Well, it was fun while it lasted. After winning their last three games, including a hard-fought victory two days earlier in Colorado, the Washington Huskies bombed in Salt Lake City as the Utah Utes blew a 14-point halftime lead to cruise to an 86-61 victory Saturday night.
Keion Brooks Washington (12-9, 4-6) was led by three players in double figures with 17 points. Cole Bajema scored 13 and Noah Williams added 10.
Utah (14-7, 7-3) led the way with 25 points Brandon Carlsonwho also scored 25 points in a win over Washington State. Gabe Madsen added 17, Marco Anthony 13, i Rollie Worster 11. Worster was one rebound short of a triple-double.
This game is never competitive, as the Utes took advantage of Washington’s poor shooting and UW’s porous defense to take an 11-7 lead at the first media timeout of the night, and the Huskies never got better.
Brooks hit a layin to pull the visitors within two, but then Utah rattled off four straight to take a 6-point lead into the next time out. After that media break, the Utes went on a 15-4 run until the next media timeout while the Huskies shot 3-12 early in the game, and the rout was on.
Washington harnessed the energy Langston Wilson off the bench to start things off and got within 8 points after two Brooks free throws with 2:42 left before halftime, but then the Utes went on an 8-2 run to end the half up 44-30.
The second half was simply the same; The Utes keeping their foot on the gas and the Huskies struggling to stay competitive. Whether it was a zone or a man, big or small, the visitors just didn’t have anything about them in this game.
Williams’ three-point shot with 8:48 left was the last time the Huskies cut into Utah’s halftime lead. It took less than 30 seconds, like Lazar Stefanović hit a 3-pointer to give the Utes back those points.
After Bajema’s 3-pointer to pull Utah within 15, the Utes went on a 9-0 run to put the final nail in the coffin. With time Keyon Menifield hit a rebound for Washington with 4:11 left in the game, the Huskies trailing by more than 20. Utah head coach Craig Smith he would secure a well-deserved curtain raiser for his boys by striking out the entire lineup with 58 seconds to play, a 22-up.
By almost every measure, Washington was a distant second in this game. The only stat they beat Utah in was shooting fouls. The Huskies were outshot 17 percent overall, including 16 percent on offense. Utah had 10 more points off turnovers, 26 more points off the board and outrebounded UW 48-30.
