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In a clash of former Pac-12 foes, Utah and Washington will look to maintain their undefeated starts when they meet Saturday in Salt Lake City.
The Utes (3-0) are coming off an up-and-down 85-64 home win over Weber State, while the Huskies (2-0) head into the road contest after defeating Mississippi Valley State 77-64 in Seattle.
After trailing by seven points at halftime, Utah pulled away with a 20-0 second-half run that included five points from Alec Anigbata and back-to-back dunks by Babacar Faye.
That surge was part of a dominant 55-27 second half for the Utes, who also showed stretches of inconsistency and strong play in previous wins over Long Beach State and Towson.
“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.”
Utah’s latest win, part of a five-game homestand to open the season, featured a career-high 21 points from Anigbata. Jackson Holcombe added 18 points, while Trey Campbell contributed 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 defeated Utah 74-65 in the teams’ most recent meeting last December.
The Huskies enter this game after tying a school record with 17 3-pointers in a 77-64 win over Mississippi Valley State. They went 17-for-50 from beyond the arc and also dished out 23 assists in a game they controlled for most of the way.
Parker Friedrichsen and Steele Venters each made five 3-pointers.
Coach Danny Sprinkle suggested opponents can expect plenty of long-range attempts from his team going forward.
“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.”
–Field Level Media
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