University of Washington
Utah
Tough Washington Defense Holds Off Utah 59-57
January 09, 2014 | Men's Basketball
SEATTLE - The Dawgs kicked off Pac-12 play with their eighth-straight win over Arizona State (12-3, 1-1) on Thursday, Jan. 2, beating the Sun Devils 76-65. The following Saturday, Washington kept pace with No. 1 Arizona (15-0, 2-0), but ultimately fell 71-62 to the top-ranked Wildcats. That tough play continued Wednesday night as the Huskies (10-6, 2-1) frustrated Utah (12-3, 1-2), the national leader in field goal percentage (53.2), en route to a 59-57 win.
Washington kept the Utes to a low 26.1 percent from the field in the first half, not allowing them to score until seven minutes into game play. Utah missed all nine shots from behind the 3-point arc. The Huskies' relentless defense also forced two shot clock violations from the Utah offense.
UW shot 40.9 percent, making 9 of 22, including 33.3 percent from the 3-point line.
Both teams struggled with the ball as turnovers resulted in a low scoring first half with UW up 26-21 heading into the break.
The Utes came out of the half scoring the first six points taking the lead 27-26, but the Dawgs answered with a 15-8 run over the following four minutes putting them at a comfortable advantage.
The Utes' Delon Wright led all scorers with 27 points and 11 rebounds. However, Andrew Andrews, C.J. Wilcox, and Nigel Williams-Goss all finished with double-digits, while Utah had only one other player with 10 points or more. Andrews scored a team-high 19 points, Wilcox added 14 points, and Williams-Goss posted 13.
Utah's offense improved to 41.5 percent shooting, keeping the competition close, but Washington was able to hold off the Utes to a nail-biting 59-57 victory.
Next, the Huskies will host No. 15 Colorado (13-2, 2-0) at 12 p.m. PST at Alaska Airlines Arena on Sunday, Jan. 12.
