1 of 2 | Washington Husky guard Wesley Yates III attempts to score against UCLA on Saturday Feb. 7, 2026 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA. ( / UW Athletics)
Skip Ad
By
Percy Allen
Seattle Times staff reporter
The game — and most likely the season — might have been salvaged midway in the second half when the momentum seemed to shift toward the Washington men’s basketball team after UCLA coach Mick Cronin stormed on the court and picked up a technical foul for yelling at officials.
However, Zoom Diallo, who is ninth in the Big Ten in free-throw shooting percentage at 88.7%, missed two ensuing foul shots that would have given UW the lead.
Making matters worse, Quimari Peterson lost the ball on the next possession, which preceded two three-pointers from UCLA standout Tyler Perry and the Huskies trailed by six points.
“We had a chance to take the lead with two technical free throws and missed both and Trent Perry hits a three and the crowd goes crazy,” UW coach Danny Sprinkle said in a postgame radio interview following the 77-73 loss at Pauley Pavilion. “That was the momentum shift in the game that got the crowd into it.”
The Huskies made another more push and cut the deficit to two points in the final six minutes when Franck Kepnang mishandled a pass from Hannes Steinbach and UCLA extends its lead to five points at the other end.
“Those two five-point swings, it kills you,” said Sprinkle, who lamented UW’s 13 turnovers that resulted in 20 points for the Bruins. “You can’t do it against good teams. Not (against) any Big Ten team. You can’t have 13 turnovers, only get them to commit seven. That’s six free possessions that you gave UCLA.”
Saturday’s game was the same old story for Washington, which drops to 12-12 overall and 13th in the Big Ten at 4-9.
The Huskies shot a low percentage on three-pointers (5 of 17, 29.4%) and couldn’t defend without fouling while UCLA sank 23 of 29 free throws (76.3%).
And despite a bevy of blunders, Washington trailed by two points in the final seconds.
“I’m proud of our guys’ effort, but at the end of the day it’s not good enough,” Sprinkle said. “It’s just not. We have to break through.”
Much like its last outing, Washington took control early and led 23-16 before a three-minute scoring drought allowed UCLA to use a 9-0 run to go up for the first time 25-23 with 6:15 left in the first half.
On the ensuing play, Steinbach knifed through defenders for a layup and Bryson Tucker tipped in a putback that pushed the Huskies ahead again and they went into halftime with a 34-30 lead.
Things unraveled for Washington shortly after the break due to another scoring drought and a 9-0 run for the Bruins that turned their 45-40 deficit into a 49-45 lead.
Despite UCLA starters Tyler Bilodeau and Xavier Booker being saddled with foul trouble, the Bruins extended their advantage to 67-58 with 1:28 left.
Thanks to a couple of improbable three-pointers from Peterson and Wesley Yates III’s driving layups, the Huskies pulled to 75-73 with 11 seconds left.
However, Perry sealed the win for UCLA with a couple of free throws.
Yates led the Huskies with 21 points while Steinbach had 13, Peterson 12 and Lathan Sommerville added 10 off the bench.
Perry scored a game-high 23 points while Bilodeau had 19, Donovan Dent 17 and Eric Dailey Jr. 14 for UCLA (17-7, 9-4), which swept the season series against Washington.
With seven regular-season games remaining, the Huskies squandered a chance to collect an all-important Quad 1 win and improve their No. 50 ranking in the NET.
Washington returns home for a two-game homestand that includes Wednesday’s game against Penn State (10-13, 1-11) and a matchup with Minnesota (11-12, 4-8) on Saturday.
Note
— Steinbach has been named to the top 10 watchlist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which is given to the nation’s top center. He’s third in the nation in rebounding (11.5 per game).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.
