Utah @ Washington preview

Utah at Washington

Last Meeting ( Dec 3, 2020 ) Washington 62, Utah 76

Washington had been making progress slowly, but hadn't seen any improvement in the one area that counts: the won-loss column.

Until Wednesday, that is.

Marcus Tsohonis came off the bench to score a career-high 27 points as the Huskies earned their first Pac-12 victory of the season, defeating visiting Colorado 84-80 to snap an eight-game skid.

The Huskies (2-11, 1-7 Pac-12) will look to build on that when they host Utah (6-6, 3-5) on Sunday afternoon in Seattle.

"The sigh of relief of getting that win was perfect," Tsohonis said. "I'm just glad that we were able to pull through. Nobody's really quitting on each other. We're communicating. It's getting real close."

Erik Stevenson added 17 points before fouling out, Jamal Bey scored 14 and Quade Green added 11 for the Huskies.

Washington had lost two of its previous three games by six points or fewer. The Huskies took a 10-point lead at conference-leading UCLA last weekend before suffering an 81-76 defeat.

"For them to get over the hump, and every team just needs a spark and hopefully that lit a match for us," Washington coach Mike Hopkins said.

The Utes snapped a losing streak of their own with a 71-56 victory Thursday at Washington State as Branden Carlson scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the first double-double by a Utah player this season. The Utes had dropped 13 consecutive road games, dating to Feb. 23, 2019.

"It was a good win for the Utes," coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "A really good win. A good little bit of feel-good medicine.

"I don't think we are going to get fat and sassy. But certainly it energizes our group and validates what it is we are trying to do."

Timmy Allen added 13 points and six rebounds, Alfonso Plummer and Riley Battin each scored 12 and Mikael Jantunen had 10 points in just 18 minutes before leaving after taking a hit to the head. Rylan Jones dished out 10 assists.

"We care about winning, and we care about each other," Jones said. "We just want to win and we came in this week with a focus to come up to Washington State and get our first road win, and that's what we did. And we are going to keep that focus on our way to Seattle for Sunday."

The Utes defeated the Huskies in the first meeting between the teams this season, 76-62 on Dec. 3 in Salt Lake City, as Plummer scored 21. Green scored 21 for Washington.

--Field Level Media