Don’t let the romantic nature of Feb. 14 fool you, love will certainly not be in the air when the Washington State men’s basketball team takes on the Utah Utes Sunday in Salt Lake City in search of its first Pac-12 road win of the season.

The matchup will feature teams with seasons going in opposite directions as the Cougars (9-15, 1-11 Pac-12 ASSUMING LOSS TO COLORADO 2/11) will try to snap a 10-game losing streak – their longest skid in 13 years – and the Utes (18-7, 7-5) will try to stay hot on the heels of the conference-leading Oregon Ducks.

“This team, and this program, is still figuring out how to win,” WSU Head Coach Ernie Kent said. “The biggest thing is just understanding how to close out a half, how to close out a game, and how to win games – and that’s a mental thing.”

When these Pac-12 foes squared off on Jan. 21 in Pullman, it was not a pretty sight for Cougar fans. The Utes stormed to a 15-point halftime lead before coasting to a 92-71 victory in a game where WSU never led.

The 92 points the Utes scored were the most they amassed in a Pac-12 contest since joining the conference in 2011. Senior forward Jordan Loveridge snapped a six-game single-digit scoring streak by dropping a game-high 22 points, and senior guard Brandon Taylor posted a season-high 21 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

The Cougars particularly felt the absence of redshirt junior center and defensive specialist Valentine Izundu in that game as they allowed the Utes to score 42 points in the paint, compared to just 24 for WSU.

With both Izundu (foot) and junior forward Josh Hawkinson (ankle) back and healthy for the Cougs, winning in the post on both ends of the floor will be necessary to WSU’s success Sunday.

The front-court duo will have its hands full with the dangerously efficient sophomore center Jakob Poeltl. Poeltl is following up a sensational freshman campaign with an even more impressive sophomore season, racking up 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per night while shooting 65 percent from the field and playing some of the best defense in the conference. His consistent, dominant play got him into the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 list, announced Wednesday.

The Cougars’ center Izundu may need to step it up on the offensive end as well. After a neat 10-point performance Saturday against ASU, Izundu may prove to be the compliment junior guard Ike Iroegbu and Hawkinson need, as they have shouldered a huge chunk of the offense on this losing streak.

“If you look at a common denominator (on this losing streak) we’ve not had a consistent third scorer. When we’ve had three guys scoring the ball well, or even four, we’re very much a different basketball team,” Kent said. “I think they believe they can win, that’s not the issue at all. But believing it and then pushing through and doing it are two different things.”

Tipoff at the Huntsman Center is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday on the Pac-12 Networks.

Reporting by Dustin Brennan