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SALT LAKE CITY — Sophomore guard Terrance Ross sunk the two decisive free throws with eight ticks left on the clock to ensure Washington's 57-53 win over Utah (4-11, 1-2), Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.
Ross led Washington (9-6, 3-1) with 14 points and five boards, hitting 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Junior center Aziz N'Diaye, hailing from Senegal, was the team's second- leading scorer, with nine points with six boards.
It was a rough homecoming for Washington sophomore guard C.J. Wilcox. The ex- Pleasant Grove High star went just 2 of 13 from the field, including 1 for 5 from 3-point land, against the Utah team that once attempted to recruit him.
The one 3-pointer Wilcox did make came with 15:18 to go in the contest, and put the Huskies up by 10, their largest lead of the game.
But the Utes fought back, rallying behind senior guard Josh Watkins, who scored nine of the next 11 Utah points to narrow the deficit to one point, 43-42, with 9:05 remaining.
When Washington stretched its lead back to seven points, junior guard Cedric Martin hit a big 3-pointer to get Utah back into it with just over four minutes left.
With a 50-47 score and 3:32 to go, it looked as if the Utes were about to get a key stop with the shot clock winding down, but Ross hit a 3-point dagger to stretch the lead back out to six with under three minutes on the clock.
"We battled really hard," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "We had some mental breakdowns and some game-plan breakdowns that really hurt us. We missed some open shots at times. The one play I think of was really kind of a back-breaker was when there was a couple minutes to go and (Ross) hit the big 3 with one second on the shot clock after we defended really well."
"Their guys just hit tough shots at the end of shot clocks," Watkins said. "We stuck to the game plan and played hard to the end, 40 minutes of basketball. Their guys just hit tough shots at the end of shot clocks, which gave them the lead."
The Utes proved once again that they weren't going down without a fight. With 19 seconds to go on the clock, Martin nailed another shot from long range to narrow the deficit to 55-53.
"I’m satisfied that we really didn’t give up, and we showed heart the whole game," Martin said.
But it was too little too late. Ross sunk two free throws, and the Utah rally fell short.
"I thought (Tony) Wroten and C.J. (Wilcox), we did a good job (defending)," Krystkowiak said. "Those were the first two guys on the list. And like a lot of good teams, the (UW) supporting cast stepped up, and (Ross) made some big baskets for them, and really made a big difference."
Watkins led all scorers with 18 points. He also had three rebounds and three steals in the loss. Martin finished with 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range, and junior center Jason Washburn had six points and seven boards.
Junior forward Dijon Farr got into early foul trouble, being called for two quick fouls within one second just before the 12-minute mark in the first half. He finished with four points and a career-high eight rebounds.
Sophomore forward Javon Dawson also had a career-high number of rebounds, grabbing six to go with his five points.
Utah managed to outrebound Washington 33-32, but shot just 37.3 percent from the floor to the Huskies' 42.9 percent.
After posting a positive assist-to-turnover ratio Thursday night, the Utes finished the game Saturday with just six assists to 12 turnovers.
The Utah defense played a superb game, however, holding a fast-paced, high-scoring UW offense to a season-low 57 points. The Huskies were held to just 32.3 percent from the field during the first half.
"It’s really positive to be able to keep teams down, particularly a pretty high-powered team in Washington that scores a lot of points," Krystkowiak said. "And for them to be in the 50s, that’s good for us. That’s what we’re going to have to do. We’ve got to compete defensively."
"Once we get our minds focused and buckle down on defense, we can do anything," Watkins said. "It’s a team effort; one guy falls down, the next guy helps him. It’s just a family thing."
"We were hustling, battling, hitting people, getting a little grimey," Martin said. "That’s where the center of our team should be — on defense — and we’re getting better at it."
"I think we played hard enough to win," Washburn added. "A few key mistakes are always the reason in a really close game, and you can probably find one in all of us who played tonight."
Despite the loss, Utah made some very positive strides over the past week that Krystkowiak hopes to continue to build on going forward.
"We haven't been a consistent team, where the effort has backed itself up," he said. "I didn't write 'play hard' on the board pre-game, like I had done in all the other games. I am hoping that — because we are getting a little taste of it — it becomes just a given, like putting on your shoes and getting dressed for the game. That is just something that goes without saying.
"So I challenged our guys tonight to prove it. It was a lot of fun to see (them) compete. Giving ourselves a chance to win down the stretch very much validated what was, in my mind, a very positive week, from Monday all the way through the final horn (today)."
The Utes' next game will be Thursday in Palo Alto, Calif., where they will take on Stanford. Tipoff from Maples Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. MT.
