Delon Wright
Delon Wright and Brandon Taylor put their talents together and brought the Utes to victory of Washington State Wednesday 86-64. Taylor scored 18 points and handed out seven assists while Wright had 17 points and eight assist as the Utes (15-3, 5-1 Pac-12) rebounded from their loss to arizona by returning to their winning ways at home, where Utah has defeated 31 straight unranked opponents.
Taylor, who was 6 for 8 from the field and made four 3-pointers was also supported by Jordan Loveridge scored 14 points for Utah, which played without Jakob Poeltl who had hurt his ankle on a dunk during the Arizona game where his head hit the rim and he landed awkwardly on his ankle.
Brandon Taylor
WSU was led by DaVonte Lacy who scored 15 points and Jordan Railey had 12 for the Cougars (9-9, 3-3). Josh Hawkinson had 12 points and 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season.
The game could have been capsulized in one play that gave Utah a 78-58 cushion. Wright nabbed his third steal on an entry pass, found Taylor on the fast break, and he threw an alley-oop pass to Dakarai Tucker for a layup. Taylor’s 3-pointer gave Utah a 60-42 advantage, but the Cougars took advantage of a Utes cold spell and made three 3-pointers in a row. Brett Boese, who had 12 points, hit a long-range jumper that drew the Cougars to 62-52 with 10:54 to play.
Jordan Loveridge
Washington State led by four early and trailed 27-25 before the Utes picked up the pressure and prevented the Cougars from converting another field goal the rest of the half.
On the other end, Loveridge sparked a 19-2 run with a 3-pointer while getting fouled. The Utes led 46-27 at the break.
The Utes made 19 of 22 free throws while the Cougars lost their chance to stay in the game by going 14 for 27 from the line.
Utah: Dallin Bachynski started at center in place of Poeltl. Bachynski limped off the court with a leg injury early in the second half but did return. … Utah has won 13 straight at home against Washington State after dropping the first meeting on Dec. 14, 1946. … Utah had 10 steals to one for WSU.
Utah vs Washington State
Next up for Washington State is Colorado on Saturday and Utah will host Washington on Sunday in their second of three home Sunday games.
Utah guard Delon Wright
Utah Forward Brekkott Chapman