Eastern Washington hangs tight, loses to Utah 88-80
From staff reports
The Utah Utes spoiled a strong night for Eastern Washington senior Andrew Cook on Saturday, defeating the Eagles men’s basketball team 88-80 at Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Cook scored 23 points – his fourth game with at least 20 points this season, his first with the Eagles – on 8-of-10 shooting from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line. Redshirt junior Nic McClain also scored 14 points, redshirt freshman Emmett Marquardt added 12, and sophomore Sebastian Hartmann returned after a one-game absence to score 16 points off the bench.
But that wasn’t enough scoring against Utah (6-1), which made 28 of 58 shots (48.2%) from the field and 28 of 45 free throws. The Utes also outrebounded the Eagles 40-33 and committed just eight turnovers (Eastern had 11).
The Eagles (1-7) trailed by as many as seven points in the first half but led 48-47 after a tip-in by Marquardt with 17:23 left in the second half. But Utah scored the next nine points and later pushed its lead to 70-53.
Yet the Eagles stuck around. A 3-pointer by sophomore Vice Zanki got the Eagles within six points 77-71, with 4:31 to go, and Cook’s basket in the paint the next time down cut Utah’s lead to 77-73.
From there, though, the Utes were able to push their lead back to double digits, and Eastern never recovered.
Eastern, which has lost six straight, returns home to play North Dakota (3-4) on Wednesday at Reese Court in Cheney. The matchup is the first of the Eagles’ two in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge, which also includes a game at South Dakota State (6-2) on Dec. 7.
Idaho 80, UC Riverside 68: The Vandals (3-5) used a career night from Kristian Gonzalez to beat the Highlanders (4-4) at ICCU Arena in Moscow, Idaho, the Vandals’ first win over Division I competition this season.
Gonzalez scored a career-high 25 points, making 5 of 11 3-point attempts. The Vandals built a 14-point lead in the first half and kept the Highlanders at bay the rest of the way.
Kolton Mitchell added 16 points and Tyler Mrus scored 13 to make three Vandals in double figures. for the Vandals.