Washington Men’s Basketball Team Knocks Off Ohio State for Key Big Ten Win
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Washington Huskies forward Hannes Steinbach (6) puts up a shot against Ohio State’s Amare Bynum (1) in a game at Hec Edmundson Pavilion in Seattle, Washington on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. Credit: Aaron Coe/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
SEATTLE, Wash. — That’s not a cold winter Sunday evening wind felt along Montlake Boulevard. It’s a sigh of relief for the Washington men’s basketball team, which got a much-needed Big Ten win.
The Huskies used a 14-0 run to overcome a seven-point second-half deficit, and looked like a Big Ten team in an 81-74 win over a tough Ohio State team in front of a spirited crowd of 8,163 at Hec Edmondsun Pavilion. UW bounced back from losing three of its first four conference games to improve to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in the Big Ten.
“It just shows our guys we can compete with anybody,” Washington head coach Danny Sprinkle said. “Ohio State is [very] close to being undefeated. … We beat a really good team.”
“Tonight we played with an intent and an urgency and togetherness that it takes to win in this league. And I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”
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The Hec Edmundson Pavilion seats were lined with rally towels prior to the No. 40 jersey retirement of Huskies all-time leading Christian Welp on Sunday in Seattle, Washington. Credit: Aaron Coe/Emerald City Spectrum [/caption]
On the evening when the Huskies retired all-time leading scorer Christian Welp’s No. 40 jersey, another German big man played well in the paint. Hannes Steinbach scored 21 points and just missed his 10th double-double, pulling down nine rebounds. Zoom Diallo led UW with 22. Franck Kepnang posted 11 points and seven rebounds, highlighted by a chasedown block and rim-rattling dunk.
Early on, it looked like the Huskies were poised to put up a result similar to losses at Indiana (Jan. 4) and Purdue (Jan. 7) when they couldn’t overcome opponents’ hot first-half shooting. The Buckeyes (11-5, 3-3) hit bullseyes early, shooting 71.4% to pull ahead 16-8 seven minutes into the game. UW clamped down on Ohio State the rest of the way, especially during the 14-0 run that turned a seven-point deficit into a 54-47 advantage with 13:40 remaining.
“The other team’s going to go on a run, we’re going to go on a run,” Diallo said. “But it’s about who’s going to stop the bleeding. They [took a] seven-point lead in the second half, and we couldn’t let that seven go to 14.”
Franck Kepnang says NO 🤯 @UW_MBB
📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/wvwqjIanXE— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 12, 2026
Helping prevent further blood loss was sixth-year senior Franck Kepnang, who energized perhaps the most active home crowd in Sprinkles’ two seasons at the helm. Kepnang’s big plays were followed by exultations toward the lively Dawg Pack student section. Offensive rebounds also help keep runs alive, and Kepnang had two during the 14-0 outburst, during which six different Huskies scored.
“When I make a big dunk, a big rebound or something, I’m showing a little bit of passion,” Kepnang said. “And you have a crowd that’s getting into it, because they love the game. And when we make those plays, it’s almost like they’re out there on the court with us.”
Guard Quimari Peterson took just five shots, but made 2-of-4 3-point attempts, including the 3 that gave the Huskies the lead for good with 17:10 to go. Long-range shooting has been a struggle this season for the Huskies, but UW made six of 18 3-point attempts while shooting 50% overall from the field.
Washington, missing Desmond Claude, Wesley Yates III, Jacob Ognacevic and Jasir Rencher, among others, turned the ball over just four times. Claude, who was out earlier in the week for personal reasons, missed Sunday’s game — a “team decision,” Sprinkle said. Yates and Ognacevic were both listed as questionable for Sunday’s game, and could be available in the upcoming week.
And, UW will need all the help it can get with No. 2 Michigan and No. 12 Michigan State coming to town.
Bryson Tucker, seeming fully healthy after an early-season ankle injury, added 12 points — including two alley-oop dunks — along with five boards in 34 minutes. JJ Mandaquit played 16 minutes and handed out a team-high five assists. Nikola Dzepina, who joined the team after moving from Serbia a few weeks ago, played 11 minutes, hit a key 3 and played strong defense against Ohio State’s big men despite still learning UW’s offensive and defensive plays.
As for determining how to set his rotation, it wasn’t difficult for Sprinkle.
“We just had to play the players we had,” Sprinkle said. “We didn’t have anybody else to play.”
Washington overcame 28 points from guard Bruce Thornton, who Sprinkle believes is one of the best in the country. Diallo and Peterson were tasked with defending the 6-2, 215-pound senior, who looks like he could have helped the Buckeyes football team at linebacker this season. Thornton played 37 minutes, hitting three 3s and bullying his way to the basket on a number of occasions.
“I could notice that he was getting a little fatigued — Bruce,” Diallo said. “So I just knew that we still had to continue to apply pressure. But, again, he’s an elite talent.
After finishing speaking in front of the media, on his way out the door, Diallo quipped, “That [m-fer] strong!”
It was the Huskies, though, who finished strong on Sunday. It was a reminder of the way Welp, who died in 2015, played while becoming the Huskies’ all-time leading scorer.
“I thought the energy in the building was absolutely awesome,” Sprinkle said. “I know Christian is smiling down on the way we played tonight.”
Christian Welp’s daughter, Ally Grill, gets emotional as she talks about what her legendary father meant to the #Huskies ahead of the retirement ceremony for his #40 jersey. pic.twitter.com/VIdjrYD3MO— Aaron Coe (@Coe_Aaron) January 11, 2026
