Utah and Washington both bring unbeaten records into Saturday’s matchup in Salt Lake City, but the paths they’ve taken to get there have looked a little different.
The Utes are 3-0 after an 85-64 home win over Weber State that took some work to settle into. Utah trailed by seven at halftime before flipping the game with a 20-0 second-half burst. Alec Anigbata helped fuel that run with five points, and Babacar Faye added back-to-back dunks as the Utes seized control.
That finish was part of a much stronger second half for Utah, which outscored Weber State 55-27 after the break. It also fit a pattern the Utes have shown in their other wins over Long Beach State and Towson, where stretches of sharp play have been mixed with some uneven moments.
“Really good second half. Our guys responded well,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said.
“Just need to get better at not waiting until we get down to pick up the intensity and everything. You know, a lot of things we need to work on individually and collectively to get better, but hopefully we can put together a full game of that intensity.”
Anigbata turned in the best scoring night of his career with 21 points in the latest win, while Jackson Holcombe finished with 18. Trey Campbell added 13 points and 10 assists.
“I tell my guys all the time, make me play you, and Baba and Jaxon Johnson did exactly that (Tuesday),” Jensen said. “Baba was great defensively and on the rebounding, and then JJ (was) smart, just did some little things that we didn’t do all night.”
Washington arrives at 2-0 after a 77-64 win over Mississippi Valley State in Seattle, a game in which the Huskies tied a school record by hitting 17 3-pointers. They went 17-for-50 from deep and finished with 23 assists while controlling the game for most of the night.
Parker Friedrichsen and Steele Venters each knocked down five threes in that win, giving Washington the kind of perimeter punch coach Danny Sprinkle expects to keep seeing.
“We have to be able to create 30-plus threes per game,” Sprinkle said. “That’s where ball movement, body movement, screening, pitch-aheads in transition, getting stops and playing fast. That’s where those threes have to come from with this team.”
The teams last met in December, when Washington beat Utah 74-65.
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