SALT LAKE CITY — The Runnin' Utes are back on track.
After a tough loss to the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson, Utah was no longer undefeated in the Pac-12 Conference, and the loss seemed to deflate the Utes' confidence a bit.
Utah hosted the Washington State Cougars on Wednesday night, a game in which it looked to regain its confidence and begin another streak of conference wins. When the final buzzer had sounded, the Utes had defeated the Cougars, 86-64.
Why Utah won: Like the game against UNLV in December, the Utes came away with the win thanks to the elite play of their two guards, Delon Wright and Brandon Taylor. Together, the two combined for 35 points, 15 assists, six rebounds and five steals.
With Jakob Poeltl missing the game with an ankle issue, the Utes desperately needed someone to step up and help Wright carry the scoring load. Taylor once again answered the bell, proving once again that he can be relied on for consistent production.
Turning point: With just over minutes left in the first half, the Utes were struggling to find any sort of rhythm, and led Washington State by only two points. That was until Jordan Loveridge hit a 3-pointer, which was the beginning of a 19-2 Utah run to close out the half. During that run, the Utah defense held the Cougars' offense to 0-for-10 on field goal shooting. At halftime, the Utes led 46-27, and despite Washington State's best attempts to overcome the deficit, the margin was too great.
What it means: It means that Utah is back to its old tricks, namely pummeling the opposition of the Pac-12. Utah has been a great team all season long, especially in conference play.
If the Utes can continue to play at a high level against conference opponents, they can pick up enough momentum to have them ready for the rematch against the Arizona Wildcats in February. If they continue to win game after game, it will take only one small slip from the Wildcats for the Utes to reclaim the top spot in the Pac-12.
Grading the teams: Offensively, the Utes played a great game. They shot the ball well, had smooth ball movement and didn't turn the ball over. They got plenty of open looks as they shot 48.3 percent from the field. Despite free throws being a problem all season long, Utah shot 86.4 percent from the free-throw line.
The Utes finished with only four turnovers and racked up 17 assists.
Defensively, the Utes played a decent game as well. Although they allowed the Cougars to shoot 45.7 percent from the field, they racked up 10 steals and forced 17 turnovers. Utah did lose the rebounding battle 35 to 30, but its defensive pressure got the Cougars flustered offensively, and Utah was able to capitalize on its opponent's errors.
Overall, Utah played a near perfect game offensively, and played a high-pressure game defensively, which was enough to capture the win. Although the Utes did lose the rebounding battle, they also didn't have their center Jakob Poeltl for the entire game, whose presence certainly would have made a difference in the rebounding department.
Utah Runnin' Utes grade: A
Washington State has struggled all season long to find its identity. The Cougars are wildly inconsistent, at times beating some decent teams and other times losing to terrible ones.
On Wednesday, the Cougars did a good job of hanging around with the Utes most of the first half, but weren't able to keep up in the end. Utah was clearly the better team.
The Cougars turned the ball over 17 times, which isn't a recipe for success no matter who the opponent is, let alone a Top-15 team like Utah.
Washington State shot the ball well from downtown, hitting 8-of-19 attempts from the 3-point line, but was dreadful from the free-throw line, hitting only 14-of-27.
Overall, the Cougars met a superior team in Utah and their mistakes kept them from keeping the game close the entire way. They did win the rebounding battle, something that is difficult to do against the Utes, even with Poeltl injured.
Washington State Cougars grade: C
Three telling stats:
— The Utes are undefeated in games in which they make 15 or more free-throws. They made 19 on Wednesday against Washington State.
— Without Jakob Poeltl, the Utes posted 30 total rebounds in the game, their second lowest amount of the season. Poeltl is listed as day-to-day, with a possibility of playing on Sunday against Washington.
— Utah shot 86.4 percent from the free-throw line, its highest percent all season.
Up next: On Sunday, the Utes will host the Washington Huskies. The Huskies have a 13-4 record but have lost three of their five Pac-12 Conference games. They have wins against San Diego State — who Utah lost to earlier in the season — and Oklahoma, both of which were ranked teams at the time.
It will be a tough test for Utah, and an exciting game to watch. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app.
You can follow Mitch Kunzler on Twitter at @MitchKunzler.