UW men’s basketball suffers largest blowout in 22 years at Michigan State

Welcome to the Big Ten, Washington.

The Husky men’s basketball team hadn’t truly experienced what life is going to be like in their new conference considering they played three games at home while the other was in Los Angeles against former Pac-12 rival UCLA.

But after traveling nearly 3,000 miles, the Huskies got their first real taste of Big Ten hoops on Thursday night and suffered a humbling 88-54 loss against No. 16 Michigan State.

It was UW’s largest margin of defeat in 22 years.

By the time Spartans sophomore forward Coen Carr flew to the rim for a thunderous dunk that whipped the capacity crowd of 14,797 at Breslin Center into a frenzy, MSU capped a 16-0 run with 10:41 left in the first half and put the finishing touches on an early knockout.

The Huskies are no strangers to slow starts.

Washington missed nine of its first 10 shots and overcame a 17-point deficit in the first half in its last outing before falling in the final seconds 81-77 to then-No. 22 Illinois on Saturday.

Once again, UW couldn’t make a shot early and missed its first 13 attempts while falling behind 16-2. Backup center KC Ibekwe converted a short putback for the Huskies’ first field goal after 10½ minutes.

At that point, the game was essentially over.

Washington’s offensive struggles were encapsulated by its leading scorer Great Osobor, a 6-foot-8 forward, who had difficulty inside against 7-foot senior center Szymon Zapala.

Osobor missed several layups and shots around the rim while laboring through a miserable 0-for-8 shooting performance that produced eight points.

But then, Osobor wasn’t alone.

Michigan State made life miserable for the Huskies who shot 17.2% (5 of 29) from the field, including 0 for 7 on three-pointers in the first half.

The Spartans’ 42-13 lead at the break was their largest first-half lead in 15 years.

Washington managed to find a modicum of success and shot 50% on field goals in the second half, but was still outscored 46-41 by Michigan State.

Senior guard Jaden Akins finished with a game-high 20 points, while Jeremy Fears Jr. and Jase Richardson each added 12 and Tre Holloman had 11 for the Spartans (13-2, 4-0), who have won eight straight games.

Meanwhile, Tyler Harris led Washington (10-6, 1-4) with 14 points. No other UW player had more than eight.