I thought that (Washington State) pretty much dominated the paint and the glass and with a lot of their post-ups put us in a bad way. – Larry Krystkowiak

SALT LAKE CITY — Although the end result proved to be a positive, the 12th-ranked Utah Utes weren’t totally satisfied with their 86-64 win over Washington State. They were particularly unhappy to be outrebounded (35-30) by the Cougars.

It was an area of emphasis after Saturday’s 69-51 setback at Arizona when the Wildcats won the battle of the boards by a 40-19 margin.

“That’s the third time this year that we’ve been out rebounded,” said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak. “And that was one of the focal points for us, especially after getting pounded by Arizona.”

Even though Utah (15-3, 5-1) was without starting center Jakob Poeltl, who was out with an ankle injury, Krystkowiak noted that the Utes still had some big bodies down there to contend for position.

“I thought that (Washington State) pretty much dominated the paint and the glass and with a lot of their post-ups put us in a bad way,” he said.

The Utes wound up with just six offensive rebounds and only three second-chance points.

“We just have to be more physical and box out,” said Utah center Jeremy Olsen. “There were a lot of long rebounds but somehow we have to get to those balls.”

The next chance comes Sunday when the Utes host Washington (6:30 p.m., ESPNU).

Utah enters the contest on the heels of some otherwise strong performances. The starting backcourt of Brandon Taylor and Delon Wright played well against Washington State. They teamed for 35 points, 15 assists and five steals. They directed an offense that only turned the ball over four times.

Krystkowiak also credited Taylor and Wright for setting the tone defensively. Washington State wound up with 17 turnovers.

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“Utah is a very good basketball team. I thought they played extremely well tonight in the game,” said Washington State coach Ernie Kent. “They kept their composure, even when we started to get pretty sharp.”

The Cougars closed a 46-27 halftime deficit to 10 at one point before the Utes pulled away once again.

Email: dirk@desnews.com

Twitter: @DirkFacer

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