From here on out, it gets real for the Washington Huskies. That’s not to suggest the first two months of the college basketball season didn’t matter, but the caliber of opponents will exponentially increase for the UW men, who clobbered New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) 90-53 on Sunday afternoon in their nonconference finale. The Highlanders (2-12), who have lost 14 straight road games, were overmatched and undermanned against Washington, which executed a flawless paint-by-numbers performance in front of 6,779 at Alaska Airlines Arena. The largest blowout of the season for UW allowed Sprinkle to rest starters, empty the bench and get a long look at seldom-used reserves. The Huskies also welcomed back senior forward Wilhelm Breidenbach who finished with 10 points and five rebounds in his first outing since sustaining a concussion on Dec. 18. “I was having symptoms right after and I couldn't play in our last game and was just getting back into practice,” said Breidenbach who converted 3 of 4 shots, including two 3-pointers. “But it's been fine. It's a good group of guys, so it's easy to easy to get back into the group.” Washington missed Breidenbach during its previous game when they lost 79-70 to Seattle U and was outrebounded 36-33. “We're totally different and you can see how much we missed him against Seattle U,” Sprinkle said. “Everything flows better with him in the game. We're a more normal team offensively, and then defensively we're way better because he knows coverages. He's played a lot of basketball. He rebounds and his size.” Forward Great Osobor added: “He just changes us in a way, like he's one of our highest IQ players and he’s 6-10. He just makes reads that come natural to him. ... It's stuff you can't teach he does, and he just makes us a better team.” Before his earliest departure of the season, Osobor, who had team-high tying 12 points and six rebounds in 17 minutes, connected on his first three-pointer of the season after missing eight attempts. Osobor also orchestrated the game’s biggest highlight when he pushed the pace on a fast break and delivered a pass through a thicket of defenders to a streaking Tyler Harris who flushed a crowd-pleading two-hand dunk for a 58-30 lead with 15:52 left. “When I got the rebound, my mind says, ‘Just go’,” Osobor said. “It’s just natural for me and I've been doing it my whole life. ... I see Tyler rim running. I’d already had one or two turnovers at that point, and the gap was kind of tight. “Then I thought, ‘Is this a bad pass?’ Maybe and then I just threw anyway and it got to where it needed to go and Tyler did the rest.” Speaking of firsts, backup center KC Ibeweke, who appeared in just four games before Sunday, scored for the first time and finished with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting in 16 minutes. “I thought he played hard,” Sprinkle said. “He did a really good job in ball screen defense. He did a lot of stuff the casual fan, they have no idea because they don't know what we're supposed to do defensively. “He executed all those and I'm proud of him, because we're going to need him. We’re going to need his size and his girth, In Big Ten play, he's got to play meaningful minutes for us.” Following a sporadic start, it took Washington about 10 minutes to seize control. After Osobor spun free for a layup, guard Tyree Ihenacho drove to the rim for a basket and collected a steal for a fastbreak layup that capped a 6-0 run, which put UW up 32-18 with 6:30 left in the first half. Minutes later, freshman guard Jase Butler drained an open 3-pointer off a feed from Butler that gave the Huskies a 42-22 lead just before the break. Washington led 46-26 at halftime and outscored NJIT 44-27 in the second half thanks in large part to freshman guard Zoom Diallo who finished with a career-high five assists and had 10 of his 12 points after the intermission. Sebastian Robinson had 16 points, Tim Moore 14 and Ari Fulton 11 for the Highlanders, which shot 37.3% from the field and converted 3 of 17 three-pointers. Meanwhile, Washington shot 55.7% on field goals, including 10 of 24 on 3-pointers and converted 12 of 14 free throws. The Huskies has more rebounds (33-29), assists (21-5), steals (12-2), bench points (47-4) and fewer turnovers (5-13). “We didn't get sloppy today,” Sprinkle said. “Sometimes in those games, you can get sloppy and guys try to do too much, but I thought we did a great job sharing the basketball and only had five turnovers. ... When we're passing the ball well and making the extra pass, those are the games where we go 10 of 24 from three.” Immediately after the game, the Huskies (9-4, 0-2) began preparing for Thursday’s pivotal matchup at home against Maryland (11-2, 1-1), which starts an 18-game trek through the Big Ten. “As a staff, we’ll get going tonight,” Sprinkle said. “I want our guys to get away, relax, get some treatment and enjoy this win. Like I said, winning at this level is hard. You have to be able to enjoy it. But once midnight hits, we got to, we got to turn our attention to Maryland.” The Terrapins are ranked 10 th in the NET and have rarely been tested while outscoring opponents by 26.2 points, which is tops among Division I teams. Maryland boasts a high-powered offense that ranks 10 th in the country in scoring (87.2 points per game) as well as a resilient defense that’s 13 th nationally in points allowed (61.1). “Obviously, it’s great team coming in,” Osobor said. “We already know they've been killing it all year and it's exciting. It’s why you come to Washington. So, I'm excited. “I feel like our team, we've had ups and downs, but one thing is, we’ve learned each game is who we are. And as long as we can keep establishing our identity and doing things we want to do, then I think we'll take it head on and handle these game one game at a time.” Note: --- UW fifth-year center Franck Kepnang who has played two games this season due to a knee injury is expected to return in 2-3 weeks, Sprinkle said. --- UW freshman forward Dominique Diomonde, who signed last week, is in France and awaiting a visa, which would allow him to travel to Seattle and play for the Huskies. “I wish I knew an exact date,” Sprinkle said. “It could be tomorrow he gets on a plane or it could be in two weeks. It just depends when the embassy over there give him his visa.” BOX SCOREWASHINGTON >> President-elect Donald Trump aims to deport all immigrants in the U.S. illegally over his four-year term but wants a deal to protect so-called “Dreamer” immigrants, he said in an interview that aired on Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Kristen Welker.” Trump also said he plans to take executive action on his first day in office to try to end birthright citizenship, which confers citizenship on anyone born in the U.S. regardless of their parents’ immigration status. Trump, a Republican who won a second term in the White House promising mass deportations, is expected to declare illegal immigration a national emergency when he takes office on Jan. 20 and draw on resources from across the federal government to support a wide-ranging crackdown. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimated some 11 million immigrants were in the U.S. illegally as of January 2022, although the figure is likely higher today. In the NBC News interview, Welker asked Trump if his plan was to deport everyone without legal status. “I think you have to do it,” Trump said. “It’s a very tough thing to do. You know, you have rules, regulations, laws.” Trump said he wanted a deal to protect “Dreamer” immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, saying Republicans are open to the idea. During his 2017-2021 presidency, Trump tried to end a program that provides deportation relief and work permits to the immigrants, but was rebuffed by the Supreme Court. Trump’s plans to try to end birthright citizenship will likely face legal challenges. The right stems from an amendment to the U.S. Constitution and is supported by 1898 Supreme Court precedent. Speaking to Welker, Trump suggested Republicans may need to pursue a constitutional amendment to address the issue – an arduous process. “We’ll maybe have to go back to the people,” he said. Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller both told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that Congress should provide a major funding increase for immigration enforcement. The pro-immigration American Immigration Council estimated that deporting all immigrants in the U.S. illegally over more than a decade would cost $88 billion annually. Homan said the minimum needed would be near that amount. “We’re going to need as much money as Congress can get us,” he said.
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