PULLMAN — Isaac Jones scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, all five starters reached double-figures in scoring and Washington State pulled away from Utah in the second half for a 79-57 victory Wednesday.
Andrej Jakimovski scored 14 points, Oscar Cluff and Jaylen Wells added 13 each and Myles Rice had 10 points for the Cougars (14-6, 5-4 Pac-12).
Branden Carlson scored 20 points, Keba Keita had 10 points and nine rebounds and Gabe Madsen scored 14 for the Utes (14-6, 5-4).
Consecutive three-pointers by Isaiah Watts helped put the Cougars up 57-49 near the midway point of the second half. After hitting 36% of their shots in the first half, the Cougars opened the second period with 11 of 17 shooting.
After Carlson’s jumper got Utah within 59-51, the Utes missed 7 of 8 shots in a six-minute stretch and the Cougars led by 16 with three minutes remaining. Washington State scored the final nine points.
The Cougars went up by nine points twice in the first half, first when Jakimovski hit a three-pointer for a 25-16 lead and secondly when Jones hit a free throw to go up 33-24 with 2½ minutes remaining. Utah scored the last six points of the half, and Keita’s buzzer-beating jumper made it 33-30 at the break.
Washington State hosts Colorado on Saturday. Utah plays at Washington on Saturday.
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