Utah Utes men's basketball: Runnin' Utes lose at Washington State, 75-65

Washington State held a 34-26 edge at the break. The Cougars forced eight turnovers and were 7 of 11 from 3-point range. Ladd led the way by connecting on 4 of 5.

The Utes used nine players in attempting to turn the tide. Taylor provided a spark off the bench. Another bright spot was the defense on Washington State star forward Brock Motum. The senior was held scoreless in the first half. He missed four shots and turned the ball over four times.

Motum managed to get on the board early in the second half, hitting a layup with 17:54 remaining to give the Cougars another double-digit lead at 37-26. He later made a pivotal 3-pointer and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Utes wound up trailing by as many as 16 points in the second half before climbing back into contention with a 10-0 run. Seymour fueled the outburst with six points. Washburn added four as they closed the gap to 47-41 with just under 10 minutes left to play.

Utah, though, drew no closer down the stretch. Washington State, in fact, took its biggest lead — 17 points — after the Utes’ comeback bid.

“If we keep on trying to play from behind then things are just going to stay the same,” Seymour said.

Utah gets another opportunity to reverse the losing trend Saturday in Seattle.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and we’ve got to get ready for Washington,” Washburn said. “We’re not going to give up. We know we’re better than this. We know we’re better than our record.”

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