By Andrew Bailie Posted on

Washington men plagued by turnovers in 84-74 loss to Iowa

The Washington Huskies (12-10, 4-7 in conference) battled the Iowa Hawkeyes (16-5, 6-4 in conference) in a crucial Big Ten matchup. The Huskies returned from their Illinois road trip looking for another victory over a Quad 1 opponent after beating Northwestern 76-62 on Saturday. The Hawkeyes had won four straight games and just came off an 84-66 win over Oregon. Iowa guard Bennett Stirtz scored a career-high 32 points in Sunday’s blowout win.

Washington needed to contain Stirtz to have a chance of beating the Hawkeyes. The Huskies also needed to continue shooting well from the three-point line. In Saturday win over Northwestern, Washington shot 10/22 from beyond the arc (45.5%). Iowa came into Wednesday’s game sporting the third-best three-point defense in the conference, allowing opponents to shoot just (30.1 %) from downtown. An ongoing challenge for the Huskies has been taking care of the basketball; the Hawkeyes, on the other hand, lead the conference in takeaways. Despite a strong first half of shooting for the Dawgs, turnovers, an offensive regression, and a big game from Stirtz l would lead to their demise.

Washington rides hot shooting to take early lead

The Huskies had no problem with Iowa’s three-point defense in the first half. Bryson Tucker hit the first of Washington’s six three-pointers to tie the game at 10-10 with 14:49 to play. Tucker’s shot from the perimeter opened up scoring inside the arc for his teammates. His three sparked an 11-0 run over the next four minutes of action. Zoom Diallo added four, while Hannes Steinbach and Quimari Peterson each scored two, as Washington took an 18-10 lead.

Iowa responds with a 21-10 run over the next five minutes

The Hawkeyes countered the Huskies’ run with one of their own due to the Huskies inability to take care of the basketball . The turnovers helped Iowa get back in the game (the Hawkeyes held a 13-4 advantage in points off turnovers in the first half). Alvaro Folgueiras and Tate Sage led the way with seven points each, Stirtz scored five, and Isaia Howard chipped in two. Folgueiras completed a three-point play with 5:39 remaining in the half, to give Iowa a 31-28 lead.

Washington closes the half strong offensively

The Huskies found their shooting touch the rest of the way and entered the halftime break with a 48-41 lead. Three-point shooting was key for Washington to overtake Iowa. Tucker tied the score at 31 apiece, hitting the first of four threes in the final five minutes of the half for the Huskies. Peterson added another to put Washington ahead 42-40 at the 2:14 mark. Wesley Yates then buried two more threes to give the Huskies an eight-point lead, before Iowa later made a free throw.

Washington slows down offensively as Iowa turns up the intensity

The Huskies offense fizzled early in the second half, and the Hawkeyes made them p After the Huskies made two field goals to begin the half, Iowa went on an 18-4 run over the next six minutes. Stirtz led the way for Iowa with seven points (he eventually finished with a team-high 22 points). Folgueiras, Howard, Tavion Banks, and Cooper Koch also combined for 11 points as the Hawkeyes surged ahead. The Huskies missed six straight shots from the field during that span. Steinbach provided the only scoring for Washington with four made free throws. Following a made three from Stirtz to punctuate the run, Danny Sprinkle called a timeout with 12:59 left to play and his team down 63-56.

Huskies run of steam

The Huskies battled back over the next four minutes but were unable to sustain the comeback effort. Steinbach and Diallo led the scoring, combining for eight points, as Peterson added two of his own during a 10-4 run, cutting Iowa’s lead to 67-66. However, that was as close as Washington would get the rest of the way. Stirtz and Cam Manyawu each scored six points, while Kael Combs and Koch combined for five, as the Hawkeyes closed the game on a 17-8 run to beat the Huskies 84-74.

Main takeaways and other notes from Washington’s loss to Iowa

Turnovers and a lack of sustained shooting touch doomed the Huskies. After the game, Danny Sprinkle spoke about his team’s struggles and what he told his players:

“I said you know, we told you before the game you can’t turn the ball over against this team. And we had 12 turnovers for 22 points. And you’re not going to beat a top 25 team when you’re turning the ball over and then not getting back in transitioning, and then a lot of them were live ball turnovers. And so, you know, I was proud of their effort. You know, I thought we wore down in the second half, like we looked tired, you know, in that second half. And you know, like Zoom, he had to log a lot of minutes, and even without Wesley, you know, in there, other guys had to play a lot of minutes, and so we got to, uh, you know, we got to, we got to, get these guys recovered because we’ve got another huge game on Saturday”, said Sprinkle.

Fatigue clearly played a factor in Washington’s shooting struggles. The Huskies shot just 9/25 (36%) from the field and one of eight (12.5%) from three in the second half. After playing 17 minutes in the first half, Yates played just seven of the game’s final 20 minutes. Yates was dealing with an undisclosed injury in the second half, and the Huskies clearly missed him. Washington was also playing without guard J.J. Mandaquit. Later in Sprinkle’s press conference, he revealed that Mandaquit had suffered a season-ending foot injury.

Huskies get big nights from Diallo and Steinbach

Despite playing with fewer players, team leaders Diallo and Steinbach did their best to keep Washington in the game. Diallo finished with 16 points and 12 assists, collecting his second double-double of the year. Steinbach led the team with 20 points and 12 rebounds, earning his 15th double-double for the season. Unfortunately, Steinbach and Diallo’s efforts were not enough, as the Huskies came up short.

What’s next for Washington

The Huskies’ loss to Iowa makes winning this weekend imperative to keeping their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The UCLA Bruins (16-7, 8-4 in conference) are currently the last remaining Quad 1 opponent left on Washington’s schedule. The Huskies face the Bruins Saturday at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California.

Discover more from Cascadiasports.net

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply