By Andrew Bailie Posted on

Balanced scoring from Diallo, Claude and Steinbach propells Husky Men to 74-65 win over Utah

The Washington Huskies (8-4) faced off with the Utah Utes (8-4) at Alaska Airlines Arena on Monday in their final non-conference game. The Utes size and ability to score inside posed a significant challenge to the Huskies’ defense. Utah scored 52 points in the paint in a 101-77 blowout win over Eastern Washington last week. Interior defense has been a point of emphasis for Washington recently. Opposing teams’ physicality inside has been an issue for the Huskies, who have allowed an average of 32 points in the paint over their last three contests.

On the offensive end, the Dawgs needed to find new scoring threats at guard. Before Monday’s game, top shooter G Wesley Yates underwent hand surgery and was ruled out indefinitely. Against Utah, G Zoom Diallo stepped up in Yates’s absence, and the Huskies found their footing on defense.

Washington and Utah trade blows early

The Huskies shot the ball efficiently in the paint during the first half. F Hannes Steinbach continued to dominate inside following a strong performance against San Diego. The German International led the way in the paint for Washington with 12 points in the first 20 minutes. Zoom Diallo tied Steinbach for the team lead with 12 points of his own and had three assists. G Desmond Claude chipped in with 8 points and two assists. Overall, the Huskies scored 16 points in the paint, made six free throws, but struggled to shoot from beyond the arc. Diallo hit each of Washington’s two three-pointers, as the Huskies went 2/9 from deep.

Huskies unable to stop the Utes inside

Washington’s woes on the interior continued and showed up early against Utah. The Utes were relentless inside, as they scored 18 points in the paint. G Terrence Brown was able to penetrate and score, as he led Utah with 17 points in the first half. The Huskies had no answer for Brown and were unable to contain the Utes’ agile guard. After 20 minutes of trading offensive blows, Utah led 37-36 at halftime.

Washington takes control behind a familiar trio of scorers in the second half

In the first five minutes of the second half, the Huskies went on a 9-1 run to take a 45-38 lead. Claude, Hannes ,Steinbach, and Zoom Diallo led the way for Washington. Claude led the group in scoring with 13 points, which came off dribble drives. Diallo had 12 points, including two clutch layups late, to help the Huskies close out the game. The sophomore guard was also Washington’s key distributor, with four assists. While the Huskies’ guards did their job, Steinbach added eight points and picked up his rebounding. He collected nine of his 11 rebounds in the final 20 minutes of play to earn his eighth double-double of the season. Steinbach, Claude, and Diallo powered Washington’s offense, scoring 65 of the Huskies’ 74 points. They became the first trio of Dawgs to score over 20 points in a game since 2016.

Quimari Peterson and Zoom Diallo play key roles in defensive turnaround

Danny Sprinkle’s second-half defensive adjustments enabled the Huskies to keep grab say ahead for good. Washington’s head coach put G Quimari Peterson on Utah’s G Terrence Brown and had Zoom Diallo defend G Don McHenry:

“You know, I thought Quimari was tremendous defensively all game. You know, like those two guards they have are really hard to guard. And, you know, Quimari did a tremendous job, and then in the second half, we switched them up, and we had Zoom guard number three (Don McHenry). And you know number two (Terrence Brown) and number three (Don McHenry) in the second half only combined for four points, which was the whole key to the game.

And so I thought Quimari and Zoom did a tremendous job guarding those two. And we knew we were going to give up some buckets to other guys. We had to start trapping you know, number two (Terrence Brown) off ball screens because he was killing us in the first half”, said Sprinkle.

The Huskies’ defensive switch paid off, as Quimari Peterson held Terrence Brown to four second-half points. Although his performance will not show up in the stat sheet, Peterson won this game for the Huskies with his defense against Brown. Zoom Diallo’s defensive performance was also crucial. Utah’s G Don McHenry (who had eight first-half points) did not score another point the rest of the way. Diallo said after last week’s win over San Diego, he had been working hard on his defensive game, and tonight that work showed. Behind a strong defensive turnaround in the second half, the Huskies defeated the Utes 74-65.

More key stats and info from Washington’s win over Utah

Another unsung hero for the Huskies on defense was F Franck Kepnang. Coach Sprinkle spoke glowingly of Kepnang’s performance, as he locked down the key with six blocks and eight defensive rebounds. Washington as a team held Utah to just eight points inside the paint in the second half, after giving up 18 points in the first half. On offense, the Huskies are still working to break out of a three-point shooting slump. Washington made just 3/15 shots from beyond the arc against the Utes. However, Sprinkle said after the game he thought his team had good looks from deep, even though the shots did not go in. Adding that he believes the Huskies are close to breaking out of their shooting funk from deep.

Huskies’ head coach Danny Sprinkle provides an injury update

Washington won tonight while playing without G Wesley Yates and F Lathan Sommerville. Sprinkle said he believes Sommerville will miss one to two weeks with a leg injury. He also spoke about Yates’ injury after the game. Yates will be out for an indefinite amount of time, depending on his recovery from hand surgery on a broken wrist. He could be out for as few as three weeks or as long as six months. Zoom Diallo has stepped up while Yates has been out the past two games, and he had another big game tonight with 24 points and seven assists. Washington reopens conference play on Sunday at Indiana in the first of two road games next week.

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