Utah coach Craig Smith compares facing Washington State to a trip to the dentist.
“I say this every year, it’s like having a root canal,” Smith said. “They’re prying in there, digging in there … it’s an ugly, tug-of-war type of basketball.”
The Utes (14-5, 5-3 Pac-12) will have their next appointment against the Cougars (13-6, 4-4) on Wednesday night in Pullman, Wash.
Utah is coming off a sweep of the Oregon schools to improve to 11-0 at home but is just 1-3 on the road.
“We just need to be better,” Smith said. “We don’t have to be perfect, but we do have to play together, get rebounds, play with more physicality, got to handle the crowds and make our free throws.”
Utah could be without a pair of starters in senior guard Rollie Worster and 7-foot-1 center Lawson Lovering, who both sat out last week with leg injuries. The duo combines for averages of 17.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
The Utes defeated Washington State 80-58 at home on Dec. 29 as Gabe Madsen scored a game-high 20 points. Branden Carlson added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Keba Keita had 18 points and 11 rebounds despite playing just 22 minutes because of foul trouble.
Isaac Jones led the Cougars with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Jaylen Wells scored 10. Freshman guard Myles Rice was limited to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting from the field.
The Cougars had a three-game winning streak snapped with an 81-75 overtime loss Saturday at California despite Rice’s tying 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
“We just kind of looked like a deer in the headlights,” Washington State coach Kyle Smith said. “Some of that’s on me. We gotta be a whole lot grittier.”
The Cougars are 9-1 at home, with their only defeat coming to conference co-leader Oregon.
–Field Level Media