank Kepnang, one of the few familiar faces in the home uniform from the previous season. He scored with a lob dunk, a one-handed inside shot and a putback to make it big.

The Huskies mostly avoided 3-point shots. Rice transfer Mekhi Mason hit UW’s first goal, but that was the end of the home team’s eight first-half tries.