Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
LAS VEGAS — In a game where little separated the two teams, at least in offensive production, at the T-Mobile Arena as part of the Pac-12 men's basketball tournament, any turnovers committed were only magnified.
With Washington up by 3 points with nine seconds left in the first half, Rollie Worster stepped out of bounds on the baseline as he drove to make it at least a 1-point game — no points. It was a little mistake in a 40-minute game where no team led by more than 6 points in the first half, but it was enough to showcase the razor-thin margin needed by Utah to beat Washington.
Utah had only six turnovers in the first half, which resulted in 8 points on the other end for Washington, but it was enough for the Huskies to control a 3-point halftime lead.
"I thought we really competed hard the first half," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "And going down three at halftime, we felt good about where we were at. And they made some plays. They made some difficult plays on us — finished some tough baskets."
The turnovers only increased in the second half for the Utes — the team ended with 16 on the night — and so did the points for Washington as the higher-seeded team defeated Utah 82-70 in the first round of the conference tournament Wednesday. The double-digit turnovers resulted in 21 points for Washington.
"When you look at the numbers, they got 21 points off of our turnovers," Smith said. "And when you lose by 12, that's, at the end of the day, the difference in the game."
Washington advances to the quarterfinal round where they will play No. 3 USC Thursday (9:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Networks). With the loss, Utah's season ends in Craig Smith's first season as the head coach with the program.
The two teams remained locked up for much of the game until midway through the second half when Washington started to pull away. What turned out to be an extended run was capped off with a steal by Washington's Daejon Davis against Jaxon Brenchley. Davis scored a layup in transition to give Washington then its largest lead of the game, 13 points.
The lead eventually ballooned to 15 points for Washington, and Utah had little left in the tank to combat a Huskies team with all the momentum.
"At the end of the day, when you give up 1.32 points a possession, that's just too much, and it's hard to overcome," Smith said. "So they're a good team. They pose some issues for a lot of different teams."
Washington's Terrell Brown Jr. had his way against Utah all night and led the team with 22 points, five assists and four rebounds. He was joined in double figures with three other players, including Jamal Bey (19 points), Cole Bajema (16 points) and Emmitt Matthews Jr. (10 points).
"Brown is a heck of a player," Smith said. "I've been doing this 26 years, and he's such a unique guy. He doesn't shoot many 3s, doesn't make many 3s. And for him to lead the Pac-12 in scoring, he just puts a lot of pressure on you. You've got to game plan for things he can do. I thought we did a good job. He gets 22 points, but it took 19 shot attempts to get that."
Marco Anthony led Utah with 18 points and three rebounds. Branden Carlson added 14 points and six rebounds, and Gabe Madsen had 12 points, all of which came from behind the 3-point line, and two rebounds. Rollie Worster finished the night with a team-high eight rebounds on a night when Utah outrebounded Washington 34-30.
