Percy obviously ain't getting paid by the word
1 of 4 | Washington’s Hannes Steinbach attempts to block Keaton Wagler’s shot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Illinois Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Champaign, Ill. (AP... (Craig Pessman / The Associated Press)
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By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Once again, the Washington men’s basketball team has backed itself into a corner and must scramble to salvage what was once a promising season.
The good news?
The Huskies don’t face a ranked team during the second half of the Big Ten season, which is fortuitous considering they’re 1-5 in those matchups, including Thursday night’s 75-66 defeat against No. 9 Illinois.
The bad news?
Washington (11-10, 3-7 Big Ten), which is tied for 12th in the Big Ten, presumably has to win a vast majority of its remaining 10 regular-season games to stay in contention for an NCAA tournament at-large berth.
“There’s no more room for error,” coach Danny Sprinkle said. “We have to play really well. We have to win these home games against some of these Quad 1 teams. And then you got to go steal a couple on the road, too. You just do. Then we got to make a run. You never know who you play in the Big Ten tournament, but (we’ve) got to win probably two games in that tournament, too.”
The sellout crowd gathered at State Farm Arena to see what Fighting Illini sensation Keaton Wagler was going to do for an encore after setting the Big Ten freshman scoring record with 46 points Saturday at then-No. 4 Purdue.
Washington had its best moments at the start when it led 7-0 after a Wesley Yates three-pointer and highlight dunks from Bryson Tucker and Hannes Steinbach, while Illinois missed its first seven shots.
Then Wagler got the Illini going with a three, and the home team scored 10 straight points as the Huskies missed nine consecutive shots.
Washington converted just 39.3% from the field and connected on two of 13 three-pointers, but the Huskies held the Illini’s high-octane offense relatively in check and trailed 33-26 at halftime.
Powered by Steinbach (15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks), Yates (13 points and five rebounds) and Zoom Diallo (12 points and a career-high 10 assists), Washington didn’t go away quietly.
Down 56-46, the Huskies cut their deficit to 60-55 with 8:47 remaining and had several chances to get closer.
However, Washington converted five of 14 shots the rest of the way and were undone by several miscues, including Diallo’s turnover that led to Ben Humrichous’ three-pointer and a 69-59 Illinois lead.
Wagler finished with 22 points and eight assists, while David Mirkovic had 19 point and Humrichous had 14 for the Illini (18-3, 9-1), which won its 10th straight game.
Washington concludes its two-game road trip against Northwestern (10-11, 2-8) on Saturday.
• Backup center Lathan Sommerville made his return Thursday after missing the past nine games due to a knee injury. He was scoreless and didn’t collect a rebound in two minutes.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
1 of 4 | Washington’s Hannes Steinbach attempts to block Keaton Wagler’s shot during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Illinois Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Champaign, Ill. (AP... (Craig Pessman / The Associated Press)
Skip Ad
By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
Once again, the Washington men’s basketball team has backed itself into a corner and must scramble to salvage what was once a promising season.
The good news?
The Huskies don’t face a ranked team during the second half of the Big Ten season, which is fortuitous considering they’re 1-5 in those matchups, including Thursday night’s 75-66 defeat against No. 9 Illinois.
The bad news?
Washington (11-10, 3-7 Big Ten), which is tied for 12th in the Big Ten, presumably has to win a vast majority of its remaining 10 regular-season games to stay in contention for an NCAA tournament at-large berth.
“There’s no more room for error,” coach Danny Sprinkle said. “We have to play really well. We have to win these home games against some of these Quad 1 teams. And then you got to go steal a couple on the road, too. You just do. Then we got to make a run. You never know who you play in the Big Ten tournament, but (we’ve) got to win probably two games in that tournament, too.”
The sellout crowd gathered at State Farm Arena to see what Fighting Illini sensation Keaton Wagler was going to do for an encore after setting the Big Ten freshman scoring record with 46 points Saturday at then-No. 4 Purdue.
Washington had its best moments at the start when it led 7-0 after a Wesley Yates three-pointer and highlight dunks from Bryson Tucker and Hannes Steinbach, while Illinois missed its first seven shots.
Then Wagler got the Illini going with a three, and the home team scored 10 straight points as the Huskies missed nine consecutive shots.
Washington converted just 39.3% from the field and connected on two of 13 three-pointers, but the Huskies held the Illini’s high-octane offense relatively in check and trailed 33-26 at halftime.
Powered by Steinbach (15 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks), Yates (13 points and five rebounds) and Zoom Diallo (12 points and a career-high 10 assists), Washington didn’t go away quietly.
Down 56-46, the Huskies cut their deficit to 60-55 with 8:47 remaining and had several chances to get closer.
However, Washington converted five of 14 shots the rest of the way and were undone by several miscues, including Diallo’s turnover that led to Ben Humrichous’ three-pointer and a 69-59 Illinois lead.
Wagler finished with 22 points and eight assists, while David Mirkovic had 19 point and Humrichous had 14 for the Illini (18-3, 9-1), which won its 10th straight game.
Washington concludes its two-game road trip against Northwestern (10-11, 2-8) on Saturday.
Notes
• Steinbach recorded his Big Ten-leading 13th double-double and is one shy of Washington’s freshman record, set by Isaiah Stewart during the 2019-20 season.• Backup center Lathan Sommerville made his return Thursday after missing the past nine games due to a knee injury. He was scoreless and didn’t collect a rebound in two minutes.
Percy Allen: pallen@seattletimes.com. Percy Allen is a sports reporter for The Seattle Times, where he writes about the University of Washington Huskies men’s and women’s basketball teams and the Seattle Storm.
