Huskies Lose Badly at Utah; It Was An Inside Job

Utah is a basketball team that uses its big men to its advantage, while Washington is a Pac-12 entry that clearly does not.

Big problem.

On Saturday in Salt Lake City, the Huskies once more chose to fire away from the perimeter without much success rather than look inside and lost 86-61, watching their three-game win streak come to an abrupt end.

There was nothing wrong with the UW's 7-foot-1 Braxton Meah, other than his teammates never looked for him, not once in the opening half. 

While playing all but a minute and a half before the break, Meah didn't take a feed inside until 3:15 was left before the break. He attempted just one shot, self-generated on a rebound follow.

Meantime, Utah (14-7 overall, 7-3 Pac-12) went to its 7-foot center Branden Carlson whenever and however it could, and he responded with a game-high 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting while chipping in 8 rebounds and 3 rebounds.

Meah, playing two-thirds of the game, went scoreless on two shots attempts for the Huskies (12-9, 4-6) while grabbing 3 rebounds. Teammate Keion Brooks topped these guys with 17 points and 9 rebounds.

This lopsided approach largely was responsible for the UW trailing from start to finish and finding itself already down 32-13 by the 8:39 mark of the opening half.

Game over.