Runnin’ Utes Look To Sweep Pacific Northwest Trip On Sunday Against Washington

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Runnin’ Utes snapped a long road losing streak against Washington State on Thursday, now they are hoping to beat Washington on Sunday.

The Runnin’ Utes snapped a 13-game road losing streak and a win over Washington would be their first conference road sweep since Feb. 9, 2019.

After dropping 13 points in the win on Thursday, Timmy Allen is averaging 16.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

📰Men's Basketball Set for Sunday Afternoon Showdown at Washington

Presented by Minky Couture https://t.co/itTz2DqBxa

— Utah Basketball🏀 (w/ 😷) (@UtahMBB) January 23, 2021

About Washington

The Huskies have struggled this season with a 2-11 overall record and 1-7 in Pac-12 play. Their first conference win came on Wednesday night against Colorado. That snapped an 8-game losing streak. Other than Colorado, Washington beat Seattle University back in early December.

They lost to Baylor, UC Riverside, Utah, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Stanford, California, USC and UCLA. The Utes opened the 2020-21 season at home against Washington. They picked up a 76-62 win at the Huntsman Center on Thursday, December 3. Alfonso Plummer led the way with 21 points, while Timmy Allen added 14 and 8 boards.

Larry Krystkowiak thinks the Huskies have improved since they met in early December.

“I think they’ve improved vastly,” Krystkowiak said. “Hops (head coach Mike Hopkins) is doing a good job with them and as a team probably would do after 10 games, finding a little bit of rhythm. They’re clipping right along, offensively and us too. I think one of the biggest improvements for both of our teams, since the first time we played is I think we have a much greater understanding of what it is we’re trying to do offensively. They’ve got some really good players, and they’re putting those players in positions to be successful and putting some heat on people. Their last two games, I think they’re a completely different team then I would say, even two or three weeks ago. I think some roles have been established.”

Quade Green is the only Husky that is averaging double figures with 15.1 points and 3.1 rebounds. Marcus Tsohonis, Erik Stevenson and Jamal Bey each are recording 8 points per game.

All-time, Utah leads the series with Washington, 17-11. Since joining the Pac-12, they are 12-5 and 4-3 in Seattle.

Ready for another one at 🏠

Washington hosts Utah tomorrow, Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. PT on ESPNU. #TougherTogether

— Washington Men's Basketball (@UW_MBB) January 23, 2021

Mikael Jantunen Should Be Available For Runnin’ Utes

During the second half of Utah’s game against Washington State, forward Mikael Jantunen had to leave the game because the ball hit his face mask. Coach Krystkowiak told the media after the game that he had to go to the hospital in Pullman to be checked out. After speaking with Krystkowiak on Saturday, it sounds like Jantunen will be available on Sunday.

“He’s okay,” Krystkowiak stated. “He turned his mask in from his broken nose and got himself a set of Kurt Rambis goggles. Just one thing to the next, but I anticipate that he will be ready to play tomorrow assuming we don’t have any hiccups. He had scratched his cornea pretty good. In the film, the ball came up and hit his face mask and his face mask actually scratched part of his eye. So that was the issue.”

 

Tip-off on Sunday between the Utes and Huskies will be at 2 p.m. MST and will be broadcast on ESPNU.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.