> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Shooting Woes Plague Washington Men Yet Again at Nebraska - URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/shooting-woes-plague-washington-men-at-nebraska/ - Published: 2026-01-22T05:04:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T06:16:16.000Z - Author: Aaron Coe - Tags: Huskies, Washington Men's Basketball, Danny Sprinkle, Zoom Diallo, Hannes Steinbach \[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4000"\] ![ Washington Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach walks off the court after a substitution at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. Credit: Washington Athletics ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/steinbach-260121-jpeg-format-original-2.jpg) Washington Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach walks off the court after a substitution at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026\. Credit: Washington Athletics \[/caption\] The Washington men’s basketball team found itself down double digits to a good Big Ten team, and the Huskies hung around but were unable to complete a comeback. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before. History keeps repeating itself for UW this season. This time it was at Nebraska, where the Huskies lost 76-66 to fall to 10-9 overall, and 2-6 in the Big Ten. Another tough night from behind the 3-point line. Another injury. Another game that lacked a consistent defensive effort. “I'm proud of our guys’ effort, you know,” Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “It's not an excuse, we just lost another guy this week, Wesley Yates on Monday. Just a basic non-contact rebound drill. “But I love the fight of our guys. I thought to have this many freshmen playing against a team like Nebraska is right now, they're playing as well as anybody in the country.” Three true freshmen played at least 20 minutes for the Huskies, including Hannes Steinbach, who is having one of the best frosh seasons in the country. Courland Muldrew played a season-high 26 minutes, while point guard JJ Mandaquit was on the court for 20\. They’ll have to age quickly. The Huskies currently sit in 13th place in the conference, a year after finishing last (18th) in Sprinkle’s first season. Nebraska continued its dream season, improving to 19-0 (9-0 Big Ten). Washington’s brutal schedule has played a role. The Huskies faced a team currently ranked in the top 10 of the Associated Press Poll for the fourth time in five games and lost them all. That eases up a bit as UW faces just one team currently ranked in the AP Top 25 in its final 12 games. The stated goal entering the season was for UW to play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019\. It would seem that Washington would need to win 10 of its final 12 and a couple of Big Ten Tournament games for a Big Dance trip to materialize. For that to happen, the Huskies will need to make some shots. The Huskies made six of 21 3-point shots at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Nebraska. Since an 11-for-25 outburst on Dec. 13 against Southern Utah, UW has shot 24.8% (47 of 189) across nine games from behind the arc. Zoom Diallo made two of four on Wednesday. Hannes Steinbach hit both his attempts. Jacob Ognacevic, who started for the first time this season, sank one of his two tries. The rest of the team converted a dismal 1 for 13\. “We haven't shot the ball great this year, and it's crazy,” Sprinkle said. “Because I think we have some pretty good shooters, and I'm just waiting for the dam to break a little bit.” Ognacevic started, but played just seven minutes in the first half. He finished with five points in 20 minutes. A Huskies resurgence would seem to require more shots for the 6-8 forward, who made two of four field goal attempts. The Huskies stayed with Nebraska early, but never led during the final 36 minutes. Shooting woes and some defensive lapses helped Nebraska pull away from an 8-8 tie five minutes into the game. “I love the way Zoom Diallo came out and kind of kept us within striking distance in the first half, being aggressive,” Sprinkle said. “I didn't think the rest of our team was as aggressive as we needed to be in the first half if you're going to have a chance to win this game.” Washington played its seventh conference game much like most of the previous six — falling into a first-half double-digit hole. Powered by 7-0 and 9-0 runs, the Cornhuskers took a 41-28 lead at the break. Though UW kept the game from getting completely out of hand, Nebraska’s advantage never slipped back into single digits. Nebraska, the league-leader in 3s made per game with an average of just over 10, hit 11 of 29 (37.9%) against UW. Much of the damage came from Pryce Sandfort, who made four of seven 3s and finished with 23 points. Sam Hoiberg hurt the Huskies with 14 points (two of four 3s), seven rebounds and four assists. **The Bright Spots** Hannes Steinbach continued one of the better seasons by a Big Ten freshman in recent memory, recording his 11th double-double in 16 games played. The 6-11 forward from Würzburg, Germany, posted 21 points and 12 rebounds. “Hannes was a lot more aggressive, getting that ball to the rim and rebounding and opening things up,” Sprinkle said. Diallo continued his strong play, contributing 18 points, five rebounds and six assists. Muldrew chipped in five points, four rebounds and four assists in his first extended action of the season. “Really proud of him, playing 26 minutes,” Sprinkle said. “We played him just because he competes. He's a freshman. He hasn't played a ton, but you could tell, like when he got in there, he's not scared.” “His aggressiveness and competitive spirit — I thought it really changed the game for us, because him and Zoom were the two guys in that first half that were able to get the ball into the paint and make them collapse a little bit.” **Missing, Inaction** The Huskies missed Yates, who rolled an ankle in Monday’s practice. Yates recently missed five games with a hand injury. Forward Lathan Sommerville remained out, but may be returning soon. As previously reported, guard Desmond Claude stepped away from the team because of continued issues with an ankle injury, per his post on social media.