Purdue guard Braden Smith (3) drives past the UW's Zoom Diallo (9) during their game in Seattle. Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

UW Left With Second-Half Hangover Against Boilermakers

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jan 15, 2025 11:43 PM ET

After a humbling week in Michigan, the University of Washington basketball team returned to Alaska Airlines Arena on Wednesday night and brought out their inner Danny Sprinkle against Purdue, demonstrating a toughness not seen nearly enough this season.

For a half, the UW went toe to to with the 2024 national runner-up, built a 10-point advantage, even led by eight at the break.

Unfortunately for Sprinkle's guys, they tried to knock down one too many Boilermakers and were left staggering as if they had overindulged in beer and vodka, and were served a 69-58 defeat before a nearly full arena in an often electric environment.

Not even Great Osobor's season-high 28 points on 8-for-9 shooting -- including a surprisingly accurate 5 for 5 from 3-point range -- as part of a 9-rebound, 4-assist outing could reverse the outcome.

It was fun while it lasted, but it didn't last.

With these rebuilding Huskies, it's always which ones will show up?

Will they be the guys who let their Big Ten opponents walk all over them? Or will they do the walking?

In this case, it was both. The UW (10-8 overall, 1-6) was the aggressor for those first 20 minutes against 17th-ranked Purdue (14-4, 6-1) in a setting fit for an extra bruising Big Ten battle. Sprinkle's guys pushed back when they got pushed. They dove on top of others after getting buried in loose ball scrambles.

It wasn't enough and the Huskies lost their fourth consecutive game while the Boilermakers captured their sixth win in a row.

It took the Huskies nearly 11 minutes to secure their first lead, when Osobor let fly with a 3-pointer that rippled through the net for a 14-12 advantage, and they never gave it back throughout the rest of the half..

With a near full house watching, including coach Jedd Fisch and his UW football team, the Huskies crept out to a 30-20 lead, went up 30-22 at the break and were tasked with closing it out.

It didn't happen. Purdue scored the first seven points of the second half to remind the Huskies who they were playing and quickly close the gap. The Boilermakers overall outscored the UW 11-2 to reclaim the lead at 33-32 on Trey Kaufman-Renn's one-hander in the key. Kaufman-Renn topped the visitors with 19.

The Huskies hung in there, trading the lead five times before the visitors assumed control on Caleb Furst's one-hander over Osobor for a 37-36 edge. Purdue finally said enough is enough.

By the 10-minute mark of the half, Purdue was up by 10, pulling in front 46-36 on Kaufman-Renn's pair of free throws and the UW never got any closer than eight the rest of the way.

The Huskies now take six days off before heading to Eugene and a Tuesday night game against 13th-ranked Oregon (15-2, 4-2).

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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