Men's Hoops Can't Contain Cougars in Loss Saturday
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team couldn't find a rhythm on either side of the ball Saturday evening as it snapped a 13-game winning-streak against Washington State with the 77-61 loss in the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
First half action saw a game of runs between both teams with the Utes trailing 13-11 out of the under-16 media timeout before Utah mounted a 10-0 run capped off by three free throws from David Jenkins Jr. for the 18-13 lead. However, Washington State answered with a 9-0 run of its own before Lazar Stefanovic ended the run with a pair of free throws of his own.
After some back-and-forth, the Utes (8-8, 1-5 Pac-12) tied things up at 28-28 before the Cougars closed out the first 20 minutes of action with a 12-2 run to put Utah behind 40-30 at the break.
The final 20 minutes of action was similar to the first half with runs by both teams. The Cougars (9-6, 2-2 Pac-12) jumped out to a 50-34 lead shortly after the 15:49 media break behind a 7-0 run before taking their largest lead of the game at 55-36 (13:34) on a short jumper from Tyrell Roberts – who had a game-high 17 points for WSU.
Utah would cut the Wazzu lead down to single-digits twice, first at the 9:03 mark when Marco Anthony hit 1-of-2 from the foul line. The Utes then used an 11-3 to get within 69-61 of the Cougars after Anthony scored on an offensive board. Time was once again not on Utah's side as it eventually fell 77-61.
Both Gach led the Utes with 15 points off the bench on 5-of-10 shooting – including 4-of-4 from the line to go with three assists. Anthony added with 10 points and seven boards while Jenkins Jr. finished with 10 of his own. In just his second game back, Dusan Mahorcic led the team with eight rebounds to go with eight points.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah is now 27-5 all-time against the Cougars and 14-3 all-time in Pac-12 action … the Utes were able to convert 13 WSU turnovers into 18 points … Anthony has now reached double-digits in scoring six-straight games … going 20-for-25, the last time Utah had 20-plus free throws in a game was vs. TCU (21) on Dec. 8.
UP NEXT
Utah goes back on the road next week as it takes battles Arizona State first on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. (MT) before heading east on I-10 to square off against #8/7 Arizona Saturday, Jan. 15, at 6 p.m. inside McKale Center. Both games are set to air on Pac-12 Networks.
For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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