National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Utah 67, Washington 61
When: 3:00 PM ET, Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Where: MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Officials: # Mike Greenstein, # Verne Harris, # Brett Nansel
Attendance: N/A

Utah 67, Washington 61: Delon Wright had 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Utes withstood a second-half rally by the Huskies in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas.

Jordan Loveridge collected 13 points and nine rebounds for No. 8 seed Utah (21-10), which advances to face regular-season champion Arizona in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Wright shot 9-of-11 from the foul line and had three steals and two blocks for the Utes, who outrebounded the ninth-seeded Huskies 39-28.

Freshman Darin Johnson matched a career high with 16 points for Washington (17-15), which shot 37 percent from the field and 4-of-14 from 3-point range. Nigel Williams-Goss added 15 points while leading scorer C.J. Wilcox was held to 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Washington trailed 34-24 after shooting 26.9 percent from the field in the first half, but the Huskies battled back and led 41-40 on Johnson’s layup with just over 11 minutes remaining. Johnson scored in double figures for the first time since Jan. 2 and received extended playing time in place of Andrew Andrews, who was limited to three points while battling food poisoning.

Desmond Simmons tied the game at 60 with 1:08 left before Dakarai Tucker’s 3-pointer gave Utah the lead with 40 seconds to play. Williams-Goss and Wilcox each missed their final 3-point attempts, and the Utes converted their final four foul shots to secure the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The last eight meetings between Washington and Utah have all been decided by single digits. … The Utes lost 65-56 at Arizona on Jan. 26 before falling 67-63 in overtime at home on Feb. 19. … Brandon Taylor scored nine points while Tucker and Dallin Bachynski contributed eight points apiece for Utah, which improved to 19-3 when leading at halftime.
Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Utah
Darin Johnson 16 Scoring Delon Wright 15
Nigel Williams-Goss 3 Assists Delon Wright 4
Desmond Simmons 9 Rebounds Jordan Loveridge 9
Darin Johnson 6 Free Throws Made Delon Wright 9
Nigel Williams-Goss 3 Steals Delon Wright 3
Mike Anderson 1 Blocks Delon Wright 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Washington 61 37.0 4-14 17-23 5 26 3 6 10
Utah 67 44.9 4-14 19-24 12 35 3 5 13