They call it the Battle for Seattle.
Although until last season, it hadn’t been much of a fight.
Washington (7-3) faces Seattle (9-2) Friday night at Climate Pledge Arena with intra-city bragging rights on the line.
The Redhawks snapped a 19-game losing streak in the series with a 79-70 decision last season, their first win over the Huskies since 1978.
“They’re playing really well, so we have to rebound the basketball,” said Washington coach Danny Sprinkle, noting a 77-69 Seattle victory at Stanford on Nov. 21. “We have to be able to guard them, and we got to be able to play through some contact offensively.
“It’s not going to be easy to score at the rim. We’re going to have to knock down some shots and play confident. But we can’t take bad shots. You take bad shots against them, and they’re going to make you pay.”
The Redhawks, off to their best start since the 1968-69 season, have won four games in a row. They pulled out a 79-78 victory Wednesday at UC Davis as Will Heimbrodt, who scored a team-high 20 points, made the decisive free throw with two seconds remaining.
Brayden Maldonado, who scored 12 points and added nine rebounds, leads the Redhawks with 16.2 points per game on 54.3% shooting from the field.
The Redhawks’ backcourt is anchored by Maldonado and fellow senior Maleek Arington.
“This year specifically, Brayden and Maleek have really stepped into a big-time leadership role,” Redhawks coach Chris Victor said last month. “That has allowed us to get off to a good start, but with the transfers and newcomers it’s helped with their transition. I think it’s been a real big piece.”
The Huskies are finally getting healthy after Hannes Steinbach (17.9 points per game), Desmond Claude (12.5) and Bryson Tucker (10.3) all missed multiple games with injuries.
“Our practices are a lot more competitive now because guys are getting a little bit of a rest and we can get after it a little bit,” Sprinkle said. “There was a time there where we couldn’t do much contact at all because we couldn’t afford to lose another body.”
The Huskies enter on a two-game winning streak which includes an 84-76 win over then-No. 24 USC on Dec. 6.
–Field Level Media
