SEATTLE — The Washington Huskies men's basketball team is still searching for a marquee Big Ten win after an 80-63 loss to No. 12 Michigan State on Jan. 17 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.

The Huskies dropped to 10-8 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play with the defeat.

"Obviously ran into a buzzsaw," Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said after the game. Ran into a program with great tradition that has great habits for 40 minutes. ... When you want a (Tom Izzo)-coached team, their habits are — it's why they've been so successful the last 35, 40 years. They're relentless."

As has been the case in almost all of their losses this season, the Huskies seemed equipped to handle what the Spartans were showing in the early goings.

Both sides went punch-for-punch in the first six minutes of the game. With 14 minutes, 14 seconds left in the first half, senior guard Quimari Peterson hit a 3-pointer to give Washington a 13-11 lead.

Peterson's triple was the only make for UW in the first half on 11 attempts from beyond the arc. This season, the Huskies are dead-last in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting percentage (30.7%).

"It's kind of interesting," Washington sophomore guard Zoom Diallo said in a postgame interview. "If you guys come watch our practice, we can make shots. We can shoot the ball. It's just applying that into the game at this point. Teams go through shooting slumps, shooting struggles and I feel like we're going to overcome it."

After Peterson's 3-pointer, Michigan State went on an 8-0 run to take a 21-13 lead with 11:52 left in the first half.

The Spartans were able to keep the Huskies at a three-possession deficit for the rest of the first half and went into halftime with a 39-31 advantage.

Diallo had nine of his team-high 18 points in the first half. He reached that mark on a 7-for-11 mark from the field and added three rebounds and five assists.

Freshman forward Hannes Steinbach scored 11 of his 17 points in the first 20 minutes. He went 6-for-14 from the floor Jan. 17 (5-for-7 from the free-throw line). He added nine rebounds, a block, a steal and an assist. He pulled in seven of his boards in the first half.

In the second half, Washington cut its deficit to 48-43 with 12:58 left in the game. Two minutes later, Michigan State went on an 8-0 run to go up 60-45 with 8:32 left in the game.

The Huskies didn't get closer than 10 points to the Spartans the rest of the game.

Senior forward Franck Kepnang joined Steinbach and Diallo in double-digits. He put up 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting and added five rebounds and two blocks.

Kepnang has reached double-figures in three of his last four games after reaching that mark just once this year prior to a game against Purdue on Jan. 7.

"I think for me, it's just the consistency," Kepnang said after the game. "Just playing games. Be able to play this game at a very high level consistently night after night."

Washington will face its third-straight ranked opponent in a road game against the No. 8 Nebraska Cornhuskers at 6 p.m. PT on Jan. 21 at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

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