IU basketball game day essentials: Indiana returns to Big Ten action against Washington

Game Day Essentials:

Indiana (10-3) vs. Washington (9-4)

• Tip Time: 8:00 p.m. Eastern, Sunday
• Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, Ind.
• Television: BTN (Jack Kizer, Jordan Taylor)
• Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Errek Suhr, John Herrick)
• Stream: Fox Sports
• Point Spread:  Indiana is around a 7.5-point favorite
• KenPom Projected Score:  Indiana 77  Washington 71
• History: Indiana leads the series, 4-1
• Last Meeting: IU 78, UW 62 on March 1, 2025, in Seattle
• Tickets (via our StubHub affiliate link)

Washington’s Danny Sprinkle

Danny Sprinkle is in his second overall season with the Huskies and seventh season as a head coach in Division I. Throughout his career, he has compiled an overall record of 131-72. Last season with Washington, he posted a 13-18 overall record and finished last in the Big Ten.

Sprinkle had multiple years of assistant jobs before finding a head coaching job at his alma mater, Montana State. From 2000 to 2019, he held stints as an assistant at Cal State Northridge, Montana State, and Cal State Fullerton. Sprinkle landed the head job at Montana State in the Spring of 2019.

Sprinkle led a pretty solid rebuild after a few years with the Bobcats. His most successful years came from 2021 to 2023, where he led Montana State to two consecutive 20-win seasons. Sprinkle led the Bobcats to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in those years for the first time in school history. Before Washington, Sprinkle had a one-year stint at Utah State in 2023-24, where he recorded a 28-7 overall record and a Mountain West title.

Washington’s results and roster:

Washington Game Notes (via Washington Athletics)

ROOKIE RECOGNITION

• Averaging 26.5 points, 13.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists against UCLA and USC, Hannes Steinbach was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for Week 5
• It was UW’s first-ever Big Ten weekly award and the first conference weekly award for a Husky since Sahvir Wheeler was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on Dec. 18, 2023
• Hannes Steinbach leads the Big Ten with eight double-doubles in ten games and is one of 11 players nationally with seven or more in 2025-26
• Steinbach is the first Husky to record a double-double in five straight games since Jon Brockman rattled off seven in a row in 2007-08
• Steinbach is the first Husky freshman to record at least one double-double since Isaiah Stewart in 2019-20
• If current averages hold, the German would post the 19th season since 1947-48 in which a Husky averaged a double-double, the first ever by a freshman

BREAK OUT THE WINDEX

• The Huskies have outrebounded 11 of their first 13 opponents this season.
• UW has grabbed at least five more boards than its opponent 10 times, owning the rebound battle by double digits six times.
• UW ranks fourth in the Big Ten in rebounds per game, ranking fourth in the league in offensive rebounds per game.

TRIPLE THREAT

• After making six total three-pointers during his freshman season, Zoom Diallo has made nine threes through 13 games in 2025-26.
• Diallo shot 18.2% from behind the arc a year ago, improving to 37.5% this season. Diallo is also shooting 88.5% from the charity stripe, up from 71.9% a year ago.

BLOCK PARTY

• Franck Kepnang ranks second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally at 2.25 BPG.
• Kepnang has blocked multiple shots 40 times in his career. Kepnang has failed to block at least one shot just 23 times in 97 career games, including just 7-of-45 games as a Husky.

No. 49 Washington’s KenPom notable numbers:

(out of 365 teams)

Tempo – No. 172 (Offense No. 123 / Defense No. 197)

Offensive Efficiency – No. 75

• The Huskies have shot a 50.5 percent effective field goal percentage on the year, No. 201 nationally. UW has shot 32.2 percent from three (No. 232) and 51.5 percent on two-pointers (No. 186).
• Washington gets a good portion of their points from twos, with 53.5 percent of its points coming inside the arc (No. 62).  They have one of the lowest 3-point attempt rates in the country.
• They get offensive rebounds at a 37.4 percent rate (No. 32).
• Washington takes care of the ball well with a 15.5 percent turnover rate (No. 75).

Defensive Efficiency – No. 37

• Teams are shooting a 46.8 percent effective field goal percentage (No. 45) against Washington. Opponents have shot 31.3 percent from three (No. 86) and 46.7 percent on twos (No. 46).
• UW does well at limiting offensive rebounding to a 27 percent rate (No. 46).
• Washington doesn’t really boast a clear weakness on defense, analytically speaking. They haven’t forced a ton of turnovers, however, at just a 16.3 percent rate (No. 239).

OG’s Pick

Overall: 11-2

This is a pretty important game for Indiana. They need to get off to a good start with the rest of the Big Ten season looming after dropping their first game to Minnesota. Washington certainly has some high-profile talent on their team, so this could be a pretty even battle.

I’ll give IU the slight edge. Washington has some interesting results in its nonconference slate, including a loss to Seattle U. They’re also potentially without Wesley Yates III, who averages nearly 15 points a game. If Indiana can avoid their recent struggles in the second half, they’ll have the edge.

PICK: Indiana 81 – Washington 75

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