Washington’s Marquese Chriss (0) grabs a rebound away from Utah’s Kyle Kuzma (35) and Chris Reyes (center) during Wednesday night’s game.

Washington’s Marquese Chriss (0) grabs a rebound away from Utah’s Kyle Kuzma (35) and Chris Reyes (center) during Wednesday night’s game.

Huskies’ defense ‘unacceptable in 90-82 loss to Utah

  • By Christian Caple The News Tribune
  • Wednesday, February 10, 2016 9:49pm
  • SportsSports

SALT LAKE CITY — The final score will not truly reveal the level of helplessness experienced by the Washington Huskies on Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center.

But the box score will tell plenty.

The Huskies made enough shots to only lose 90-82 to the Utah Utes before a crowd of 11,675. The 8-point losing margin, on the road, against a team that will likely play in the NCAA tournament, will not be their greatest source of frustration.

Hard to say exactly what will be, though. Jakob Poeltl’s easy 23 points on 11-for-12 shooting? Jordan Loveridge’s 16 points and five 3-pointers? Utah’s 10-for-17 clip from 3-point range? Utah’s 67.3 field-goal percentage, the highest allowed by a UW team since at least 1996? Utah’s 70.4 percent field-goal percentage in the second half? Utah’s 23 layups or dunks?

“Just unacceptable,” UW coach Lorenzo Romar said, also describing his team’s defensive play as “very negligent.”

So … all of the above, then.

“They sliced us up,” Romar said. “They put us in positions where we had to make decisions defensively, and we didn’t make very good ones. You can play some other teams and they don’t put you in those positions. Well, Utah did, the entire time.”

It isn’t necessarily accurate to say the Huskies played terrible defense on Wednesday, because that would imply that they played any defense at all. And they didn’t. Utah did whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted — open looks from the perimeter, slick interior passing that led to layups and dunks, other basic offensive maneuvers that led to layups and dunks — and the Huskies might shudder to think how many points the Utes might have scored if they hadn’t committed 17 turnovers.

In a way, it’s remarkable that UW (15-9, 7-5 in Pac-12) was even in this game in the final minutes. The Huskies trimmed a 12-point deficit to 82-76 on a Marquese Chriss 3-pointer with 4:28 to play — he was a bright spot, leading the team with 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting in 36 minutes — and cut the lead to 87-82 after a quick 6-0 run a few minutes later.

But even when UW forced a miss — a rare occurrence on this night — with a little more than a minute to play, Poeltl collected Utah’s second offensive rebound of the game, then capped the second-chance possession with a drive and dunk with 36 seconds to play that essentially put the game away.

Andrew Andrews added 22 points for the Huskies. Dominic Green scored a career-best 13 points off the bench. Noah Dickerson added 11 points. The Huskies shot 47.8 percent from the field and scored 24 points off Utah’s turnovers. But their defense simply never showed up. Utah (18-7, 7-5) assisted on 26 of its 35 made field goals, and forward Kyle Kuzma, one of the Utes’ starting bigs, led that effort with seven.

Lorenzo Bonam, a junior guard, scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and senior guard Brandon Taylor, a 28.6 percent 3-point shooter, added 15 points and made 4-of-7 from beyond the arc.

“They did everything really well,” Chriss said. “They shot the ball well. They got the ball inside and were shooting layups, shooting 3s, and they were making their shots. You can only do so much when the ball goes in every time they throw it up.”

It was a particularly discouraging display for the Huskies considering how well they felt they played in a close loss last week to Arizona. In that game, UW held the 17th-ranked Wildcats to just 39.4 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers. But Arizona’s 17 offensive rebounds carried it to a 77-72 victory.

So, hey, there’s some good news: the Utes had only two offensive rebounds. Then again, one of them essentially decided the game. And they only missed 17 shots to begin with.

“I thought we had shored up some of the things we didn’t do well defensively the last time,” Romar said, referring to UW’s 80-75 overtime loss to the Utes on Jan. 24. “We go over those things in shootaround. The reason it catches you is because when you go over them, (you think) ‘OK good, we’re doing a good job. We should be OK.’ And then we come out as if we didn’t practice. It looks like we didn’t practice.”

They will have to practice to avoid a similar fate on Saturday at Colorado, a team the Huskies beat 95-83 in Seattle on Jan. 20, though the Buffaloes are much better at home.

And the Huskies hope they’re much better than what they showed on Wednesday.

“It’s surprising, because we’re a really aggressive defensive team, and everybody on our team loves to play defense,” Chriss said. “It was kind of a letdown today, and we have to pick it up and move forward.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Sports

X
Vote for The Herald’s Prep Athlete of the Week for March 8-17

The Athlete of the Week nominees for March 8-17. Voting closes at… Continue reading

X
Silvertips’ playoff picture coming together as season hits final week

Everett is officially the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed and is likely heading into a matchup with Kelowna or Vancouver.

X
Prep roundup for Monday, March 18

Prep roundup for Monday, March 18: (Note for coaches/scorekeepers: To report results… Continue reading

Los Angeles Rams offensive guard Tremayne Anchrum (72) against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL preseason football game, Saturday, Aug. 28, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
Seahawks add to position of need, sign guard Tremayne Anchrum Jr.

The 25-year-old has played in 31 games, starting once, since being drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 2020.

Everett Community College head coach Chet Hovde watches as the women's team practices on Tuesday, March 7, 2017 in Everett, Wa. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
EvCC coach Chet Hovde, who ‘lived for’ basketball, dies at 77

Coach Hovde graduated from Everett High School in 1965. He spent 33 years as the women’s basketball coach at the community college.

Jackson’s Ian Friedrichsen celebrates his goal with his teammates during the game against Bothell on Thursday, May 11, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Prep boys soccer: 5 things to watch for the 2024 season in Snohomish County

A look at the top local storylines for this high school boys soccer season

Jackson’s Rachel Sysum is hugged by Leneyah Mitchell after hitting a home run during the game against Bothell on Friday, May 19, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Prep softball: 5 things to watch for the 2024 season in Snohomish County

A look at the top local storylines to keep an eye on this high school softball season.

X
Prep roundup for Friday, March 15

Prep roundup for Friday, March 15: (Note for coaches/scorekeepers: To report results… Continue reading

Glacier Peak’s Samantha Christensen runs to home plate to celebrate her home run with her teammates during the game against Snohomish on Friday, March 15, 2024 in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
GALLERY: Glacier Peak softball tops rival Snohomish

The Grizzlies prevail 9-5 in a clash of area powers.

X
Prep roundup for Thursday, March 14

Prep roundup for Thursday, March 14: (Note for coaches/scorekeepers: To report results… Continue reading

The Washington Wolfpack logo is revealed during the Everett AFL team unveiling at Tony V's Garage in Everett, Washington onThursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Everett’s new arena football team to have 4 televised games

The NFL Network will broadcast 30 AFL games this season, including two Wolfpack home games.

Washington coach Mike Hopkins yells to the team during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against California, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Seattle. California won 82-80. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)
Looking back at Mike Hopkins’ turbulent tenure as UW men’s basketball coach

The departing Huskies coach had highs early, but the good times didn’t last long.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.