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They've been looking for a closer all season long. On Thursday night, the Runnin' Utes had a handful.
They had Parker Van Dyke, who hit only the second 3-pointer of the night for a go-ahead basket. They had Kyle Kuzma, who had a late rebound and two critical free throws. They had David Collette, whose last shot on his 22-point night took a long roll before falling in. They had Lorenzo Bonam, who sunk a pair of shots at the line to seal it.
Utah's 74-70 win over Washington State won't set the world on fire — in many ways the team was frustrated in a game it felt shouldn't have been so close at home. But going 0-3 in single-possession games before downing the Cougars, a close win felt pretty good.
"I think it's really going to help us," Collette said. "We're going to have more games like this coming down the line. I think this will help us know what to do to finish it out."
Utah (16-8, 7-5 Pac-12) entered the night favored by 15 points against a team it had demolished 88-47 three weeks earlier in Pullman, Wash. But neither team quite reprised its past role: Washington State wasn't a rollover visitor, and Utah wasn't a crusading juggernaut.
When Wazzu crunched an 11-point Utes lead and took a 62-60 advantage with 4:17 left, the heat was on for Utah to close out against an opponent it had beaten in six straight previous meetings.
Kuzma, who didn't score until 24 minutes into the game, got a tying layup, then Collette answered a Charles Callison layup with a 3-pointer of his own.
But the Utes didn't take the lead for good until Van Dyke — on a night when the Utes were only 2 for 15 from behind the arc — hit a corner 3 in the closing minutes of his first start since December.
Kuzma followed up at the line, then Collette with his roller in the post. After Ike Iroegbu (17 points) nailed a 2-pointer, Bonam, who finished with 13 points, hit a pair of free throws at the line to give Utah a 73-70 lead. Then Utah managed to force Malachi Flynn to take a contested 28-foot shot, which he missed and Van Dyke rebounded, effectively ending the threat of upset.
Coach Larry Krystkowiak was dismayed Utah let Washington State back in the game in the first place, saying the Cougars' 10-0 second-half run was the result of "disrespecting the game" and getting away from sharing the ball offensively. But he was willing to accept the late execution, which his team has struggled with this season.
"You need closers in the game, it's like in baseball," he said. "That's what I talked to our team about: Let's figure out a way to close this game."
After missing the first game with the Cougars with concussion symptoms, Collette put in his best scoring night as a Ute with 22 points, many of them hard-fought against Washington State's sizeable frontcourt of Josh Hawkinson and Conor Clifford.
Many of them came from where Collette struggles to shot the most: The free throw line. But the junior was 8 for 13 from the stripe on the night, leading a 22 for 31 night as Utah took the most free throws it has attempted in a Pac-12 game this year.
"It was above 50 percent," Collette laughed. "That's good for me."
The hangover from last week's 0-2 road trip seemed to overlap into Utah's early play Thursday night. Ike Iroegbu lapped a slow-starting group of Utes for nine points in the first eight minutes, leading his team to a 19-9 start.
Utah rallied through physical defense. Out of the timeout at the 11:47 mark, the Utes went on a 25-4 run, powered by holding Wazzu to 2 for 16 shooting for the next 10 minutes. That included more than five-and-a-half minutes without a point as coach Ernie Kent fumed on the sideline.
Collette helped lead the rally on the offensive end, scoring 13 in the last 12 minutes of the half for a 35-29 advantage at the break.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Storylines
R David Collette scores a season-high 22 points.
• Utes pull away in the final four minutes.
• Utah shoots 51 percent but only 2 for 15 from deep.