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Seattle • Even though Utah's late tipoff made for a long day in the assessment of coach Anthony Levrets, the Utes didn't mind playing in the final game of Thursday's Pac-12 Tournament lineup.
The Utes were supposed to play in the afternoon, but their game was moved to an 8:30 p.m. (local) start since it was against Washington.
Before the season, the Pac-12 coaches voted unanimously to let Washington State and Washington play in the final games so more local fans could attend.
"It was a good move," Levrets said. "This is the kind of environment you want to be in with a good crowd."
While it was a positive for the fans, Utah's late tipoff made it a challenge for Levrets and his staff to keep his team focused all day. They did so by making sure they had something planned every two hours, whether it was study hall, meetings or short film sessions of 20 minutes.
"We just wanted to keep them moving," Levrets said.
Making the trip
Taryn Wicijowski (ACL) and Paige Crozon (concussion) haven't played this season due to injuries but they made the trip to Seattle to support their teammates.
Both are well on the way to recovery and are expected to be back next season, he said.
"Taryn is amazing, she is already jumping around on it," he said. "Paige is good too, she'll be back in the fall so that is good news for both."
This and that
Utah guard Danielle Rodriguez sported a black right eye after taking an elbow to the face against UCLA a week ago…The teams entered the game tied at 7-7 in their series…Kelsey Plum and Jazmine Davis entered the game contributing 54 percent of their team's offense with their 40 point combined average.