SALT LAKE CITY — Jakob Poeltl scored 25 as Utah faced little resistance in a 88-47 victory over Washington State on Sunday.
The Utes (19-7, 8-5) remain in striking distance for the Pac-12 regular-season title with the win.
The Cougars (9-16, 1-12) were never competitive after the first five minutes. The Utes went on a 17-3 run that included 14 from Poeltl to take a 21-9 lead. Another 17-5 stretch, highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Jordan Loveridge pushed the lead to 40-21 at halftime.
Things didn’t get better for the Cougars after the half and they never found an answer for Poeltl. The 7-footer added seven more points during a 13-0 run that gave Utah a 55-24 lead. Poeltl put an exclamation mark on the spurt with a break-away, one-handed tomahawk dunk.
Poeltl shot 11 for 14 from the field and had 10 rebounds. Loveridge finished with 14 and Brekkott Chapman scored a season-high 12.
Que Johnson scored a WSU-high 13 points as the Cougars shot a season-low 30.6 percent from the field.
TIP-INS
Washington State: The Cougars entered the game ranked No. 189 in the RPI. … The last time Washington State won at Utah was Dec. 14, 1946. … The Cougars have lost 11 consecutive games, including eight by double figures. … Josh Hawkinson entered the game averaging a team-high 16.0 points and 11.1 rebounds. He finished with four points and eight rebounds.
Utah: The Utes scored 24 points in the paint in a first half that Washington State scored 21 total. … The Utes entered the game with the No. 16 RPI in the nation.
SLOPPY START
The two teams combined for seven turnovers in the first six minutes of the game and had 16 at halftime. The Cougars accounted for 11 of those after entering the game averaging 14.4 turnovers per game. They finished with 20.
HOT IN HERE
The Utes found their shooting touch for the second consecutive game. Utah shot a season-high 67.3 percent from the field on Wednesday and 53.2 percent on Sunday. They had shot 54.7 percent from the field with 5:51 remaining when most of the starters sat down.
UP NEXT
The Cougars host Stanford on Thursday.
The Utes travel to face UCLA on Thursday.
