Bonam scores 18 as Utah beats Washington 90-82


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak addressed the play of Lorenzo Bonam and others during a team meeting this week. The Utes were coming off consecutive losses and Bonam was benched in a loss to Oregon on Sunday.

The talk must have struck a chord.

Bonam scored 18 points as Utah defeated Washington 90-82 Wednesday night in Pac-12 play.

The Utes (18-7, 7-5) broke the losing streak and kept themselves on the fringe of the race to win the conference.

"I told our guys after the Oregon game, as much as I'd love to have sit-down touchy-feely meetings and all that kind of stuff, this isn't the time to do it," Krystkowiak said. "It's no secret; you're telling guys things they already know. We aren't going to be very successful if we don't get he (Bonam) and a number of other guys to change some of the mistakes.

"Got to start bringing it. ... It's not a real sensitive time. ... The cards are on the table. If we want to accomplish some goals, we're going to have to tighten it up."

Bonam bounced back in a big way after being held scoreless and getting benched in the 76-66 loss to Oregon. He shot 7 for 9 from the field Wednesday and powered a 16-4 run that pushed the Utes ahead for good. Bonam hit a triple with 8:34 remaining to give Utah a six-point lead, its largest at the time. His steal and layup pushed the lead to 77-65.

"You can see when those bursts come, he's really hard to defend and that gives us a great weapon," Krystkowiak said. "When we know that's in there, I'd certainly like to see it more. He has some physical skills and talent that not anybody on our team has. We've got to get him caught up in terms of some effort and some focus."

Bonam said he met with assistant coach DeMarlo Slocum and talked to others Wednesday morning and decided he wanted to attack more.

"I just basically wanted to come back strong with a different mindset," Bonam said. "I don't like losing, so that just set it off right there."

Jakob Poeltl finished with 23 points for the Utes, Brandon Taylor added 15 and Jordan Loveridge had 16.

Marquese Chriss scored 24 for the Huskies (15-9, 7-5) while Andrew Andrews chipped in 22.

Utah shot a season-high 67.3 percent from the field. That's the highest against Washington since Arizona shot 65.3% in 2007, according to STATS.

"Give Utah credit, they sliced us up," Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "They put us in positions where we had to make decisions defensively and we didn't make very good ones.

"I felt that we had come a (long) way defensively. ... This game here wasn't what I expected at all."

Neither team led by more than five in the first half as neither put together a significant run. Bonam scored seven straight for the Utes during one stretch and Poeltl had six in a row of his own, but Utah led 43-30 at halftime after a Bonam dunk at the buzzer.

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TIP-INS

Washington: The Huskies entered the game ranked No. 57 in RPI. ... Chriss has scored double figures in seven consecutive games.

Utah: The Utes entered the game ranked No. 26 in RPI. ... Kyle Kuzma saw a five-game double-double streak end. ... The Utes are 12-1 at home, including four straight.

BALL CONTROL

Utah entered the game tied for No. 147 in the country with 12.6 turnovers per game. The Utes had 12 in the first half and Washington scored 19 points off those turnovers. The finished with 17 turnovers.

SHAKY D

Neither team defended the rim particularly well. The two teams combined to score 92 in the paint.

DAY OFF

Krystkowiak said he was banning the team from the gym on Thursday. The roster is dealing with several cold and flu-like symptoms and he wants them to take a day to rest.

QUOTABLE

"It's surprising because we're a really aggressive defensive team and everybody on our team loves to play defense," Chriss said. "It was a letdown today."

UP NEXT

Washington travels to face Colorado on Saturday.

Utah hosts Washington State on Sunday.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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