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The Washington Huskies men’s basketball team’s starting five is announced before the team’s season-opening game vs. the Colgate Red Raiders on Nov. 2 at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports
SEATTLE — A 20-point second half from sophomore forward Nikola Dzepina created the separation needed for the Washington Huskies men’s basketball team to take down the Colgate Red Raiders by a score of 90-76 in their season opener Monday at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
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Dzepina finished with a career-high 27 points, nearly quadruple his previous career-high of seven. He scored his 27 points on a 10-for-17 mark from the floor (6-for-7 from the free-throw line). He also pulled in seven rebounds, had a steal and blocked two shots.
“I just listened to what the coach said,” Dzepina said in a postgame interview Monday. “I attacked more in the paint, and all this stuff. I just (did) the simple things. Played the post and tried to score.”
Dzepina’s second half and overall game was proof-positive of the Serbian forward’s improvement from last season where he joined the team in December and struggled to pick up the playbook.
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“(Dzepina) had never even been to the United States as of like, (Dec. 11, 2025),” UW head coach Danny Sprinkle said after the game. “Literally, he got here and we put him in a game the next day because we had so many injuries last year. He didn’t know any of the plays, he missed seven months, he wasn’t here all summer or anything. You can tell he’s really cerebral. … Our post guys are some of our best passers. … (Dzepina’s) got a really good feel. Sometimes he settles for his read too much. He’s dynamic when he plays 15 feet and in.”
Dzepina’s second-half was a spark and benefit of a much more concerted effort for Washington in the second half, which struggled to create separation from Colgate.
The Huskies carried just a five-point lead going into half time after fourth-year guard Wesley Yates III hit a 3-pointer…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nikola-dzepinas-monster-second-half-090754542.html
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Publish date : 2026-11-03 09:07:00
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