Washington is going to get a much-needed respite from Big Ten Conference play over the next couple of weeks.

After losing against former Pac-12 brethren UCLA and Southern California to open their Big Ten slate, the Huskies (6-3) will play three straight nonconference games against in-state rivals, starting with a matchup against Eastern Washington (2-8) on Tuesday night in Seattle.

Washington suffered an 85-61 defeat Saturday to USC in the Huskies’ first Big Ten home game.

“We laid an egg, offensively and defensively,” first-year Washington coach Danny Sprinkle said. “… We have to start making shots.”

The Huskies rank 18th — and last — in the Big Ten in field-goal shooting (41.7 percent) and free-throw shooting (61.5 percent) and are tied for 15th in 3-point shooting (29.8 percent).

That led the Trojans to focus their defense on preseason all-conference forward Great Osobor, who was limited to nine points on 4-of-11 shooting. Osobor also finished with three rebounds, two assists and four turnovers.

“They packed the paint, had bodies in there and basically dared us to make 3s,” Osobor said. “I know we’re not as bad as the numbers are saying. I don’t want to say I’m not worried … but I believe in our guys.”

Following the Tuesday game, the Huskies will play host to Washington State on Dec. 18 and Seattle University on Dec. 23.

“Fans may not even come on Tuesday. I don’t know,” Sprinkle said. “I probably wouldn’t come watch either if I was in the stands (Saturday), but somehow we have to move forward and we have to get better. It’s still early in the year. We’re still a new team.”

The same can be said for Eastern Washington under new coach Dan Monson. Like the Huskies, the Eagles took their most lopsided loss of the season on Saturday, falling 74-53 against South Dakota State in the finale of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge in Brookings, S.D.

Andrew Cook was the only Eastern Washington player to reach double digits in scoring with 13 points. The Eagles made more free throws (17) than field goals (16).

“I’m not making excuses, but we look like a team that’s been on the road the last month,” said Monson, who previously was the head coach at Gonzaga, Minnesota and Long Beach State. “We got to dig deep on Tuesday, and then we have five weeks where we are at home. Offensively we are struggling, but defensively we are making strides.”

–Field Level Media