Updated Dec. 22, 2025, 9:52 p.m. PT

Washington’s showdown with San Diego inside Alaska Airlines Arena can be described in 7:09 of the first half.

That’s how long the Toreros’ scoring drought lasted, which spurned a 20-0 run for Danny Sprinkle’s team on its way to a comfortable 86-56 victory. Led by Hannes Steinbach, who recorded his seventh double-double of the year with 21 points and 14 rebounds, with 3 steals and 2 blocks in a seemingly effortless performance, the Huskies bounced back in the best way possible from an ugly loss to Seattle University on Friday night.

Following that out-of-sync performance, the Huskies had a nice rhythm going on Monday. They put together 15 assists as a team, led by JJ Mandaquit and Zoom Diallo with 4 apiece, sharing the ball effectively.

Ten of the eleven players who saw the floor for the Huskies scored, with walk-on Brandon Roy Jr., who played the final minute of mop-up time, being the lone exception. Diallo added 17 points, while Desmond Claude finished 13, and with just one more game remaining in non-conference play, this was the kind of performance Sprinkle’s team needed to get its confidence back, dominating in every facet of the game, which was exactly what the Huskies wanted to do.

“I’ve been trying to tell the guys that we’ve got to come in here and dominate,” Diallo said after the game. “We’re still growing…we’re one of those teams that can compete with anybody.”

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The Huskies put together a 47 percent shooting performance from the field, won the rebound battle 46-28, and generated 18 turnovers on the night, while holding the Toreros to just 37 percent from the floor on the night with 4 blocked shots.

“I’m proud of our effort and our intent tonight,” Sprinkle said. “We challenged our guys to be consistent defensively for 40 minutes. I didn’t care what happened offensively. We haven’t been playing great offensively, but we’d have some lapses defensively the last three or four games, so we really challenged our guys to win the wars.”

The Huskies will finish up their non-conference slate against a former Pac-12 foe, the Utah Utes, on Monday, December 29, at 8:00 p.m. PST.

Hannes Steinbach re-enters, 74-51 Washington, 3:31 2nd half

The lead briefly dropped under 20 points, so Sprinkle decided to put his best player back in the game, and Steinbach’s presence helped stretch Washington’s advantage back up to 23 points. Desmond Claude has become the third Husky in double-digits with 13 points as fans have begun to head for the exits.

JJ Mandaquit’s ups and downs, 70-44 Washington, 7:50 2nd half

Danny Sprinkle has very high hopes for the former four-star recruit, who has 9 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals on the day, and showed why he’s the point guard of the future in those last few minutes. He got to the free throw line, showed great strength while backing a defender down, and has shown to be a vocal leader on the team.

However, he’s still growing, as he had an errant pass fly into the second row of the stands, one of two turnovers on the day for the product of Utah Prep, and he’s had a tendency to pass up a few open shots in favor of letting the offense develop inf ront of him, which has limited his ability to find a rhythm.

Washington’s lead continues to grow, 65-40 Huskies, 11:57 2nd half

With 19 points and 12 rebounds, Hannes Steinbach’s day might be done with Washington’s lead at 25 points, as Danny Sprinkle took him out of the game after a pair of free throws. However, behind 17 from Zoom Diallo, and contributions from six others, including 7 from Desmond Claude, the Huskies should be able to put this game away rather easily.

Washington stays hot, 56-35 Huskies, 15:45 2nd half

Led by Zoom Diallo, who is up to 14 points, the Huskies have been able to keep up their momentum out of the locker room in an efficient fashion. They’re shooting 51 percent from the field on the day and are controlling the game on the glass, winning the rebound battle 28-17.

Hannes Steinbach added a pair of rebounds and has his seventh double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 boards.

Halftime- Washington 46, San Diego 26

It has been all Huskies in the opening period. Fueled by a 20-0 run that spanned over seven minutes, Danny Sprinkle’s team has been in control since the opening tip-off, led by freshman sensation Hannes Steinbach, who is on the verge of his seventh double-double of the season after putting together 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, and an assist in the first half.

It has been a true team effort for the Huskies, as Diallo has added 10 points, a rebound, an assist, and a steal, while freshman Nikola Dzepina has seen his most action in purple and gold. In place of sophomore Lathan Sommerville, who is out with a lower-body injury, the Serbian national has 5 points, 5 rebounds, and an assist over nine minutes of action.

The Huskies are shooting 48 percent from the field and 31 percent from three-point range, with the only frustrations of the first half being an inability to convert on some open looks and the 7 turnovers they committed. However, in a game where San Diego is shooting 29 percent from the floor and has committed 8 turnovers, it hasn’t mattered much today.

Zoom Diallo reaches a milestone

With 10 points in the first half, the former four-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American from Curtis High School in nearby Tacoma has surpassed 500 points in his college career.

Washington pulls away with a massive run, 40-22 Huskies, 2:48 1st half

Hannes Steinbach is already on the verge of a double-double with 13 points and 9 rebounds, and has led the Huskies as they’ve pulled away thanks to a combination of great defense and team basketball. Sprinkle’s team has tallied 9 assists thus far, led by JJ Mandaquit with 4. Of the nine players who have seen minutes for the Huskies, eight have scored, with Bryson Tucker being the only exception.

A three-pointer from Adrian McIntyre snapped a scoring drought that spanned over seven minutes for the Toreros, which helped spurn a 20-0 run for Washington.

Washington takes control, 23-14 Huskies, 7:57 1st half

The score is no indication of how this game has been played so far. San Diego has shot just 27 percent from the field on a 4-for-15 performance, and behind Steinbach, who has 9 points and 6 rebounds, and 6 points from Diallo, the Huskies have felt largely in control of this game so far. The one thing that has kept the Toreros around so far is that Washington has committed 5, mostly careless, turnovers.

Nikola Dzepina makes an appearance, 15-11 Washington, 11:47 1st half

With center Lathan Sommerville dealing with a lower-body injury, Washington’s other international made an early appearance. He’s not afraid to fire away and is 1-for-3 from the field to open the day, and just before the media timeout, he made a nice pass to tee up a layup for Hannes Steinbach, who got fouled and will be at the free throw line on the other side of the break.

The only reason this game has been close to this point is Toreros forward Vuk Boskovic, who has 6 points by way of a pair of tough three-pointers early. San Diego is 3-for-12 from the field thus far.

Washington stars shining early, 10-6 Huskies, 15:54 1st half

The Huskies have gotten great contributions from two of their best players early. Hannes Steinbach has six points on a three-pointer and a three-point play, along with 2 rebounds and a block, while Zoom Diallo has Washington’s other 4.

Washington’s starting five

In place of the injured Wesley Yates III, Quimari Peterson will step back into the starting lineup. He’ll be flanked by guards Desmond Claude and Zoom Diallo, forward Hannes Steinbach, and center Franck Kepnang.

How to watch Washington vs. San Diego

Washington vs. San Diego will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Washington’s injury report

According to The Field Of 68’s Jeff Goodman, the Huskies will be without their second-leading scorer, sophomore guard Wesley Yates. The USC transfer, who is averaging 14.9 points per game this year, suffered an injury to his right hand in the first half of Washington’s loss to Seattle University and was unable to return.

Center Lathan Sommerville will also be unavailable with a lower body injury, which could present an opportunity for more minutes for Serbian forward Nikola Dzepina in his place.

Washington vs. San Diego pregame look

The Washington Huskies were seemingly starting to click in Danny Sprinkle’s second season, but as they tried to run their winning streak to three in a row on Friday night, they ran into a well-coached Seattle University team and fell 70-66 in the Battle for Seattle at Climate Pledge Arena.

After falling to 7-4, they’ll try to get back on track in a matchup with the University of San Diego inside Alaska Airlines Arena. Although star guard Wesley Yates is unable to suit up with a hand injury, Sprinkle’s team has plenty of talent to lean on between freshman forward Hannes Steinbach, who is averaging 17.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, and senior guard Desmond Claude, who is averaging 14.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per contest.

Claude, who missed the first four games of the season with an ankle injury, looked like he was back to full strength in the loss on Friday. He posted a game-high 24 points and was as confident as he’s been in a Husky uniform, as he got back to his old self.

“Doing what I normally do, going to the paint. I feel like me passing early and trying to look for guys and find guys help, as well, but at the end of the day, I ain’t worried about how much I scored right now,” Claude said after the game.
”Like we gotta figure out how to win these games, and especially how it’s going, whether ref’s not on our side, or whether we’re just struggling offensively a little bit. We have to figure that out.”

As the Huskies look to figure it out, they could continue to lean on guards Zoom Diallo and Quimari Peterson in Yates’ absence.