Huskies Manhandle Denver -- Pioneers, Not Nuggets

Alaska Airlines Arena was less than half full. It seems an early November basketball game against Denver -- the Pioneers, not the Nuggets -- was just a little too predictable for University of Washington supporters.

Especially on a rainy and dreary Thursday night outside in Seattle, so they stayed away from this one.

For that matter, the Huskies didn't really show up either for the first 10 minutes and found themselves behind on the scoreboard.

Yet Danny Sprinkle's team eventually committed itself to the non-conference task at hand, put together an emphatic 10-0 run to take the lead for good, had seven players finish in double figures and breezed to a 84-70 victory.

"It's still real early and I feel we can be a dangerous team with everybody able to score," said sophomore guard Wesley Yates III, who tied for the UW lead with 13 points.

After decisive home wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Denver, the UW (2-0) will next turn to the real thing -- a Sunday road game at Baylor.

That will be the first serious barometer for this collection of Huskies, which led by as many as 19 points but couldn't put away their Summit League opponent, which will move to the West Coast Conference for the 2026-27 season and make regular trips to this city to face Seattle University.

For now, the Pioneers (0-2) will have to be content with leading the UW on three occasions, the last time at 18-17 with 10:52 left in the opening half before the Huskies exerted themselves and went ahead for good.

"We need to be able to put a foot on their neck," Sprinkle said, though otherwise pleased by the effort.

Freshman Hannes Steinbach got things started for the home team with a putback to reclaim the lead, followed by Rutgers transfer Lathan Sommerville's spin inside for a bucket and a foul, with the latter's three-point play making it 22-18 for the Huskies.

It was Steinbach's turn next to drive to the basket and score, get fouled and convert his three-point play for a 25-18 advantage.

Then it was back to Sommerville, the Rutgers transfer and a 6-foot-10 sophomore, to take a bounce pass inside from freshman point guard JJ Mandaquit and score for a 27-18 lead.

Yates III, the USC transfer and original UW player, finished off the early unanswered run by getting fouled as he drove to the hoop and converting the first of two free throws and it was 28-18.

Steinbach and Yates shared the Husky lead in scoring with 13 points, with the German import picking up a double-double with a game-high 16 rebounds, while Yates was good on 6 of 10 shots from the floor. The Pioneers simply couldn't hang with Yates and all of his moves.

"They're sharing in each other's success," Sprinkle said.

Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo added 12 points and 4 assists, while Mandaquit chipped in 11 points and 7 assists.

East Tennessee State transfer Quimari Peterson, Indiana transfer Bryson Tucker and Sommerville also scored 11 points.

Peterson hit 3 of 7 from behind the line and Tucker connected on 3 of 6 treys.

The Huskies opened with same starting five of, senior center Franck Kepnang, Yates, Tucker, Mandaquit and Steinbach.

Sprinkle chose to use nine players this time by sending freshman guard Jasir Rencher in for his college debut with 1:15 left to play.

Tucker, a 6-foot-7 forward, showed off his shooting range early in the second half by hitting three consecutive 3-pointers to put the Huskies comfortably ahead 48-31.

Credit the Pioneers for cutting that lead back down to seven, the last time at 70-63, before getting pulverized by a 12-0 Husky run.

Coming off an ankle sprain, USC senior transfer Desmond Claude sat out again and freshman guard Courtland Muldrew, after battling a recent illness, was in uniform but didn't play.

Christian Nitu, the 6-foot-11 Florida State transfer, was not with the Huskies for Thursday night's game.

"It was an internal thing," Sprinkle said of the sophomore. "He's still on the team."

Denver, which led just three times, was topped by 6-foot-6 senior forward Logan Kinsey, a Minnesota State Moorhead transfer, who led all scorers with 23 points.

Now it's on to Waco.