Washington, aiming to shake off Big Ten woes, meets EWU

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 took 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.