Utes drop 9th straight as turnovers, shooting woes doom Utah in loss to Wazzu

SALT LAKE CITY — Sometimes stats lie — at least some of them.

Utah shot a comfortable 47% from the field as Washington State only managed 33% and had a six-minute scoring drought in the first half; and yet, the Cougars controlled an 8-point lead at the break.

But the visiting Utes had only eight made baskets — seven of those were assisted — and 13 turnovers to gift Washington State 11 points. And to top it off, Utah finished the last 6:42 of the half without a field goal.

It wasn't a night for offensive success.

That's all before Washington State pulled away in the second half to come away with a 71-54 win at home Wednesday night. The Utes continue their nine-game losing skid with few opportunities to pick up wins in the coming days; it's the longest losing streak in Utah history since the 1935-36 season.

"We're obvious devastated about it," said freshman Lazar Stefanovic, who finished with a team-high 11 points — all in the first half — and the only Utah player to score in double figures. "I think we're a way better team than that, and that we deserve to win more games — we work too hard for it. We've just got to step up, take a stand and be better."

Utah (8-13, 1-10 Pac-12) got starting center Branden Carlson back in the lineup after surgery on his appendix — and even hit a 3-pointer to start the second half — which forced him to miss five games; but after his triple, Utah went back to its scoring drought as the Cougars went on an 18-3 run over a six-minute period.

"It was good to have Brandon back, obviously," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "He had some good things, struggled a little bit with some things, just like our entire team did."

Washington State (11-7, 4-3 Pac-12) used that second-half run to eventually take a game-high 24-point lead, with four players already in double figures midway through the second half. The Cougars had 19 more shot attempts than the Utes and finished the game shooting 37% — and still Utah shot at a better rate (39%).

Tyrell Roberts and Andrej Jakimovski, who got his first start, led the Cougars with 15 points apiece and combined for six of the team's eight 3-pointers on the night. Noah Williams and TJ Bamba added 10 points apiece in the win for Washington State.

But 19 total turnovers for the Utes and a 39-29 rebounding advantage by the Cougars kept Utah out of contention. Utah used an 11-2 run midway through the second half to cut the lead to 15 points, but the surge could not be sustained. Washington State outrebounded Utah 18-6 on the offensive glass.

"They've gotten the best of us both times and really made the game ugly," Smith said. "Their pressure really bothered us through the first half and then, of course, the offensive glass.

"They have great athleticism and size all the way up and down their lineup, and they certainly made us pay that way."

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