Utah’s game at Washington State on Wednesday night had a familiar feel to it for the Runnin’ Utes — and not in a good way.
Several key issues crept up again for the visitors at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman, Washington, in a 79-57 loss in which the Cougars pulled away in the game’s final 10 minutes.
Utah, already down starters Rollie Worster and Lawson Lovering, lost rising star Deivon Smith with 6:23 left in the first half when he was injured contesting a 3 and had to be helped off the court.
Smith spent considerable time on the trainer’s table with ice on his right foot before he eventually returned to the bench in the second half.
That wasn’t the only concerning issue for Utah, though, as it fell to 0-4 on the road in conference play.
Once again, being on the wrong end of the rebounding battle and at the free-throw line cost the Utes (14-6, 5-4 Pac-12), who entered the night just a half-game out of first place in the Pac-12 standings.
“It’s just very straightforward. You’ve got to rebound, and we’re fouling too much and we’re not getting fouled. You just do the math, that’s the game,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said.
Washington State ended up outrebounding Utah 40-29. That included a 14-10 edge on the offensive glass, leading to the Cougars owning a 21-4 advantage in second-chance points.
“That’s a hard one to swallow,” Craig Smith said, of the wide gap in second-chance points.
The home team was also more assertive in getting to the free-throw line. Washington State made 16 of 24, including 9 of 14 in the first half, to help it pull ahead early and lead much of the night.
Utah, meanwhile, made just 3 of 7 free throws, including a concerning 1 of 4 in the second half.
“Obviously when you get outshot by that much, it’s gonna affect the outcome of the game. We’ve just got to be strong in the paint and continue to get downhill and just play through contact,” Utah guard Gabe Madsen said.
The Utes did have an edge with points in the paint, outscoring Washington State 40-32. Branden Carlson led the Utes with 20 points and three rebounds, while Keba Keita nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
That was one of the few positives in a frustrating night on the Palouse, where Utah far too often settled for lower-percentage shots en route to shooting 42.4% against a stingy Washington State defense.
Even then, Utah stuck around deep into the second half after Washington State led 33-30 at the break.
Madsen, who went nearly the entire first half without scoring before adding a three-point play before intermission, scored seven points in the first eight minutes of the second half and ended up with 14 points, including a pair of 3-point makes.
The Utes pulled within two at 51-49 with 11:05 to play on a Keita jumper, the fourth time Utah made it a one-possession game in the second half.
Much like the Utes’ last road loss at Stanford, though, Utah could never get over the hump to retake the lead.
Over the next minute, the Cougars’ Isaiah Watts hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push Washington State’s lead back to eight points.
That was the start of a 15-2 Cougars run that put the game away.
Washington State (14-6, 5-4 Pac-12), after making just 35.5% of its shots in the first half, shot 60.7% in the second half to finish 47.5% for the game.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Cougars, led by Isaac Jones, who had 17 points, 10 rebounds and two steals. Andrej Jakimovski added 14 points and three rebounds.
“This Washington State, they’re a good team, make life hard on you. They’re physical. They’re rugged,” Craig Smith said.
Meanwhile, after Carlson made a jumper to make it 59-51 with 9:12 remaining, the Utes missed seven of their last nine shots and didn’t have a field-goal attempt in the final 2:30.
Five of Utah’s 11 turnovers came during the game’s final 10 minutes, and three in the last three-plus minutes when the game was well in hand.
“I think it just came down to getting stops and rebounding,” Madsen said. “It was just something we talked about coming into the game and just weren’t able to execute that down the stretch.”
The Utah coach said he didn’t have an update on Deivon Smith’s ailment, outside of calling it a lower leg injury, and whether the point guard would be available or not for the team’s next game Saturday at Washington.
“We’ve got to prepare for life without him and so it’s a next-man-up mentality,” he said.
With three key players out, that left guys such as Hunter Erickson (who started the second half for the Utes at point guard), Luka Tarlac and Jayden Teat getting extended minutes.
“It’s a part of the game, probably the worst part of the game is getting hurt. At the end of the day, you know, we can’t make excuses about it,” Madsen said.
“We were right in that game, and we always talk about next man up mentality and you know, like I said, we’re right in that and it just kind of got away from us.”
The net result of the night left the Utes still searching for answers on how to overcome their road woes.
“We didn’t make enough plays on either end,” Craig Smith said. “It’s just hard when you think we only had eight stops in the second half. It’s hard to get separation when you’re not stopping anybody.”
What’s next?
The Utes will stay on the road for a game at Washington on Saturday (8 p.m. MST, ESPN2).
The Huskies hosted Colorado but lost 98-81 late Wednesday night.
Utah will then be off for a week before playing Colorado at the Huntsman Center on Saturday, Feb. 3.