Game 16: Michigan at Washington Preview

After its first loss of the season, Michigan heads across the country this week for its annual trip to the West Coast. The Wolverines face Washington (10-6, 2-3 Big Ten) in Seattle tonight (10:40 p.m., BTN) before heading to Oregon on Saturday.

The Huskies are significantly improved in Danny Sprinkle’s second season — 48th on KenPom, up from 104th — but haven’t quite been able to break through due to a combination of injuries and inconsistency. Washington has used nine different starting lineups in 16 games and lost most of its best non-conference games (Baylor, Colorado, Seattle), but has solid Big Ten wins at USC and home over Ohio State.

The Huskies are coming off that solid win over the Buckeyes on Sunday, getting healthier and positioning themselves to make a run at an NCAA Tournament bid. With Michigan coming to town, they are expecting one of their best environments of the season with the first sellout of the Danny Sprinkle era at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Huskies

Washington enters this game ranked 61st offensively and 54th defensively, but the offense has outperformed the defense in Big Ten play. The Huskies are scoring 1.18 points per trip in league games (6th), thanks to efficient interior scoring and offensive rebounding. Washington is shooting 56% on twos (5th) and grabbing 34% of its misses (5th) in league games.

Perimeter shooting has been an issue. Washington is making 31.8% of threes in Big Ten games (9th) and taking 36.7% of shots from deep (15th). For the season, they rank 313th in 3-point volume, at just 33% of attempts.