|
 The Utes did little right to that point, but it was still a
two-possession game.
"And wouldn't you know it, we hit two consecutive threes (after
that) to tie it up," Krystkowiak said.
Utah shook off slow starts to the first and second halves to edge
the Cougars 67-59 in the second-to-last regular-season Pac-12
Conference game for both teams.
Guard Delon Wright, a versatile 6-foot-5 junior, led the Utes with
18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Forward Jordan
Loveridge added 16 points, and guard Brandon Taylor scored 11.
After the Cougars charged ahead in the second half with a barrage of
3-pointers, the Utes started burying long-range shots at an even
more impressive clip.
Utah (23-6, 13-4 Pac-12) shot 8-for-12 from the 3-point arc in the
second half. After going 0-for-4 from long range in the first half,
Taylor sank three critical 3-pointers, including one with 4:55 left
to give Utah a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
 The Utes, which shot 55 percent in the second half, can lock up the
second seed in next week's Pac-12 tournament by winning at
Washington on Saturday. Arizona clinched the conference's
regular-season title Thursday with a 99-60 home win over Cal.
"We just know we have great shooters on our team, so if we keep
getting good looks and keeping sharing the ball, we'll eventually
knock down some shots," Loveridge said.
After a quiet first half, Washington State senior guard DaVonte Lacy
hit three 3-pointers early in the second half to give the Cougars
unexpected breathing room. Washington State led 43-35 with 12
minutes left following Lacy's third 3-pointer.
The Cougars (12-17, 6-11) jumped ahead 48-41 with less than nine
minutes left, but Utah took control thanks to an 18-4 run.
Wright went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minutes,
and the Utes hit 14 of 18 foul shots in the second half.
"Good teams, you can slow them, but you can't stop them," said Lacy,
who led Washington State with 16 points. "They made some huge shots.
They were contested, but they were just huge shots."
Searching for answers in the second half, Krystkowiak went to a
small lineup and leaned on the team's sharpshooters. In addition to
Taylor's outside shooting, the Utes got three 3-pointers from
Loveridge and two from Wright.
[to top of second column] |
"They hit some tough, tough threes," Washington State coach Ernie
Kent said. "A veteran basketball team, they hit some tough shots. I
thought that was the difference in the game."
Washington State center Jordan Railey had 12 points, all in the
first half. Railey was sidetracked by foul trouble in the second
half, as was Utah center Jakob Poeltl.
Coming off an emotional loss at home to No. 5 Arizona, the Utes fell
behind 11-4, and they shot just 2-for-10 from the field in the first
eight minutes.
Utah also looked ragged on offense to start the second half.
Washington State capitalized with big shots from Lacy and heady
inside play from forwards Junior Longrus and Josh Hawkinson.
"It was kind of a perfect storm," Krystkowiak said. "We messed up
how we were going to trap the post, went at Hawkinson when we
weren't supposed to, gave up a 3. But we're not going to reach our
potential without better performance (inside), both defensively and
offensively."
Poeltl, who came in averaging 8.5 points per game, didn't attempt a
field goal and finished with no points. The performance of Utah's
guards more than made up for the lack of inside scoring.
"We've got to be better," Krystkowiak said. "We've got a lot of
improvement to make. But again, we'll take it."
NOTES: Utah entered the game ranked fourth nationally in scoring
margin (plus-16.6). The Utes have the most wins of 20 points or more
in the nation. ... Washington State G DaVonte Lacy has 1,522 points,
eight shy of passing Brock Motum for fifth on the Cougars' all-time
list. ... Utah came into the night as the only Division I team in
the top 10 in field-goal percentage (48.8 percent) and defensive
field-goal percentage (37.5 percent).
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