SALT LAKE CITY—Jordan Loveridge started the scoring for Utah with a three-pointer. Jakob Poeltl put the nail in the Huskies’ proverbial coffin with a driving dunk from the three-point line. Between the two buckets was a night of 67.3% shooting, good enough for the Utes to best the Washington Huskies, 90-82.
The Utes (18-7, 7-5 Pac-12) threw down a total of eight dunks while raining down ten three-pointers en route to a regular season sweep of the Huskies (15-9, 7-5 Pac-12).
While the Utes were on fire from the floor, the turnover problem reared its ugly head again in the first half. Utah let the ball go twelve times in the first half, but limited themselves to five giveaways in the second half. However, the Huskies turned the ball over 16 times on their end of the floor as well.
Key to Utah’s shooting success was the ability to move the ball around the court to find open opportunities. “To have 26 assists on our 35 baskets, I thought, was huge,” said head coach Larry Krystkowiak. “We did a nice job of sharing the basketball.”
Lorenzo Bonam, coming off one of the most unproductive game weeks of the season, produced 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, as well as four assists.
“You can see that when those bursts come, he’s really hard to defend, and that gives us a great weapon,” Krystkowiak said. “I think that’s where some of that momentum came from, when he some of those plays, had a couple dunks. When we know that’s in there, I’d certainly like to see it more.”
Bonam said the last week frustrated him, and that fired him up tonight. “I think I had a different mindset,” Bonam said. “The last two games we played, I just, I don’t like losing. That just set it off right there, basically. I just wanted to attack every time.”
Krystkowiak wants to see that side of Bonam every time he hits the court. “He has some physical skills and talent that not anybody on our team has, and we’ve gotta get him caught up in terms of some effort, I think, and some focus.”
Krystkowiak put a mandatory order on his team to not step foot in the gym on Thursday so they can rest and focus on academics. He said many of the players are dealing with colds and flu-like symptoms.
Utah now is tied with Washington for fourth place in the Pac-12, but holds the tiebreaker against the Huskies. The Utes will next face the Washington State Cougars on Sunday, Feb 14 at 3:00 MT. Pregame coverage will begin at 1:00 on ESPN700.
Larry Krystkowiak Postgame:
Jakob Poeltl and Lorenzo Bonam Postgame:
Highlights:
