SEATTLE — Not a lot of things went right for the Washington Huskies men's basketball team in Danny Sprinkle's first year as head coach in 2024-25.

The Huskies finished their first year in the Big Ten conference with a 13-18 overall record and a 4-16 mark in-conference, which placed them last in the 18-team Big Ten. The program missed the 15-team cut-off for the postseason conference tournament.

To highlight the type of season Washington had last year, it also suffered a 79-70 loss to in-city rivals, the Seattle University Redhawks, on Dec. 23, 2024. It was just the fifth game the Huskies have ever dropped to the Redhawks and first since Nov. 28, 1978. There was a 29-year gap between the two programs facing each other from 1980-2009. Washington had won every game of the series since it resumed before last year's contest.

This year, Sprinkle and the Huskies returned to Alaska Airlines Arena with an almost completely re-tooled roster. The difference between the 2024 and 2025 Dawgs has been notable.

The team is yet to play a game at full strength this season due to a slew of ankle sprains and respective injuries to forwards Jacob Ognacevic and Mady Traore (the latter of whom will be out the entire season). But Washington has already showed to be more competitive in what is, once again, a stacked Big Ten conference.

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The Huskies came just two points shy of a double-digit comeback against UCLA on Dec. 3 and lost 82-80. Washington successfully completed a double-digit comeback against then-undefeated (and then-No. 24) USC on Dec. 6. The Dawgs beat the Trojans 84-76.

The Huskies followed the win against USC with their most dominant victory of the season — a 105-69 result against Southern Utah on Dec. 13.

In the game against Southern Utah, Washington saw the return of freshman forward Bryson Tucker, who missed six games with an ankle sprain, and the arrival of Serbian freshman forward Nikola Dzepina.

With some momentum on their side, a roster that's finally (mostly) healthy and a team that's already been battle-tested, the Huskies are ready to avenge last year's loss against Seattle U. But, as it was last year, it could end up being another competitive showdown.

The Redhawks will enter the competition between the two Seattle-based programs Dec. 19 a stellar 9-2 on the season.

Seattle U has faced solid competition in its own right, including a 77-69 win against the ACC's Stanford Cardinal on Nov. 21.

Stanford is 9-2 on the season and already has a win against one Big Ten team, Minnesota, on its résumé.

The in-city showdown could prove to be the most critical non-conference game for both teams depending on how the rest of the season progresses. A win for either team would go a long way in establishing confidence just weeks ahead of conference play and could play a role in NCAA Tournament seeding based on how the two programs finish out the year.

The Redhawks and Washington will face off at 8:30 p.m. PT on Dec. 19 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Seattle U will be the "home" team. The game will air on ESPN2.

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