Utes Return Home with Win Over Huskies

Thursday, January 18

Salt Lake City, Utah

8:00 PM

University of Utah

11-7, 3-4

Washington

13-6, 3-3

Washington

Utah

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

1/18/2018 11:18 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Utah-UW | Box Score (PDF)

Runnin' Utes snap four-game losing streak with 70-62 win over UW

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah's Justin Bibbins recorded his first-career double-double as a Ute, registering 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to lead the Runnin' Utes to a 70-62 win over the Washington Huskies Thursday evening at the Huntsman Center.

Utah snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory, while improving to 11-7 overall and 3-4 in Pac-12 Conference play. The Huskies dropped to 13-6 overall and 3-3 in the conference standings following the loss.

Utah took a double-digit lead into the locker room, up 35-24, after shooting .407 percent from the field, which included knocking down four three-pointers in the period. The Utes opened the game with a three-pointer from Justin Bibbins and later used a 14-5 run to push its lead to 19-12. Both teams would trade buckets the majority of the final minutes of the period, but Utah did manage to score the half's final five points to take the 11-point lead into the break.

Utah was just 4-of-15 overall from three-point range, but the Ute defense limited the Huskies to just a 1-of-13 effort from downtown in the first half.

Utah led by as many as 13 points, up 53-40, midway through the second half, but Washington would use an 18-9 run to get back within four points, down just 62-58 with 2:09 to play. Utah closed out the final two minutes though, converting on all eight of its free throws down the stretch. Bibbins was 4-of-4 from the charity stripe over the final minute, while David Collette and Sedrick Barefield both managed to knock down both of their attempts.

The Utes will wrap-up its two-game home stand hosting the Washington Cougars this Sunday, Jan. 21. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.

GAME NOTES
• Utah moved to 14-9 all-time against Washington, which includes both a five-game winning streak and an 8-2 record when playing the Huskies at home.
• Utah snapped a four-game losing streak and in the process, avoided losing five straight Pac-12 games for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
• Utah led at the break, 35-24. It was the first double-digit halftime lead since a 41-26 advantage over Northwestern State back on Dec. 20, 2017.
• Utah's defense yielded just one three-pointer from the Huskies in the first half. It was the first time that the Utes held the opponent to one three-pointer or less in the first half since Missouri went 1-for-13 from the arc back on Nov. 16, 2017. Utah finished the game giving up just two three-pointers to the Huskies, which marks a new opponent low on the season (previous mark was four, three times).
• Utah won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Huskies, 44 to 38 on the evening. Prior to this evening, Utah had been out-rebounded in six straight games and nine of the last 10.
• Bibbins registered at least 20 points in a game for the fourth time this season. His 10 rebounds are a new season-high, surpassing his previous high mark of eight boards that he collected against Eastern Washington.
• Donnie Tillman, who made his second consecutive start, scored 14 points. He was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down eight rebounds.
• Collette chipped in with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
• Tyler Rawson and Bibbins led the team with five assists each. Utah totaled 14 assists to UW's six assists on the evening. Utah is 10-3 on the season when registering more assists than its opponent.

POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
What changes they made to prepare for this game …
It was a good win for us. That team leads our conference in turning the other team over, blocked shots - there is a lot of length, you can kind of see what it would be like on a regular basis, you know, to match up with the Syracuse zone and the concepts that they have. I thought that the most part we did a really good job in was the high post. The passing was pretty darn good and we know we were going to turn it over, and 14 turnovers, if you were to ask me before the game based on how they played maybe 12… but this team can turn you over 20 times and that was a key I thought.

Their press-break, I don't believe, we turned it over once in the press break at all so that was a favorable one and you know rebounding wise, it's been a long time since we have out-rebounded another team and I wasn't pleased that we gave up 17 offensive rebounds, but we also got 18 offensive rebounds and I thought that might have been the difference in the game, particularly late when we were missing shots and we had a number of guys that were going and getting the second ones and we were able to take a little more time and knock free throws down. I think our guys were a little bit frustrated and I thought we played with an awful lot of energy for the most part. We still made mistakes, but did enough to get a win against a quality team.

Washington Head Coach Mike Hopkins
On the game …
We came out flat. Our backs were against the wall. Just the way the game started we didn't set the tone. I thought they just came out and attacked us, played more aggressive, and wanted it more than we did. Three or four loose balls at the beginning of the game that they got. We had Bibbins on the scouting report and he got free for a couple ones. We have to commend Utah. They did a very good job of how they wanted to attack us. They limited us on their big defense and they iced us down. We held the ball a little bit too much and we didn't have great rhythm. The second half I thought we fought and that's what I wanted. I told the team that we aren't going to win many games shooting 38 percent from the field, 11 from the three, and 55 from the foul line, especially in a league like this. If you do that, you need to be able to compete and fight. We have been fighting at the end of games but it has got to be a full on fight from the beginning and that's the only way you have a chance to win if you're shooting those stats.

On his emotions and enthusiasm during the game …
I just think the biggest thing for coaching is, I've said it, we want to keep it at 72 degrees. If you feel it is 55, you have to bring it up to 72 and that is challenging your team sometimes. They are kids. 18, 19, and 20-year-old kids and they have a full-time job going to school, not a full-time job, but the hours that they put in and they are on the road, traveling and playing, so they have a lot. Sometimes they do need to be inspired, sometimes they need to be yelled at, and sometimes they need to be as my mom would say, 'kicked in the butt'. These guys, they fought. They just need to do it for 40 minutes. We didn't shoot very well. We got great shots and we have good shooters. The games that we played well, we've been good offensively. That is where we can do a little bit better job as coaches is getting them in better positions.