SALT LAKE CITY, UT –- Watching Washington State squander another opportunity to close out a game is beginning to frustrate coach Ernie Kent.
Thursday night, the Cougars enjoyed a three-point lead with just over three minutes remaining before Utah concluded the game on a 12-5 run to claim a hard-fought 74-70 win over WSU in front of 12,800 fans at the Huntsman Center.
Washington State fell to 11-13 overall, 4-8 in the Pac-12.
“We’ve improved, but that’s not why I’m here,” Kent told Matt Chazanow of the Washington State IMG Sports Network after the game. “To break that losing mentality, you have to get mentally and physically tough at home and on the road. We have to keep pushing.”
David Collette scored a career-high 22 points for Utah, which improved to 16-8 overall, 7-5 in the Pac-12.
Neither team played a particularly clean game as they combined for 29 turnovers. But the Utes made the final plays of the night for the win.
Utah watched an 11-point second-half lead evaporate thanks to a 15-3 run highlighted by a Malachi Flynn 3-pointer to give Washington State a 60-59 lead.
A 3-pointer by Charles Callison gave WSU a 65-62 lead with 3:34 left. However, Utah scored seven straight points to take a 69-65 lead with 1:50 left.
WSU freshman Malachi Flynn stepped to the free throw line with 59 seconds remaining and could have tied the score at 69-69, but missed the second of two free throws to keep the deficit at one point.
The two teams went back and forth down the stretch until a Collette layup with 38.4 seconds left gave Utah a 71-68 lead. Ike Iroegbu buried a midrange jumper with 23 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-70.
Flynn missed a 3-pointer to tie the game with nine seconds left after Utah’s Lorenzo Bonam pushed the lead to 73-70 on a pair of free throws with 19.6 seconds left.
“Yes, we battled,” Kent said. “I knew we weren’t 41 points worse than this team (88-47 loss in the first meeting this season). We just didn’t play well at home. I was proud of them to come back out here and play in this environment. But we had a chance to close out the game. We were right there to get it done and we didn’t do it.”
Iroegbu scored 17 points to lead Washington State, while Hawkinson (16 points, 11 rebounds) tied Steve Puidokas' school record with his 53rd career double-double.
Hawkinson and Iroegbu played 39 and 37 minutes, respectively. Kent contended Iroegbu played too many minutes and was “brain dead” down the stretch as he committed multiple mental errors.
"All these losses always hurt, the close ones, but we know we're right there," Hawkinson said. "We only take positives and try to move forward."
Utah took a 35-29 lead into halftime after ripping off a 25-4 run, including 16 straight points, after Washington State jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the opening seven minutes thanks to a trio of 3-pointers.
Then Washington State went cold and Utah attacked the basket. Collette was too much for the Cougar defenders around the rim and his 13 first-half points powered the run.
Washington State shot just 37.9 percent in the first half and went scoreless for nearly six minutes as Utah scored 16 points in a row.
"We can play with the teams in the league," Washington State coach Ernie Kent said. "It's just that (with) the better teams, that margin of error is a lot smaller. You can't forget to block out. You can't forget to front the post. You can't miss free throws.
"You've got to do those things to close out these good teams.”
BIG PICTURE: Washington State has lost 8 of 10 games, including the the last seven, to Utah and the last 15 games in Salt Lake City. Washington State is out of the Pac-12 race with six regular-season games remaining. The Cougars were far too erratic on both ends of the floor Friday.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Utah was 22 for 31 from the free-throw line while the Cougars were 6 for 8. The 16-point differential at the charity stripe was the difference in the game as WSU had two more field goals than Utah, including eight more 3-pointers.
FUTILITY IN UTAH: The Cougars have won just once at Utah in 16 tries. The lone road win came in December 1946. WSU is still looking for its first victory at Utah since the Utes joined the Pac-12 prior to the 2011-12 season. The WSU-Utah series dates back to 1938. Utah has won the last seven meetings in the series.
UP NEXT: Washington State travels to face Colorado Sunday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
NEXT FIVE GAMES:
Feb. 12 at Colorado, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Feb. 16 ARIZONA, 6 p.m. (FS1)
Feb. 18 ARIZONA STATE, 2 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
Feb. 26 WASHINGTON, 5:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
March 1 at USC, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)
(All Times Pacific)
PAC-12 SCHEDULE/RESULTS (Feb. 8-9)
Wed., Feb 8
Arizona 74, Stanford 67
California 68, Arizona State 43
Thu., Feb. 9
Utah 74, Washington State 70
UCLA 82, Oregon 79
USC 92, Oregon State 66
Colorado 81, Washington 66
PAC-12 STANDINGS (After Games of Feb. 9)
Arizona 11-1
Oregon 10-2
California 9-3
UCLA 9-3
USC 8-4
Utah 7-5
Washington State 4-8
Stanford 4-8
Arizona State 4-8
Colorado 4-8
Washington 2-10
Oregon State 0-12
