The WSU men’s basketball team played well, but lost against the University of Utah 74-70 on Thursday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.

The team started the first half strong, as senior guard Ike Iroegbu got the Cougar squad on the board with two points in the opening minutes.

Defensively, the Cougars prevented the Utes from scoring for just about three minutes until Utah junior forward David Collette laid-up their first bucket. The layup ignited a slow comeback for the Utes, who scored seven unanswered points, putting the score at 19-16 in WSU’s favor.

The opposing sides exchanged buckets until the score stood at 23 for WSU and 18 for Utah. That is when the Cougars’ momentum halted and transitioned to the Utes.

Utah prevented WSU from scoring for over five minutes. While the Cougars remained shut down offensively, the Utes increased their score by 17 points.

Players that contributed to the 17-point gain included redshirt junior forward Jayce Johnson, senior guard/forward Gabe Bealer, senior guard Lorenzo Bonam, forward Tyler Rawson and Collette. WSU redshirt sophomore guard KJ Langston and freshman guard Malachi Flynn each made three-pointers to cut the deficit for the Cougs 35-29 at halftime.

The second half started with redshirt senior center Conor Clifford adding two points, putting WSU at 31 and Utah at 35. The energy on both sides was not as high at the beginning of the second half as it was in the first half.

Even with lowered energy on both sides, Utah managed to keep the lead as both teams went back-and-forth hitting shots.

With 8:38 left to play, Iroegbu made a skillful behind the back assist to senior forward Josh Hawkinson who put up two points.

WSU finally took the lead with 4:57 remaining as Flynn sunk a three-pointer to put the score at 60-59.

The Cougars fought hard for a lead but lost it at 2:46 when Utah’s sophomore guard Parker Van Dyke hit a three-pointer, setting the score at 67-65. Junior forward Kyle Kuzma added two points from the line at the 1:50 mark.

The last bucket for the Cougars was put up by Iroegbu with 19 seconds left to play. This set the score at Utah 71 and WSU 70. The Utes then stretched their lead with two free throws by Bonam and another by Van Dyke, capturing the win.

The Cougars play their next game against the University of Colorado on Sunday in Boulder. Tip off will be at 5:30 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

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