Washington coach Danny Sprinkle called his campus “the sprained ankle capital of the world” during his weekly news conference.
He might not be far off.
The injury-riddled Huskies (4-1) might still be without key several players when they open defense of their Acrisure Holiday Classic title against Nevada (4-2) on Thursday in Palm Desert, Calif.
Washington has been idle since a 99-93 double-overtime victory against Southern at home Nov. 18, but even that break hasn’t seemed to help on the injury front. Starting forwards Hannes Steinbach and Bryson Tucker missed that game and backup center Lathan Sommerville, who contributed 10 points and six rebounds, went down Saturday in practice.
Forward Jacob Ognacevic, the Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year last season at Lipscomb, has yet to make his Huskies debut because of a foot injury.
“We’re still a little banged up,” Sprinkle said. “We’re going to have to get used to playing some funky lineups, and it might have to be five guards at times.”
Wesley Yates III and Desmond Claude, a pair of transfers from Southern California, led the Huskies with 23 and 20 points, respectively, against Southern. Franck Kepnang added six points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.
The Huskies have just two players back — Kepnang and guard Zoom Diallo — from the squad that defeated Santa Clara 76-69 for the Acrisure Invitational championship last season.
After winning their first three games of this season, the Wolf Pack suffered consecutive losses to Santa Clara and UC Davis before bouncing back with a 77-64 victory Saturday against visiting UC Santa Barbara.
Corey Camper Jr. scored a career-high 27 points, with Tayshawn Comer and Elijah Price adding 14 apiece. Price also grabbed eight rebounds.
“I thought our guys did a great job defensively,” Nevada coach Steve Alford said. “They proved they can play on both ends and be proficient. Hopefully, that’s something we can build on.”
The Wolf Pack and Huskies have met three times over the past four seasons, with Nevada winning all three. That includes a 63-53 victory last season in Reno, Nev., in Sprinkle’s first season at Washington.
–Field Level Media
