SEATTLE — In the bigger picture of what Larry Krystkowiak has built at Utah it might not seem like much of an accomplishment.
For the Utes, pulling off a weekend road sweep of conference games for the first time since becoming members of the Pac-12 was a big deal.
“I talked about let’s do whatever we can necessary within the rules to do something our program hasn’t done before,” Krystkowiak said. “It’s a little bit ironic, this was our first road win ever a few years back and now we managed to get a couple of W’s.”
Jakob Poeltl scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Lorenzo Bonam had two key baskets early in overtime, and Utah knocked Washington from first place in the Pac-12 with an 80-75 overtime win on Sunday night.
Poeltl and the Utes (15-5, 4-3 Pac-12) overcame awful shooting in the first half to complete a sweep of the Washington schools and hand the Huskies just their second conference loss. But they needed an extra five minutes after David Crisp’s 3-pointer with 16.5 seconds left in regulation tied the game at 66.
The Utes won their third straight since getting routed at home by Oregon.
“We’ve found a little bit of a rhythm and we’re more confident on offense and we’re back to what we used to do getting stops,” Poeltl said. “It’s going a lot better now.”
Poeltl made 8 of 14 shots and was tremendous at the free-throw line where he made 13 of 16 attempts. Bonam added 12 points and Kyle Kuzma finished with 11. Bonam gave the Utes a spark early in overtime scoring on a pair of drives to put Utah in front. Poeltl’s free throws with 53 seconds left gave the Utes a 75-73 lead and Utah made 7 of 8 at the free-throw line in the final minute of overtime to hold on.
Andrew Andrews led Washington (13-6, 5-2) with 17 points before fouling out late in overtime, but the Utes were outstanding in slowing down the highest-scoring guard combo in the Pac-12. Andrews was held under 24 points for the first time in conference play, while backcourt mate Dejounte Murray struggled with just eight points on 4-of-16 shooting. Murray did have 13 rebounds and six assists.
Andrews and Murray were averaging nearly 45 points per game combined in conference play coming into the game.
“It’s not like you’re going to shut those guys out but for each of them to have two points at halftime I thought was big,” Krystkowiak said.
Marquese Chriss scored 15 points for Washington before fouling out late in regulation and Noah Dickerson added 14, but the Huskies dropped into a tie with Oregon for the top spot in the conference with Utah in a group of six teams sitting one game behind the leaders at 4-3.
“Utah is a team that we talked about that you have to literally take the game from them,” Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. “They won’t hand it over to you. And we weren’t able to do that.”
OVERTIME
Bonam and Potelt combined for the first six points of overtime for Utah, and a free throw from Jordan Loveridge gave the Utes a 73-69 lead with 2:08 left. Andrews added free throws for the Huskies and after Bonam’s drive rimmed out, Malik Dime’s rebound dunk pulled Washington even at 73. Poeltl hit a pair of free throws with 53 seconds left for a 75-73 lead and Washington failed to get a shot on its next possession during a scramble for the loose ball.
Kuzma split a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left, giving the Huskies a chance to tie, but Murray’s 3-point attempt was short. Poeltl added four more free throws in the final 10 seconds for the final margin.
TIP-INS
Utah: Loveridge was scoreless in the first half and missed all six shots. He made three 3-pointers in the second half. … Brandon Taylor was held to three points and made just 1 of 7 shots. … Utah shot just 28 percent in the first half.
Washington: Donaven Dorsey, who had not scored in eight games, hit the Huskies first 3-pointer of the game and had five points in the first half. … Andrews topped the 1,500-point mark in his career, becoming the 12th player in school history to reach the mark.
UP NEXT
The Huskies travel to UCLA on Thursday.
