SEATTLE — In front of a sold-out crowd of 9,294 fans Jan. 14 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle, the Washington Huskies men's basketball team gave one of the best teams in the country, the No. 4 Michigan Wolverines, a legitimate challenge.

Alas, Washington couldn't make the final push to pull off the upset and fell 82-72 to Michigan.

UW fell to 10-7 this season and 2-4 in Big Ten play.

"Proud of our guys," Huskies head coach Danny Sprinkle said after the game. "I thought we battled  a lot of adversity tonight, a lot of it. I appreciate our fans, I thought they were terrific. They gave us great energy."

Washington had the deepest bench it's had the entire season against the Wolverines. Senior forward Jacob Ognacevic played for the first time this year after being out with a foot injury. Sophomore guard Wesley Yates III was also available for the first time in five games due to surgery he underwent for a broken bone he suffered in his wrist against Seattle University on Dec. 19.

Despite having so many players available, the Huskies couldn't find a player to land a 3-pointer for most of the first half.

Washington was 0-for-12 beyond the arc until Ogancevic hit the team's first triple with six minutes, 13 seconds left in the first half. That make cut down the Huskies' deficit to 24-16.

Ognacevic finished the game with 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting (2-for-4 from beyond the arc), three rebounds, an assist and a steal in 15:49 of work.

Ogancevic's 3-pointer represented a common theme for the Huskies throughout most of the game: Washington continued to cut Michigan's lead to single digits or two possessions but was unable to make that last run to tie or take the lead.

That trend continued through the first half and the Huskies went into halftime trailing 39-30.

Senior guard Quimari Peterson accounted for the other three of UW's four first-half 3-pointers. He had nine of his 13 points in the first half on 4-for-13 shooting (4-for-12 from 3-point range).

"I just feel, as an older guy, I don't have any excuses to have bad games," Peterson said in a postgame interview. "I know that's crazy to say but I'm that hard on myself. And I feel like I owe it to my guys. We're all coming in to work hard every day and I just have to do my job."

In the second half, both teams went punch-for-punch with each other and Washington was able to cut its deficit to five points and trailed 46-41 with 15:53 left in the game.

Freshman guard JJ Mandaquit was the engine for the Huskies' offense in the second half. He scored all of his team-high 15 points in the second half and added four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

"It's just (about) how can I come in, make an impact and impact winning," Mandaquit said in a postgame interview. "As a freshman, I just want to come in. These guys believe in me off the bench and for me, it's just how can I be a leader. Get these guys in the right positions. Tonight, the only reason why I looked good was because they put me in the right positions and the coaches put me in the right positions to succeed."

The Wolverines were up 69-63 with 6:57 to go in the game, still more than enough time for Washington to find an extra gear.

Alas, Michigan hunkered down and went on a 7-0 run in the next two-and-a-half minutes to go up by 13.

The Huskies were unable to get back within single-digits in the final four minutes of regulation and Mandaquit hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left for the 10-point final.

Freshman forward Hannes Steinbach finished the game with an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double and sophomore guard Zoom Diallo put up 12 points on a 5-for-14 clip from the floor.

Washington will have another ranked opponent next on the docket. The Huskies will play No. 12 Michigan State at 3 p.m. PT on Jan. 17 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

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