Washington an Offensive No Show on Detlef Schrempf Jersey Retirement Night
SEATTLE, Wash. — Shortly after seeing his No. 22 jersey revealed in the Hec Edmundson Pavilion rafters during halftime of a Huskies 90-73 loss to Wisconsin, University of Washington legendary men’s basketball player Detlef Schrempf was asked to give a statement to the media.
“About the game?” he quipped, after watching his alma mater fall behind 36-21.
After the second half resumed, as the native of Germany got up to head back out to the court to join his family and former Washington and Seattle SuperSonics teammates, he said, “Let’s get a win. How ‘bout it?”
Former Sonic Gary “The Glove” Payton, Shawn “Reign Man” Kemp and Sam “Big Smooth” Perkins all showed up to see their former teammate honored. The 2025-26 Huskies never quite made it, though.
Washington’s offense improved in the second half, replaced by a leaky defense. The Huskies made just a quarter of their first-half shots (seven of 28), including 2-for-10 3-point shooting and three of six on free throw attempts.
“Being a person that you know cares about Husky basketball, that was an embarrassment to Husky Husky nation,” said point guard Zoom Diallo, who scored 21 points.
Head coach Danny Sprinkle spoke bluntly about the team’s performance after the game, long after fans started hitting the exits as the Huskies fell behind by as many as 28 points in the second half.
“I thought that was our most selfish first half — and anybody that was in the building saw it — offensively,” Sprinkle said. “We were very, very poor. We took very poor shots, very poor decisions. And you can't do that against a team like Wisconsin. You can't do it against any team. And that was the most disappointing.
“I didn't think our competitive spirit and our togetherness — playing for one another in that first half — it wasn't present. And you know, you're going to get smacked.”
Missing yet another player due to injury with Jacob Ognacevic in a walking boot, the Huskies dropped below .500 (14-15 overall, 6-12 Big Ten) with two regular-season games remaining in a frustrating season. The Badgers, coming off a bad loss at Oregon, picked up their 20th win (20-9) and improved to 12-6 in the conference.
Center Franck Kepnang missed his second straight game as six Huskies were listed as out for the game. Forward Bryson Tucker also missed the game.
“He’s going through a personal matter,” Sprinkle said. “That’s kind of all I’ll comment on that.”
With Schrempf watching courtside, another German made a big impression on Saturday. Freshman Hannes Steinbach joined Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger with the most double-doubles (18) by a freshman in the Big Ten since the 1996-97 season. Steinbach led UW with 22 points and 11 rebounds, giving him 10 games of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season.
Steinbach said Schrempf communicates with him regularly, giving him feedback about his game.
“Always checked in on me after almost every game,” Steinbach said. “He texts me, just tells me what he sees. Like, what are things that I have to do. The way we played today really isn’t how we should have represented him.”
Steinbach made eight of 11 shots, while Diallo connected on nine of 15. Starting guard Wesley Yates III had an off night, missing 16 of 17 shots to score three points in 30 minutes, leading to criticism from Sprinkle.
"Lot of bad shots in the first half, like just forcing it, you know,” Sprinkle said. “And there's times where he forces it and good things happen. But tonight, out of his 17 shots, probably two of them were good shots. He kept putting more pressure on himself, but he's got to trust his teammates to be able to get him shots, because it's not good offense when he does that.”
While Washington made four of 18 shots from behind the 3-point arc, Wisconsin sank 17 of 38. Braeden Carrington (32 points) hit a school record nine 3s, more than UW has made as a team in its past six games.
UW plays USC at home on Wednesday before wrapping up the regular season at Oregon on Saturday. The Huskies will limp into the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 10.
“No matter what, we gotta we gotta fight at this point,” Diallo said. “It's just about pride. Who wants it more? Everybody's hurt, you know, this time of the season. I mean, we've been going through it all year.”
