LAS VEGAS – Utah Holds off Washington in PAC-12 Tournament Opener as Delon Wright scores 15 points and Jordan Loveridge adds 13 as Utes defeat the Huskies 67-61.
Utah (21-10) dominated the first half ending the half leading by ten before Washington rallied in the second to set up a close finish. Dakarai Tucker put the Utes ahead 63-60 on a 3-pointer from the corner with 37 seconds left and Brandon Taylor hit two clutch free throws to finish off the Huskies Wednesday afternoon at the MGM Grand arena.
Utah will next meet the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats Thursday in the PAC-12 Mens basketball quarterfinals. Utah lost both match ups with the wildcats in the regular season.
Washington (17-15) fought back after trailing by 12 in the first half, but couldn’t get shots to fall down the stretch. The Huskies were led by Darin Johnson with 16 points while Williams-Goss had 15 and C.J. Wilcox added 14 for the Huskies.
The Utes came into this year’s tournament having won 3 of their last four games while Washington played a difficult nonconference schedule and had an uneven run through the Pac-12, losing five of six before closing the regular season with two wins in its final three games.