Runnin' Utes Return to Huntsman Center to Host Washington State this Thursday

Thursday, February 9

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Washington State

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Runnin' Utes Return to Huntsman Center to Host Washington State this Thursday

2/7/2017 8:53 AM | Men's Basketball

Complete Game Notes vs. Washington State (PDF)

Utes looking to get back on track with two-game home stand

Game 24 \| Utah (15-8, 6-5) vs. Washington State (11-12, 4-7)
DATE	Thursday, Feb. 9, 2017 \| 7 p.m. MST
LOCATION	Huntsman Center \| Salt Lake City
TELEVISION	Pac-12 Networks \| Pac-12 LIVE
RADIO	ESPN 700
LIVE STATS	Live Stats
SERIES/STREAK	Utah leads, 20-4 \| Utah, Won 6
LAST GAME	Utah 88, Washington State 47 \| Jan. 18, 2017

FAST BREAKS
• Utah continues to rank among the top-10 teams in the nation in field goal percentage, ranking second in the Pac-12 and No. 5 overall among all NCAA teams with a .510 shooting percentage on the season.
• Utah ranks second in the Pac-12 and No. 8 in the nation with 29.2 defensive rebounds per game. The Utes, who tally 39.4 total rebounds and give up just 31.3 boards to opposing teams, rank No. 10 in the nation and first overall in the Pac-12 with a +8.1 rebounding margin.
• Junior Kyle Kuzma has tallied a league-best 14 double-doubles on the year, with eight of those coming in Pac-12 play. Kuzma has registered a double-double in three straight games and eight of his past nine contests.
• Kuzma and senior Lorenzo Bonam became Utah's first duo this season to eclipse 300+ points each on the season. Bonam has 300 points, while Kuzma has a team-leading 337 points scored on the year.

THE GAME
The Utah Runnin' Utes (15-8, 6-5) will look to snap a two-game skid, hosting both Washington schools this week.

Utah opens the two-game home stand hosting the Washington State Cougars (11-12, 4-7) this Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Huntsman Center. Tip-off between the Utes and Cougars is set for 7 p.m. MST.

The Utes wrap-up its two-game home stand against the Washington Huskies (9-14, 2-9) this Saturday, Feb. 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. MST in Salt Lake City. The game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1.

COVERING THE RUNNIN' UTES
Thursday's contest will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Spero Dedes will call the action, while Mike Montgomery provides color commentary for the game.

Fans can also follow the action on-line by logging onto Pac-12.com/live or watching via smart phones and tablets using the Pac-12 Now App, which can be downloaded at the Apple Store, Google Play Store or Amazon Apps Store.

Additionally, the game can be found on the Utah Sports Radio Network (ESPN 700). Bill Riley will provide play-by-play, with the assistance of in-game analyst Jimmy Soto.

Live stats will be provided for the game with links to the contest found at www.UtahUtes.com or www.StatBroadcast.com.

LAST TIME OUT
The Utes dropped a road contest at Stanford on Saturday, falling 81-75 to the Cardinal at Maples Pavilion.
• Junior Tyler Rawson scored a career-high 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included a 4-of-6 effort from beyond the three-point line.
• Junior Kyle Kuzma registered his 14th double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• Junior David Collette rounded out Utah's double-digit scoring efforts with 12 points. He also tallied a career-high three assists and three blocked shots in the game.
• Utah shot 44 percent from the field, but gave up a 54.5 shooting percentage to Stanford, which included a 64.3 percent effort from the Cardinal in the second half.
• Utah tallied 15+ assists for the 12th time this season, posting 17 assists against the Cardinal.

SCOUTING WASHINGTON STATE
• Washington State is coming off a pair of losses to both Los Angeles-based schools, most recently an 86-77 defeat to USC this past Saturday.
• Despite its 4-7 Pac-12 record, the Cougars have won two of the past five conference games.
• The Cougars rank ninth in the Pac-12 in scoring (71.3) and 10th in the league in scoring-defense (76.7).
• WSU does manage to lead the Pac-12 in free throw shooting, having converted .767 (312-of-407) of its attempts from the charity stripe.
• WSU's .459 (591-of-1288) field goal percentage ranks fifth among all Pac-12 teams.
• The Cougars are allowing opposing squads to shoot .456 from the field, which ranks 11th in the league.
• The Cougars are netting just 32.3 rebounds per game, which ranks last in Pac-12.
• Josh Hawkinson leads WSU, averaging a double-double on the season with 16.0 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. His 12 double-doubles is tied for second-most in the league.
• Ike Iroegbu has a team-high 79 assists, while Charles Callison leads the way with 31 steals on the year.
• Hawkinson (20 blocked shots) and Conor Clifford (16 blocks) lead the way for the Cougars inside the paint, combining for 36 of WSU's 67 total blocks on the season.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE COUGARS
The Utes pulled away for an 88-47 win over the Cougars in Pullman back on Jan. 18. Utah now leads the all-time series 20-4 overall and has six straight dating back to the 2013-14 season.

Utah is 14-1 all-time when facing the Cougars in Salt Lake City. Utah's 14-game home winning streak over the Cougars dates back to 1952. The last time a WSU team defeated the Utes in Salt Lake City was back on Dec. 14, 1946. The Utes have won by 18 points or more in three of the last four games played at the Huntsman Center.

The Utes have defeated WSU by scores of 41 points in each of the two previous contests, including the contest in Pullman earlier this season, along with another 88-47 victory over the Cougars in Salt Lake City last season.