[media-credit name="Logan Westom" align="alignright" width="199"] Washington State forward D.J. Shelton shoots over Utah defender Jason Washburn during Wednesday night?s game in Pullman, Wash. The Utes fell to the Cougars 65-75.
Turnovers have been a problem for the Runnin? Utes all season long. Heading into Thursday night?s game against Washington State, Utah was averaging 13.2 per game while only causing 9.8. That differential was last in the Pac-12, though it appeared in the team?s previous few games that the Utes had figured out how to hold onto the ball. In four Pac-12 games, Utah was losing the ball 9.8 times per game.
Apparently that number was a mirage. Utah gave the ball to Washington State 17 times, which led to 28 Cougar points. Turnovers were the Utes? undoing as they fell 75-65. Utah is still winless in Pac-12 play, having lost five consecutive contests. At 8-9 overall, the Utes fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season.
The high number of turnovers came on the heels of a shift in mindset on offense, as coaches made the decision this week to let players have more freedom to make plays.
?We?re kind of in a quandary with the style of play that we need to create,? said Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak on the ESPN 700 postgame show. ?We can?t turn them that loose but (the turnovers were on) just simple pass and catch stuff. It wasn?t like pressure where you?re pulling your hair out trying to figure out why you turned it over.?
The turnover problem lasted throughout the game, as Utah committed nine in the first half and eight in the second half. To compound the problem, Washington State capitalized, scoring 16 points off Ute turnovers in the first frame.
Mike Ladd led the way for the Cougars, dropping in a game-high 22 points.
Making matters even worse, the Cougars were on fire in the first half, connecting on seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. WSU came into the game shooting just 32 percent from downtown, but finished with a 55-percent clip after making four more in the second half. At the break, Utah trailed 34-26.
?We didn?t expect for them to have a good shooting night like they did but once we played from behind the whole game. It?s kind of like we were digging ourselves in a hole and it?s kind of hard to get out of things like that,? said freshman guard Justin Seymour, who chipped in 11 points off the bench on his 19th birthday.
The Utes certainly tried to dig themselves out of the hole. Down 47-31 early in the second half, Utah went on a quick 10-0 run to cut the Cougar lead to six, but Washington State punched right back, as the lead was soon back up to double digits. From there the Utes couldn?t claw back.
Despite the loss, there were a few positives. Utah held Cougar star Brock Motum scoreless in the first half and to just 14 points for the game, seven below his season average.
In addition to Seymour, the other true freshman had solid contributions. Point guard Brandon Taylor led the team with 13 points while Jordan Loveridge scored eight and Dakarai Tucker added five.
?As we move forward here, certainly we?re trying to win games this year, and that?s our focal point, but we?ve got a group of young kids that might earn some time and can help with the building of this program,? Krystkowiak said. ?It?s important that as long as they bring the effort that they had tonight, it?s important that they?re given the chance and step up to the occasion.?
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