Streaking Utes win fourth game in a row, holding off Washington State

Pullman, Wash. • The Utes won their fourth straight, and they did so without two players in their regular rotation.

Despite a 3-point-fueled flurry in the second half by Washington State, the Utes held off a rally and came away with a 77-70 win in Beasley Coliseum to sweep the season series between the teams as well as the weekend road trip against the Washington schools.

Senior guard Justin Bibbins scored a game-high 24 points, while Gabe Bealer scored 18 points off the bench and Tyler Rawson scored 15 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. The Utes (17-9, 9-6) became the only team in the Pac-12 Conference this season with two conference road sweeps. They started conference play with a road sweep of the Oregon schools.

The Cougars fell to 10-16 overall and 2-12 in the Pac-12 with the loss.

“It was a great win for us,” Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “Really. It’s hard to win on the road, extremely hard to win on the road. The only thing I’m really not pleased about is the number of offensive rebounds they had. That was really our Achilles, and it’s something that we need to focus on if we want to get where we want to be at the end of the season.”

The Utes played without sophomore center Jayce Johnson due to a foot injury, and junior guard Sedrick Barefield felt pain in his rib cage area during warmups. Barefield tried to play, shot an air ball on his only field goal attempt in the opening minutes, and Krystkowiak pulled him out after he noticed Barefield wincing on the court. Barefield played just six minutes.

Despite being short-handed, the Utes looked ready to run the Cougars out of their own building in the middle of the first half. The Utes held their hosts without a field goal for 6 minutes, 50 seconds while they went on a 17-0 run capped by a put-back from Donnie Tillman to give the Utes a 33-13 lead with 5:52 remaining.

However, the Cougars cut the 20-point deficit in half in the final five and half minutes, and the Utes took a 38-28 advantage into the break.

The Cougars’ half-court trap in the second half created problems for the Utes, and it only snowballed when they started to misfire from 3-point range. The Utes took 14 of their first 18 field goals in the second half from behind the arc, but they made just two.

However, the Cougars caught fire in the second half and made 10 of 22 3-pointers. Viont’e Daniels made 4 of 7 in the second half, Malachi Flynn made 3 for 6 and with each one the Cougars grew more confident.

“When our defense wasn’t working, we were playing defense by scoring on offense,” Rawson said with a chuckle. “We did get a few clutch stops right at the end. They did a good job of rebounding. When we actually did get a rebound down the stretch, those were good plays for us.”

The Utes’ lead shrunk to four points, 72-68, with 1:43 remaining after a Daniels’ 3-pointer. The Cougars got the ball back after Arinze Chidom blocked Bibbins’ layup attempt, but Flynn got called for an offensive foul, and Bibbins made a shot high off the glass in traffic on the ensuing possession with 25.9 seconds left. Bibbins made a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left, and the Utes held on for the win.

“I think at the end it came down to some of those turnovers,” Bealer said. “Justin took a charge, they fouled us. We got an and-1 foul. I think it came down to them making more mistakes than us, and it allowed us to pull out the win.”