Utah chases better defensive performance vs. Eastern Washington

Two teams trying to get back into the win column will square off when Utah faces Eastern Washington on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

The Utes (7-4) won their first five games but have dropped four of their last six. That slump includes an 82-74 home loss to Mississippi State last Saturday, a game in which Utah led 42-32 at halftime.

Don McHenry scored 29 points and Terrence Brown added 22 for Utah, which started the game on a 13-4 run.

Ultimately, the Utes foundered and turned the ball over 14 times, allowing the Bulldogs to rally for 50 second-half points.

"It's happened a couple of times this year, when we've had a double-digit lead," Utah coach Alex Jensen said. "I think it's kind of a maturity level for us, as a group, as a team. Good teams will get there.

"... Especially defensively, you ramp it up and don't go for steals. But we tend to get a little lackadaisical and then not patient on offense, then we end up dribbling a lot and taking early shots."

Meanwhile, the Eagles (2-9) have dropped five of their last six games, including a 78-63 defeat to Washington State on Wednesday.

Alton Hamilton IV led Eastern Washington with 16 points while Isaiah Moses had 15 and Jojo Anderson 12, but the Eagles shot only 38.3% from the field and tallied just 27 rebounds

"Our offense is way ahead of our defense," Eastern Washington coach Dan Monson said before the game. "If we don't get better defensively, we're not going to have much success."

--Field Level Media