By Andrew Bailie Posted on

Washington men’s basketball team prepares for the Acrisure Holiday Classic

Washington Huskies head coach, Danny Sprinkle, took questions from the media on Monday ahead of the teams participation in the upcoming 2025 Acrisure Holiday Classic. The Huskie will face Nevada in the first game on Thursday. Washington then takes on San Francisco or Colorado on Friday, depending on the outcomes of Thursday’s games. Washington survived a close call at home on November 18th against Southern. After battling through two overtimes, the Huskies prevailed 99-93. To win at the Acrisure Holiday Classic, the Huskies will need to continue to overcome injuries, have strong guard play, and play good defense.

Washington adds Lathan Sommerville to the injured list

The Huskies were already dealing with injuries heading into this week and sustained another. Forward Lathan Sommerville rolled his ankle in practice last Saturday and is questionable for this week’s games. Washington’s front court has been hampered by injuries to forwards Hannes Steinbach and Bryson Tucker. Sommerville, Steinbach, and Tucker are day-to-day and unclear wether teh trio will participate in the Tournament. The Huskies are counting on guard Desmond Claude to pick up the scoring in their absence:

“He’s (Desmond Claude) played so many high-level basketball games, you know, like two years at Xavier last year at SC, you know, him being, you know, an all-Big Ten player. You know, like, he scored a lot of baskets, and he’s been in a lot of high-level environments. Like he’s not afraid of anything. And just the way he plays, he’s seen every type of defense. He’s had teams trap him every time he came off the ball screen. He’s had teams throw two, three guys at him”, Sprinkle said.

Claude averaged 15.8 points per game in 2024. He had 20 points in his first game back from injury against Southern. Claude played far beyond his minutes limit and was cramping late in the game after playing 35 minutes. With more practice and nine days of rest in between games, he has had more time to prepare to play extended minutes. The Huskies will rely on Claude to give them meaningful minutes when they play in the Acrisure Holiday Classic.

Washington’s Quimari Peterson continues to standout

Another guard who has picked up the scoring is Quimari Peterson. When Zoom Diallo fouled out of Washington’s game against Southern, Peterson took over in clutch time. In overtime, Peterson scored five points in the final 11 seconds, including the game-tying layup with 1.9 seconds left. He finished the game with 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists. On Monday, Danny Sprinkle talked about what Peterson has done for the team:

“Yeah, I mean Quimari’s huge for us because he just, he does everything right. And that doesn’t mean he’s going to make every shot, but he’s always in the right position. You know, he’s always like fighting through screens. Like he guarded their best player and played 50 minutes, you know, and still had the energy to put into overtime. You know, and so, you know, but he’s just one of those guys like he’s, he’s always doing the right thing.

So you’re always comfortable. It’s hard to take him off the floor to be honest. You know, for one, he’s one of our best shotmakers from three. So we need him on the floor to space, you know, for spacing purposes, you know, because people have to guard him. And it opens up Des and Zoom, and these other guys like J.J., driving the basketball or Franck rolling to the rim”, said Sprinkle.”

Another player who has stepped up is Quimari Peterson. Peterson played all 50 minutes against Southern and delivered on both ends of the court. The Senior from Gary, Indiana, averaging 12.2 points, 1.6 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 30.6 minutes per game this season. If called upon, Peterson has shown he can be a dominant factor for the Huskies.

The Huskies prepare for the Nevada Wolf Pack

Nevada is (4-2) this season and has two great guards, Corey Camper and Tayshawn Comer, who lead the team in scoring. Washington needs to do better at staying out of foul trouble in this game, playing short-handed. The Wolf Pack averages 31.2 free throw attempts per game and does a tremendous job of drawing fouls. Danny Sprinkle talked about whether the Huskies will play man or zone defense to stop Nevada on Monday:

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t mind it (playing zone). You know, I’ve you know, my teams in the six and a half years have been probably 90% man, and then probably 10% 1-3-1, where we kind of, you know, we sprinkle it in different places, like we had to the other day at Southern. We really haven’t even put in, to be honest. And so you know, because we haven’t had the bodies to do it. I don’t want to have to play it this weekend. We haven’t been practicing it. And so we’ll have to figure it out”, said Sprinkle.

Washington’s head coach philosophically does not want to run a zone defense. However, given that the Huskies likely will be missing players due to injury this week, they might have no choice. Washington effectively switched to a 1-3-1 zone against Southern in the second half to stop the Jaguars’ offense. Playing shorthanded again, going to a zone defense is one way the Huskies can stay out of foul trouble and keep their players fresh.

Discover more from Cascadiasports.net

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply