Huskies Slip From 1st Place in Overtime Loss to Utah
By Ben Renner
The Huskies fell from 1st place in the Pac-12 with an overtime home loss to Utah 80-75 on Sunday.
The Huskies produced a rare excellent defensive effort in the first half against Utah, but couldn’t continue the lockdown in the second half, eventually falling in overtime to the Utes at Hec Ed. Jakob Poeltl scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. After containing the big man in the first half and forcing the Utes to shoot an atrocious 28 percent from the field, the Huskies couldn’t keep the defensive effort up in the second half.
Andrew Andrews once again led the Huskies in scoring with 17 points. He had less than 24 points for just the second time in conference play this year. His normal scoring effort and free-throw prowess wasn’t quite enough to pull ahead of Utah in overtime.
Andrews hit a pair of free throws to bring Washington to within two. Malik Dime crammed home a dunk to tie the game after a crucial stop. Poeltl sank two free throws to give the Utes a slight lead, but after a Washington turnover, Utah’s Kyle Kuzma split a pair of free throws to give the Huskies a chance. With 53 seconds left, Dejounte Murray hoisted a potentially game-tying three pointer, but fell just short. Poeltl was able to ice the game from the free throw line after that.
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Despite the encouraging defensive effort of the first half, this Huskies team under Lorenzo Romar has to find a way to grind out games like this. If they are to survive in conference play for the rest of the season and into March, their run and gun style has to be tempered with solid half-court defense. The Utes were able to climb out of their offensive funk and score at will at times against the Huskies, who needed a clutch three-pointer from David Crisp with 16.5 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Chalk it up as a learning experience for the young Huskies crew. They face a tough road test against the UCLA Bruins next on Thursday. At 5-2 in conference and 13-6 overall, the Huskies ceded first place in the Pac-12 to Oregon, who beat UCLA in Eugene on Saturday.