Upset bid for Washington men's basketball falls short at No. 15 Oregon

Percy Allen, The Seattle Times on Jan 22, 2025

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TJ Bamba spent three years tormenting the Washington men’s basketball team while starring at Washington State, and Tuesday marked a reunion of sorts between the Huskies and the former WSU point guard who transferred to Oregon.

Proving that some things never change, Bamba terrorized UW once again, and the 15 th-ranked Ducks beat the Huskies 82-71 at Matthew Knight Arena, which extended their losing streak to five in a row.

Washington has dropped 19 of the last 23 meetings against Oregon.

In the 316 th matchup between the former Pac-12 rivals, Bamba led the way with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting for Oregon (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten), which had five players in double-digit scoring.

Washington countered with a trio of standout performances from Great Osobor (20 points and eight rebounds), Zoom Diallo (18 points) and Tyler Harris (15 points).

Only 12 games remain for Washington (10-9, 1-7), which fell to the bottom of the Big Ten standings.

Regardless of how this season ends, first-year coach Danny Sprinkle has learned he’ll need to beef up the front line if the Huskies are going to win with consistency in the Big Ten.

Washington’s trio of big men, forwards Osobor and Wilhelm Breidenbach and backup center KC Ibekwe, had difficulty scoring at the rim against 7-foot Ducks center Nate Bittle and 6-foot-9 forwards Brandon Angel and Supreme Cook.

Oregon dominated the rebounding battle 37-24 and Washington to 4-for-21 shooting on three-pointers.

Still, the Huskies had their chances.

Down 64-62 with 5:26 left, Diallo traveled, which was just UW’s sixth turnover at the time, but a costly mistake from the freshman point guard.

At the other end, Angel sank a layup over Breidenbach that put Oregon up four points, 66-62, and prompted a Husky timeout.

When play resumed, Osobor threw the ball away on a wild pass and the Ducks made them pay with Cook’s short hook shot over Breidenbach for their largest lead at 68-62.

The Huskies trailed by 73-64 with 2:14 and pulled to within five points, 73-68, before the Ducks sealed the win with four free throws in the final minute.

Washington finishes a brutal month of January with Friday’s home game against UCLA before an unusual eight-day layoff preceding its Feb. 1 game at Minnesota.