The Washington Huskies are just a superior squad with Franck Kepnang available. It’s a rather apparent sentiment, but when he’s on his game, he’s a valuable complement to a Washington squad that urgently needs his inside presence. He wasn’t enough to drive UW past UCLA, but the 65-60 loss wasn’t without controversy.
After playing five rated teams in a row, you’d better pray for a cupcake next. That was not the case for the Huskies, who suffered their sixth consecutive loss against a quality Bruins team. UCLA’s road triumph was largely due to their 9-of-17 shooting from outside the arc, with Skyy Clark hitting three consecutive shots to begin the game.
The Huskies eventually cooled him off and defended effectively overall, but UCLA was also disruptive on defense, resulting in the loss.
Great Osobor contributed significantly to UW’s scoring column, as he always does. He scored 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting and was 7-of-9 at the free throw line. He finished with nine rebounds. Kepnang grabbed eight, providing Osobor with much-needed help on the glass. Kepnang also contributed seven points and two blocks, one fewer than the rest of the squad combined.
UCLA was in control for the majority of the game, despite the narrow score; nevertheless, the Huskies made things uncomfortable with a late second-half surge to put pressure on Mick Cronin’s team. They didn’t flinch and were able to withstand UW’s best blows down the line to secure their 14th win of the season.
Washington trailed 53-42 with 10 minutes left, but they battled back and trailed 54-50 after a Mekhi Mason three-pointer with 6:41 left. UCLA was unable to gather together enough runs to win the game, trailing 60-57 with 23 seconds remaining. After a timeout, the Bruins handed the ball to Dylan Andrews and stepped aside.
He moved like a freight train before taking a hard step backward past the arc and sinking a dagger to silence the Dawgs. I’m not sure if Cronin came up with that, given that it appeared to be a crazy shot attempt for a player who scored his ninth point with the bucket, but it worked out well for UCLA.
UW turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, then both teams exchanged late baskets to bring the final score to 65-60.
I firmly believe Sprinkle will bring winning basketball to Montlake. For now, we endure the growing pains of a rebuild.
Washington is now 10-10 (1-8 Big Ten) and will battle Minnesota on the road next on February 1st at 9 a.m. Pacific.
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