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Men's Basketball Falls Down the Stretch at Washington

by Utah Athletics
Jan 24, 2021
Photo Credit: Molly Handkins/UW Athletics

SEATTLE – The Utah men's basketball team settled for a split on its latest road swing to the Pacific Northwest after the 83-79 loss to Washington Sunday afternoon inside Alaska Airlines Arena.
 
Both teams had a solid start to the game with Utah (6-7, 3-6 Pac-12) answering Washington's opening-game bucket with a quick 7-0 run before the Huskies made it 9-7 heading into the 15:45 media timeout. Riley Battin gave the Utes a 16-12 edge but UW retook the 18-16 lead at the under-12 break thanks to a 6-0 run.
 
Battin led Utah's charge out of the timeout with a 16-2 run that forced UW head coach Mike Hopkins to call a timeout with 6:00 minutes left in the first frame. The Huskies responded out of the timeout and slowly cut into the Utes' lead before tying it up at 41-41 on a 3-pointer from Jamal Bey. A three on the other end from Battin for his 13th point of the half gave the Runnin' Utes a 44-41 advantage over the Huskies heading into the locker room.
 
Despite the lead, UW (3-11, 2-7 Pac-12) shot 56-percent from the floor compared to Utah's 50-percent. However, it was the bench that provided the firepower for the Runnin' Utes, scoring 26 of the team's 44 first-half points led by Battin's 13 points.

 
The start of the second half was much like the first 20 minutes of action as both teams exchanging baskets, but it was it until the final 3:42 of the game that saw it teeter in one direction.
 
With a narrow 75-74 lead out of the final media break, Battin knocked down both free throws to give the Utes a 77-74 cushion. Washington's Quade Green knocked a pair of his own down on the other end before Ian Martinez answered with a jumper inside the paint.
 
Ahead 79-76 with 1:39 left to go after the jumper from Martinez, the turnover bug once again reared its head and saw Utah commit back-to-back ill-timed turnovers that eventually led to a 7-0 run for the opposition – which put the game away.
 
Carlson had a great offensive showing for Utah (6-7, 3-6 Pac-12), scoring a career-high 18 points with four rebounds on 8-of-13 shooting. Meanwhile, Timmy Allen recorded his first double-double of the season scoring 15 points and dished out a career-high 10 dimes to go with seven rebounds. Battin finished with a season-high 15 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting while Alfonso Plummer added 13 points of his own.
 
NOTABLES
First time Utah has had a player record a double-double in back-to-back games since last season (Jan. 2-4, 2020 vs. Oregon State and Oregon) … Utah won the battle of the glass 32-28 and now moves to 4-3 when leading in the category … this is the third time this season Utah has dished out 20 assists this season, others included vs. Idaho State and Oregon … Utah finished with 31 FGM, the last time it recorded 30-plus FGM was against UCLA (31) on March 9, 2019 … Utah led for 30:01 minutes of the game to Washington's 5:16 minutes with the lead.
 
UP NEXT
Utah will have another road swing on its horizon before returning home for a pair of games against the Arizona schools (Feb. 4-7). The Runnin' Utes will first get five days rest before facing off against Colorado (Jan. 30) on the road. Utah will stay on the road and play its make-up game against Arizona State on Feb. 2 in Tempe before returning home. Both games are slated to air on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
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