Huskies Hoops Outmuscled by Redhawks in Annual Battle for Seattle
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Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo tries to drive by Seattle U’s Maleek Arington on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington Credit: Washington Athletics [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — The Seattle University men’s basketball team showed up to Climate Pledge Arena ready to fight on Friday night.
On a night when shots were fired with the accuracy of Scud missiles, it was the Washington Huskies who ultimately retreated in the annual “Battle for Seattle” with a 70-66 loss to the Redhawks.
UW went 1-for-15 from behind the 3-point arc in the NBA-ready arena and shot 36.9% overall. Seattle U (3-for-22) eventually ceased firing from the outside, using closer combat by driving to the basket and keeping the Huskies away from their own.
"Credit Seattle U,” Danny Sprinkle, who fell to 0-2 against Seattle U as Washington’s head coach. “They were the aggressors. They were physical. Defensively, for the most part, they were always in the right position. They made us make plays and score over them, and we just didn’t do that.”
UW senior guard Desmond Claude scored a game-high 24 points, and sophomore guard Zoom Diallo added 17 before fouling out with UW down 64-62 with 43 seconds remaining. Hannes Steinbach, after a slow start, posted his sixth double-double in eight games, contributing 15 points and 12 rebounds.
That’s about where the scoring stopped, though. UW’s other six players who got on the court combined for 10 points. Claude was not interested in speaking about his season-high points total.
“At the end of the day, I ain’t worried about how many points I scored,” Claude said. “We got to figure out how to win these games, and especially with how it’s going — whether the ref’s not on our side, or whether we’re just struggling offensively a little bit, or defensively. We have to figure that out.”
UW plays two more non-conference games before diving into the Big Ten gauntlet. Seattle U gave the Huskies a taste of what that might look like with an ugly win.
In the eye of the beholder, though, beating the Huskies for the second time in a row was a thing of beauty. Washington had won 19 in a row against the Redhawks prior to a 79-10 loss last year in Sprinkle’s first season. Seattle U won for just the sixth time in 41 games against the Huskies. The celebration was raucous last year, but the Redhawks looked like a team that had been there, done that when the final horn sounded on Friday.
“Just really proud of this team,” said Seattle U coach Chris Victor, whose team improved to 10-3. “They stayed together. They stayed in the fight, kept competing for each other, and somehow, some way, they pulled out a win.”
Asked by The Emerald City Spectrum what he would have expected if he’d known his team was going to miss 19 of 22 shots from behind the 3-point line, Victor said, “It would not have been positive thoughts.”
Seattle U never found its deep-shooting rhythm. Instead, the Redhawks played a different beat by bludgeoning the Huskies underneath the basket. They attempted just four 3s in the second half after trying 18 in the first. and emerged from the slugfest by winning the battle inside.
Washington appeared to be taking control when it took its biggest lead, 40-31, on a Claude jump shot with 15:23 to go. The Redhawks chipped away, but still trailed 42-39 when sophomore forward Will Heimbrodt made his team’s final jump shot — with 12:59 remaining.
Seattle U attacked the basket the rest of the way, using four dunks, five layups and 13 free throws for its final 31 points. Sophomore center Austin Maurer, a 7-footer, scored 10 of his team-high 19 during that span. He helped prevent the Huskies from answering inside by blocking three shots. He finished second in that category to Heimbrodt, who led the team with four of Seattle U’s 10 blocks.
“At halftime, we talked about getting paint more and being more aggressive,” Victor said. “And eventually we got there, and I thought it opened up a lot more for us once we started to put pressure on the rim, once we started to drive physical and get paint.”
Meanwhile, Washington seemed unable to shoot over or go around the Redhawks defenders. A UW team fresh off a comeback win at USC and a home blowout of Southern Valley, with sights set on competing well in the Big Ten and getting back to the NCAA Tournament, looked like it has a long way to go.
“They made it hard to score around the rim,” Sprinkle said. “And granted, we missed way too many bunnies. You’re not going to beat a good team like Seattle U, shooting 1-for-15 and missing some of the bunnies we had around the rim. We have to be better than that.”
