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Thursday, January 23
Salt Lake City, UT
6:00 PM
University of Utah
11-7,2-4Pac-12
67
vs
66
Washington
12-8,2-5Pac-12
1
2
F
Washington
28
38
66
Utah
24
43
67
Jones, Battin Come Up Clutch in Comeback Win Over Huskies
1/23/2020 9:54 PM | Men's Basketball
The Utes overcame a 12-point deficit Thursday night to defeat Washington 67-66 behind clutch plays from Rylan Jones and Riley Battin.
SALT LAKE CITY – The Jon M. Huntsman Center saw another instant classic Thursday night as Rylan Jones and Riley Battin came up with clutch plays down the stretch for the Utes in their 67-66 come from behind victory over the visiting Washington Huskies.
With 5:25 left to go and down 56-45, an and-1 play from Jones cut the UW lead down to 56-48 and became the impetus of a 22-10 run to close out the game for Utah (11-7, 2-4 Pac-12). After a back-and-forth exchange, a big 3-pointer from Timmy Allen brought lead down to 60-55 before Naziah Carter hit a jumper on the other end.
With 2:32 left to go, A six-point play ensued for the Utes after Washington's Jaden McDaniels was called for a dead ball technical after Jones was fouled at the hoop, giving Utah four free throws between Mikael Jantunen – who was fouled – and Jones. After knocking down all four, Jones drew a foul beyond the arc and knocked down 2-of-3 to cut the deficit down to 62-61.
The Huskies (12-8, 2-5 Pac-12) answered with a quick four points to make it a two-possession game, 66-61, before Allen and Jones knocked down the next six free throws, including the one that gave Utah the go-ahead (67-66) lead with 14 seconds remaining from Jones. Battin then came up clutch in the waning seconds after that, and drew a charge on Washington's Jamal Bey with 0.8 ticks left on the clock to secure the victory.
The Utah offense looked much improved and like its old self in the opening minutes of the first half and took an early 7-0 lead against the Huskies. That run saw Washington take a timeout just 1:47 into the game before Marcus Tsohonis recorded the first basket for UW (17:10).
With Utah leading 10-4, the Huskies mounted a 10-0 run and headed into the 7:55 media break on top 14-12 after a nice hook shot from Lahat Thioune at the low block. Another 5-0 run saw UW push its lead to 19-12 before back-to-back triples from Riley Battin closed the gap to 22-19 with 3:51 left in the first half.
A bucket from Branden Carlson followed by free throws from Battin brought the Utes within 28-24 of the Huskies heading into the break. Utah headed into the half dishing out an assists on all eight field goals it made in the half and was 12-for-12 before Jantunen's put-back at the 12:20 mark in the second stanza.
Battin finished with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds while Jones and Allen each added 13 points apiece. Allen, who played 38:08 of the game, was just a rebound shy of his sixth double-double. Jantunen rounded out the list of double-digit scorers for Utah with 10 points and four boards on 4-of-4 shooting.
BY THE NUMBERS
With the win, Utah is now 16-11 all-time against Washington and 10-5 in Pac-12 play … the win also snapped a two-game losing-streak against the Huskies … the last time Utah had eight-plus steals in a game was against Central Arkansas (12/7) with 11 … the nine assists for Jones was the second-most this season behind his 11 against Mississippi Valley State (11/8) … Utah went 13-of-14 from the line in the final 5:25 of the game, nine of which came from Jones … Jones also had 13 of the Utes' final 22 points – including the go-ahead free throw … the last time Utah had four players in double-figures was vs. #6/6 Kentucky (12/18) … the 24 free-throws by Utah is just the fifth time this season it has knocked down 20-plus in a game … Utah (.339) defeated Washington (.511) despite the Huskies having a much better night shooting from the floor – giving the Utes their first win when being outshot by an opponent this season.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On Jones hitting clutch shots in multiple games as a freshman…
"It's comforting to know that he's out there and it's amazing to make the free throws but to have nine assists in that ball game where it seemed like we made about six shots. It was really hard scoring against the zone and our guys stayed in the fight, it's grindy and that's hard to score against. I thought a couple of the big keys for us team wise was to have 10 turnovers and I think we had eight at half time and when you're that bad offensively sometimes you quit and it takes the life out of the team and the building. The other big key was to be able to out rebound that team by nine because they are one of our conference's elite rebounding teams. We hung our hat on some of the staples of taking care of it, rebounding it and on a night where the offense was a struggle we managed to make enough plays going down the stretch and we found a little momentum, the building came to life and I just thought it was a heck of a performance."
Coach K on coaching a freshman with much moxie and showing he can do it in late game situations…
"Yeah I can't really say that I have. He's comforting, a tough kid and he's been on a steep learning curve and roller coaster and it's hard with the stretch that we just went through. When you think about the elite point guards, I think it started with Ethan Thompson, Peyton Prichard, McKinley Wright, Nico Mannion and Remy Martin. That's five elite point guards for a freshman to start out our league and he has his hands full all the time and hasn't been playing maybe up to his standards, our team has kind of been struggling, but certainly in this building he's been a guy. If you think back on a couple games, he's stepped up and made big plays. From a coaching perspective it's nice to have somebody on the floor, certainly freshman or senior, but to know he is going to be around here for a minute is always good to have that moxie and toughness and I think he's grown and is doing a really nice job."
Freshman Point Guard #15 Rylan Jones
On how the team kept its head up with a four-game losing streak and down 12…
"There's no quit in this team. We're a bunch of tough kids, we just want to play hard and win. We weren't going to give up, we wanted to get off this losing streak and get to eleven wins. Our crowd was great, they gave us the energy we needed. It felt like we hadn't had a home game in a month. We weren't going to give up tonight."
Listen to "Runnin' Ute Full Highlights vs. Washington Huskies - 1-23-20" on Spreaker.
UP NEXT
The Utes remain home to wrap up the home series as they play host to Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 25, for a 5 p.m. (MT) tip-off inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Guy Haberman will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast alongside Don MacLean on first responders and military appreciation night. Fans are also encouraged to bring a new stuff animal for the halftime teddy bear toss.
With 5:25 left to go and down 56-45, an and-1 play from Jones cut the UW lead down to 56-48 and became the impetus of a 22-10 run to close out the game for Utah (11-7, 2-4 Pac-12). After a back-and-forth exchange, a big 3-pointer from Timmy Allen brought lead down to 60-55 before Naziah Carter hit a jumper on the other end.
??????
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 24, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/hoMPqZJ5sr
With 2:32 left to go, A six-point play ensued for the Utes after Washington's Jaden McDaniels was called for a dead ball technical after Jones was fouled at the hoop, giving Utah four free throws between Mikael Jantunen – who was fouled – and Jones. After knocking down all four, Jones drew a foul beyond the arc and knocked down 2-of-3 to cut the deficit down to 62-61.
The Huskies (12-8, 2-5 Pac-12) answered with a quick four points to make it a two-possession game, 66-61, before Allen and Jones knocked down the next six free throws, including the one that gave Utah the go-ahead (67-66) lead with 14 seconds remaining from Jones. Battin then came up clutch in the waning seconds after that, and drew a charge on Washington's Jamal Bey with 0.8 ticks left on the clock to secure the victory.
RYLAN JONES!!!
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 24, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/2D9I3pOmTM
The Utah offense looked much improved and like its old self in the opening minutes of the first half and took an early 7-0 lead against the Huskies. That run saw Washington take a timeout just 1:47 into the game before Marcus Tsohonis recorded the first basket for UW (17:10).
With Utah leading 10-4, the Huskies mounted a 10-0 run and headed into the 7:55 media break on top 14-12 after a nice hook shot from Lahat Thioune at the low block. Another 5-0 run saw UW push its lead to 19-12 before back-to-back triples from Riley Battin closed the gap to 22-19 with 3:51 left in the first half.
?????? for @battin_riley
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 24, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/DFHnlDJJcJ
A bucket from Branden Carlson followed by free throws from Battin brought the Utes within 28-24 of the Huskies heading into the break. Utah headed into the half dishing out an assists on all eight field goals it made in the half and was 12-for-12 before Jantunen's put-back at the 12:20 mark in the second stanza.
Battin finished with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds while Jones and Allen each added 13 points apiece. Allen, who played 38:08 of the game, was just a rebound shy of his sixth double-double. Jantunen rounded out the list of double-digit scorers for Utah with 10 points and four boards on 4-of-4 shooting.
"It's not how big you are … it's how BIG you play." @BillWalton was impressed with a "giant" performance from not-so-giant @rylanjones15 tonight. ??@UtahMBB | #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/vKLu8ZQFnh
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 24, 2020
BY THE NUMBERS
With the win, Utah is now 16-11 all-time against Washington and 10-5 in Pac-12 play … the win also snapped a two-game losing-streak against the Huskies … the last time Utah had eight-plus steals in a game was against Central Arkansas (12/7) with 11 … the nine assists for Jones was the second-most this season behind his 11 against Mississippi Valley State (11/8) … Utah went 13-of-14 from the line in the final 5:25 of the game, nine of which came from Jones … Jones also had 13 of the Utes' final 22 points – including the go-ahead free throw … the last time Utah had four players in double-figures was vs. #6/6 Kentucky (12/18) … the 24 free-throws by Utah is just the fifth time this season it has knocked down 20-plus in a game … Utah (.339) defeated Washington (.511) despite the Huskies having a much better night shooting from the floor – giving the Utes their first win when being outshot by an opponent this season.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On Jones hitting clutch shots in multiple games as a freshman…
"It's comforting to know that he's out there and it's amazing to make the free throws but to have nine assists in that ball game where it seemed like we made about six shots. It was really hard scoring against the zone and our guys stayed in the fight, it's grindy and that's hard to score against. I thought a couple of the big keys for us team wise was to have 10 turnovers and I think we had eight at half time and when you're that bad offensively sometimes you quit and it takes the life out of the team and the building. The other big key was to be able to out rebound that team by nine because they are one of our conference's elite rebounding teams. We hung our hat on some of the staples of taking care of it, rebounding it and on a night where the offense was a struggle we managed to make enough plays going down the stretch and we found a little momentum, the building came to life and I just thought it was a heck of a performance."
Coach K on coaching a freshman with much moxie and showing he can do it in late game situations…
"Yeah I can't really say that I have. He's comforting, a tough kid and he's been on a steep learning curve and roller coaster and it's hard with the stretch that we just went through. When you think about the elite point guards, I think it started with Ethan Thompson, Peyton Prichard, McKinley Wright, Nico Mannion and Remy Martin. That's five elite point guards for a freshman to start out our league and he has his hands full all the time and hasn't been playing maybe up to his standards, our team has kind of been struggling, but certainly in this building he's been a guy. If you think back on a couple games, he's stepped up and made big plays. From a coaching perspective it's nice to have somebody on the floor, certainly freshman or senior, but to know he is going to be around here for a minute is always good to have that moxie and toughness and I think he's grown and is doing a really nice job."
Freshman Point Guard #15 Rylan Jones
On how the team kept its head up with a four-game losing streak and down 12…
"There's no quit in this team. We're a bunch of tough kids, we just want to play hard and win. We weren't going to give up, we wanted to get off this losing streak and get to eleven wins. Our crowd was great, they gave us the energy we needed. It felt like we hadn't had a home game in a month. We weren't going to give up tonight."
Listen to "Runnin' Ute Full Highlights vs. Washington Huskies - 1-23-20" on Spreaker.
UP NEXT
The Utes remain home to wrap up the home series as they play host to Washington State on Saturday, Jan. 25, for a 5 p.m. (MT) tip-off inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Guy Haberman will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast alongside Don MacLean on first responders and military appreciation night. Fans are also encouraged to bring a new stuff animal for the halftime teddy bear toss.
###
Team Stats
UW
Utah
FG%
.511
.339
3FG%
.450
.125
FT%
.786
.750
RB
29
38
TO
17
10
STL
7
8
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
13
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
9
Pts
10
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Eric Weddle
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