UW men’s postseason hopes dire after 26-point rout by No. 11 Wisconsin
Barring a dramatic reversal of fortune, the Washington men’s basketball season will end in two weeks without a trip to the postseason.
With three games remaining, the Huskies need a minor miracle if they’re going to climb out of last place in the Big Ten and claim one of the 15 spots in the conference tournament.
Washington didn’t help its cause Tuesday night and for the first time in a while appeared outmanned, overwhelmed and woefully out of sync during an 88-62 defeat against No. 11 Wisconsin in which they fell behind by 32 points late in the second half.
“They’re a really good program,” coach Danny Sprinkle said during a postgame radio interview. “This is something that we strive to be in the future.”
It was the third straight loss for Washington (13-15, 4-13 Big Ten), which dropped its previous two games by an average of five points.
However, the 26-point drubbing in front of 14,804 at Kohl Center was a painful reminder of previous blowout defeats.
No. 16 Michigan State pummeled the Huskies by 34 points, Ohio State trounced them by 24 and No. 24 Michigan ran away with a 16-point win that was never in doubt.
This time, Washington led briefly at the start before Wisconsin took control with a 12-2 run to go up 15-7 after 6½ minutes.
The Huskies kept things relatively close before Badgers guard John Blackwell buried a three-pointer from the top of the key over Wilhelm Breidenbach that beat the shot clock and gave Wisconsin a 25-15 lead with 8:02 left.
Blackwell continued to torch Washington with more three-pointers and dribble-drives for a layup, dunk and short jumper while scoring 19 of his game-high 24 points in the first half and carrying Wisconsin to a 43-28 lead at halftime.
“We were aggressive from start to finish,” Badgers coach Greg Gard said. “There really weren’t any lulls. We were in attack mode and the numbers bear it out when you have 15 assists and only five turnovers.”
The Huskies never got closer than 13 points in second half and they were never able to slow down a Badgers attack that shot 51.6% from the field and outscored them 42-32 in the paint.
Blackwell did most of the damage while connecting on 9 of 16 shots, including 4 of 7 three-pointers and collecting 10 rebounds in 30 minutes.
“He was easily the best player on the floor,” Sprinkle said. “We didn’t have an answer for him the whole night.”
On most nights, Badgers guard John Tonje, who is tied for the Big Ten scoring lead while averaging 19.7 points per game and is a conference player of the year candidate, is considered the best player on the floor.
The Huskies held him in check while he converted 4 of 10 shots and was 1 of 6 on three-pointers for 13 points — his fewest in the past nine games.
Meanwhile, Steven Crowl and Xavier Amos pounded UW inside and each had 12 for Wisconsin (22-6, 12-5).
Washington had trouble keeping pace while shooting 44.8% on field goals.
Great Osobor paced the Huskies with 11 points on 4-for-10 shooting and no other Husky scored in double figures.
“There was friction with everything we did,” Sprinkle said. “It was hard to drive them. It’s hard to post them up. It’s hard to reverse the ball. We didn’t really handle hard very well. … They’re going to drive you and bully you to the rim. We didn’t buck up and chest up and do what you have to do to stop them.”
The Huskies return home from their two-game road trip and host Indiana on Saturday night.
“There’s a great Bear Bryant quote,” Sprinkle said referencing the former Alabama Crimson Tide football coach. “You never know what kind of horse you got until you hook them to a heavy load. I told our guys, ‘Your load is heavy.’
“We’re going to find out what we’re made of and I’m excited to see what we’re made of too. I expect us to play really well.”