Huskies latest Utes victims
All six of Utah’s Pac-12 wins by double figures
SALT LAKE CITY – Dakarai Tucker scored a career-high 19 points, Brandon Taylor added 14 and No. 12 Utah beat Washington 77-56 on Sunday night.
Tucker and Taylor combined to make eight 3-pointers to give the Utes (16-3, 6-1 Pac-12) their 15th straight home victory dating to last season. All six of Utah’s Pac-12 wins have come by double-digit margins.
Andrew Andrews had 19 points to lead Washington. Robert Upshaw chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks for the Huskies (14-5, 3-4), who had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Strong shooting helped Utah lead from the start. The Utes shot 28 for 52 (54 percent) from the field, including 11 for 18 (61 percent) on 3s.
Utah made baskets on its first four possessions to open the game, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Jordan Loveridge that gave him 1,000 points for his career at Utah. It helped his team take a 10-2 lead.
Delon Wright stole the ball and fed Tucker for a layup to give the Utes their first double-digit lead at 18-7. Utah eventually went up 29-14 on the strength of back-to-back 3-pointers from Tucker and Loveridge.
Washington climbed back into the game behind strong perimeter shooting from Andrews. He made all four 3-pointers he attempted in the first half. The final one capped a 12-2 run that helped the Huskies cut Utah’s lead to 31-26.
The Utes scored baskets on their next three possessions to halt the run and push their lead back to nine.
The Huskies cut the deficit to 43-38 early in the second half on three unanswered baskets – capped by a jumper by Upshaw. That’s as close as it got before Utah pulled away from the perimeter.