IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana faces Washington on West Coast

Game Day Essentials:

Indiana (17-11, 8-9) vs. Washington (13-15, 4-13)

• Tip Time: 6 p.m. Eastern, Saturday
• Location: Alaska Airlines Arena (9,268), Seattle, Wash.
• Television: Peacock (Noah Reed, Eldridge Recasner)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Stream: Peacock
• Point Spread:  Indiana is a 2.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 75  Washington 72
• History: Indiana leads leads, 3-1.
• Last Meeting: IU 102, Washington 84 on Nov. 21, 2013, in New York
• Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

Washington’s Danny Sprinkle

Danny Sprinkle is in his first season as head of the Washington men’s basketball program. Across five seasons in Division I, he’s compiled an overall record of 122-65 in three different stops, leading programs to turnarounds along the way.

Sprinkle began his coaching career with Montana State in the year before the COVID season. He led an impressive turnaround in four seasons, capped off by two straight NCAA Tournament appearances in years three and four. The Bobcats won both the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament championships.

Sprinkle then got hired to be Utah State’s head coach in the spring of 2023. In just one season, he led the Aggies to a 28-7 overall record with a 14-4 record in the Mountain West, which was good enough to win the regular season title. The Aggies made the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. After one season, he was hired to lead Washington’s program, replacing current NBA assistant Mike Hopkins.

Washington’s results and roster:

Washington Game Notes (via University of Washington Athletics)

IT’S NOT HOW YOU START

• UW owns an even scoring margin in the second half, compared to a -64 margin in the first half, although UW is -86 in the second half of the last 11 games.
• UW has outscored their opponents in the second half of 13-of-28 games, though just two of the last 13 games.
• UW is shooting 46.9% from the field in the second half, 42.3% in the first. From three, UW is shooting 35.8% in the second half and 32.5% in the first half.
• The Huskies have made 18 more threes in the second half than the first half.

DAMAGE DOWN LOW

• 45 percent of Washington’s points this season have been in the paint
• UW has scored 40+ points in the paint six times
• UW has outscored its opponent in the paint in 10 of its 13 wins
• Not counting free throws, Great Osobor has scored 253-of-307 (82.4%) of his points in the paint

STAT STUFFER

• Great Osobor ranks third in the Big Ten in steals per game (1.89) and fifth in rebounds per game (8.4). The senior ranks 61st in the nation in SPG, sitting 51st in RPG. Osobor has attempted 181 free throws, the second most in the Big Ten. In UW’s season-opening win over UC Davis, Osobor became the first Power-6 player with at least 15 points, 17 rebounds and 6 steals since Blake Griffin in 2008. Osobor is 1-of-4 major conference players 6-8 or taller over the last 20 years with 6+ steals in 2 games each season (Corey Brewer, Marcus Dove, Cody Zeller). Osobor’s 7 steals against Seattle Pacific were the most by a Husky since Matisse Thybulle had 3 games with 7 steals during the 2018-19 season.

ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM

• Vazoumana (Zoom) Diallo has scored 10+ points 18 times, including 14 of the last 20 games. Diallo’s 76 assists are the second most for the Huskies, and his 3.1 assists per game in Big Ten play is tied for the team lead.

Washington’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 364 teams)

Tempo – No. 148 (Offense No. 202 / Defense No. 115)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 113

• UW holds a 51.1% effective field goal percentage for the season (No. 163). They’re shooting 34.8% from three (No. 120) and 50.6% on their twos (No. 205).
• Most of the Huskies’ metrics are fairly average, but their block rate is not. Shots are getting blocked at an 11.9% rate (No. 339).
• They also struggle with offensive rebounding. They grab 28.3% of their second chance opportunities (No. 230).
• They get a decent amount of opportunities from the free-throw line at a 34.7% attempt rate (No. 125). However, they don’t shoot it well as a team with a 68.7% make rate from the line (No. 299).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 107

• The Huskies have held opponents to a 52.2% effective field goal percentage on the season (No. 244). Teams are shooting 34.1% from three (No. 196) and 52.8% on twos (No. 253).
• Washington holds teams to low three-point attempt rates and assist rates. Teams are averaging a 34.7% three-point rate (No. 43) and a 44.9% assist rate (No. 31).
• Opponents are finding the majority of their production from the inside with a 52.3% point distribution on twos (No. 75). Free throws are also coming at a high rate (20.8%, No. 79).

OG’s Pick

Win/Loss Record: 21-4

Indiana heads west for the first time since the Big Ten expanded. Let’s see if they can take the first out of the two-game road trip.

Washington remains at the bottom of the Big Ten after a rough season in conference play. Their metrics certainly don’t have any alarming numbers that could give Indiana issues, but they have had some pretty good performances, including an early Big Ten season win against Maryland.

Great Osobor is a dangerous player to watch out for. He’s had a great season defensively and on the glass, and he chips in on the offensive end as well with almost 15 a game. If Malik Reneau is healthy, the matchup between the two would be entertaining.

Overall, I think this one favors Indiana. Sprinkle is still trying to find his footing in year one at the helm, and the Hoosiers still have to keep their resume strong for the NCAA Tournament.

Let’s just hope the jet lag doesn’t get the best of them.

PICK: Indiana 85 – Washington 73

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