The University of Utah led the University of Washington for three-quarters of a men’s basketball game on Sunday afternoon, but wound up losing, 83-79. Here are three quick takeaways.
1. This was a fun game: The defense wasn’t great, but a lot of players shot the ball with confidence and the result was, for long stretches Sunday afternoon, a shootout between two teams that normally do not engage in such games. Both teams put players in double-figures, Utah shot 50.8% from the floor, with Washington at 50.9%. The teams combined to shoot 19 for 50 from 3-point range.
2. Timmy Allen was excellent: The All-Pac-12 junior was asked to do a lot more with Rylan Jones and Ian Martinez battling foul trouble, and he answered the call. A majority of his career-high 10 assists came on aggressive drives and drop-offs at the rim. Allen’s 15 points and 10 rebounds left him seven boards short of his first career triple-double.
3. Utah had too many empty turnovers down the stretch: After an afternoon where its offense exploded, Utah had empty possessions and turnovers down the stretch. Three turnovers in the final 2:00 marred what was an otherwise encouraging effort over the first 38:00 as Utah goes home from the Pacific Northwest with a split after winning at Washington State on Thursday.
The Tribune will update this story.
