PULLMAN, Wash. -- Washington State got back in the win column with a commanding 79-57 win over Utah, Wednesday night in Pullman.
Isaac Jones led the way for the Cougars with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jones said postgame, "The first game [against Utah] I was in my head. I was thinking I had to make multiple moves, but they're really disciplined defenders, so they wouldn't fall for pump fakes. Figured that out the first game the hard way. So, I came into this one going straight into them trying to attack and be relentless."
Jaylen Wells had another strong scoring performance with 13 points and six rebounds. Wells was held to just two points in the first half, before erupting in the second half scoring 11 points with three 3-pointers. Wells is averaging 13.8 points in his five games as a starter.
Andrej Jakimovski added 14 points, while nailing two 3-pointers. Isaiah Watts also had eight points in only nine minutes. He hit a pair of 3-pointers that fueled a 15-2 run by Washington State in the second half and sealed the win for WSU. Jakimovski had high praise for his teammate post-game.
"Everyone on the team is telling him [Isaiah] to keep shooting the ball."
Utah's Branden Carlson had a game high 20 points with a pair of 3-pointers.
The last time these two teams played, Utah outscored Washington State 49-29 in the second half; however, things were different this time in Beasley. Jones got it started with five early points including an and-1.
Carlson also came out to a hot start, nailing two early 3-pointers. With the Cougars trailing 10-8 they started to put together offensive possessions and with 11:21 left in the first half Jakimovski made a shot to cap off an 8-0 run and give Washington State a 16-10 lead.
Carlson kept his hot shooting start going throughout the first 16 minutes of the half, he scored 14 out of Utah's 22 points in the first and kept the Utes in this game. Washington State led most of the first half but could not string together enough offense for a double-digit lead. The Cougars led by as much as nine in the first half before Utah shaved off a couple points. Keba Keita hit a shot before the buzzer to cut the lead to 33-30 at half.
Jones led the Cougs with 11 first-half points as well as grabbing eight rebounds. Jakimovski added nine points with two 3-pointers. Utah's Carlson had a game-high 13 first-half points.
Washington State came out in the second half and extended its lead to 39-33. Utah responded -- hanging in the game despite the Cougs fluctuating lead. Utah fought back and only trailed 45-41 with 15 minutes left to play.
Watts checked into the game around the middle of the first half and made an instant impact. The true freshman nailed a 3-pointer and on the very next possession with 10:11 left to play Myles Rice found Watts for another 3-pointer to give the Cougars a 57-49 lead.
The Cougars never looked back and with 6:05 left to play, Oscar Cluff found Jones in the paint for a layup, giving Wazzu a 64-51 lead, and the largest lead of the game at 13 points.
Utah was able to cut into Washington State's lead all throughout the first half, however, in the second half, the Cougs started to pull away and find gaps in the Utes' defense.
Washington State outscored Utah 46-27 in the second half and shot 60% from the field as well as 55% from three. Another feat for this Cougar team was holding Utah to just 57 points, a season low for a team averaging 79 points per game.
Washington State improved to 14-6 and has won its last four out of five games. The Cougs take on Colorado Saturday at 2 p.m. in Beasley Coliseum.
