SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Lorenzo Bonam scored 18 points as Utah defeated Washington 90-82 Wednesday night in Pac-12 play.
The Utes broke a two game losing streak and kept themselves on the fringe of the race to win the conference.
Bonam bounced back in a big way after being held scoreless and getting benched in Sunday’s 76-66 loss to Oregon. He shot 7 for 9 from the field Wednesday and powered a 16-4 run that pushed the Utes ahead for good. Bonam hit a triple with 8:34 remaining to give Utah a six-point lead, its largest at the time. His steal and layup pushed the lead to 77-65.
Jakob Poeltl finished with 23 points for the Utes, Brandon Taylor added 15 and Jordan Loveridge had 16.
Marquese Chriss scored 24 for the Huskies while Andrew Andrews chipped in 22.
Utah shot a season-high 67.3 percent from the field. That’s the highest against Washington since Arizona shot 65.3% in 2007, according to STATS.
Neither team led by more than five in the first half as neither put together a significant run. Bonam scored seven straight for the Utes during one stretch and Poeltl had six in a row of his own, but Utah led 43-30 at halftime after a Bonam dunk at the buzzer.
—
TIP-INS
Washington: The Huskies entered the game ranked No. 57 in RPI. … Chriss has scored double figures in seven consecutive games.
Utah: The Utes entered the game ranked No. 26 in RPI. … Kyle Kuzma saw a five-game double-double streak end. … The Utes are 12-1 at home, including four straight.
BALL CONTROL
Utah entered the game tied for No. 147 in the country with 12.6 turnovers per game. The Utes had 12 in the first half and Washington scored 19 points off those turnovers.
SHAKY D
Neither team defended the rim particularly well. The two teams combined to score 92 in the paint.
UP NEXT
Washington travels to face Colorado on Saturday.
Utah hosts Washington State on Sunday
Notes — Utah sophomore forward Jakob Poeltl has been named one of 10 finalists for the 2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award early Friday morning. The award is presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame.
Poeltl currently leads the Utes in scoring with 17.4 points per game and rebounding with 8.9 boards per contest. The Vienna, Austria native is coming off his fourth-consecutive 20-point game following a 20-point and nine-rebound effort against Oregon State last night.
On the season, Poeltl has tallied double-digit scoring efforts in 20 of 23 games, which includes eight games with 20 points or more, and has led the team in rebounding in all but five games on the year.
Named after Hall of Famer and three-time NCAA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the annual honor recognizes the top centers in men’s college basketball. A national committee comprised of top college basketball personnel determined the 10 finalists. The winner will be recognized at the ESPN College Basketball Awards presented by Wendy’s from Club Nokia in Los Angeles on Friday, April 8, 2016.
2016 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award Finalists
• Jakob Poeltl, Utah
• Moses Kingsley, Arkansas
• Josh Scott, Colorado
• Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville
• Domantas Sabonis, Gonzaga
• Zach Auguste, Notre Dame
• AJ Hammons, Purdue
• Ben Bentil, Providence
• Josh Hawkinson, Washington State
• Joel Bolomboy, Weber State
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @oldschoolag
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.