Preview: Kent wants better defense as Utah comes to Pullman

Looking to snap a three-game losing streak, the Washington State men’s basketball (9-8, 1-4) hosts Utah (13-5, 2-3) Thursday at 8 p.m. at Beasley Coliseum. Saturday, WSU host Colorado at 6 p.m. Thursday night’s clash will be nationally televised on Fox Sports 1 with Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play) and Casey Jacobsen (color analyst) on the call. Matt Chazanow has the call on the Washington State IMG Radio Network.

COUGARS VERSUS UTES: Thursday marks the 22nd all-time meeting between Washington State and Utah. The Cougars are 2-4 against the Utes as Pac-12 foes since Utah joined the conference for the 2011-12 season. WSU is 2-1 against Utah at home as Pac-12 foes.

After losing three of their first four Pac-12 games, the Utes rallied past Oregon State Sunday, putting them one game under the .500 mark in the league. The loser of Thursday night’s game is guaranteed of being at least two games under the break-even point in conference play heading into the weekend.

“They are going to come in here with a tremendous amount of energy,” WSU head Ernie Kent said after practice Wednesday. “We need to match that energy and play better.”

Utah has four scorers averaging in double figures, led by Jakob Poeltl (16.3 ppg) and Jordan Loveridge (11.3). Washington State has struggled defensively since Pac-12 play started, allowing 90 or more points in three of their first five conference tilts. The Cougars’ minus-9.0 scoring margin in Pac-12 games is worst in the league, and they are 10th in field goal percentage defense (46.5 pct.).

Kent insisted unless the Cougars, surrendering 88.2 points per game against five league foes, figure out that side of the ball, winning consistently against Pac-12 opponents will prove difficult. Leading shot blocker Valentine Izundu remains sidelined with an injury and his presence in the lane has been missed.

“We must play much better defense than we have in our first few (Pac-12) games,” Kent said. “This whole team needs to take the step of playing consistently tough defense. When we’re giving up the amount of points we have given up in our first few games, we have to get back to playing defense. We don’t have Valentine for a few more games. We have to make sure we’re accountable more on the defensive end of the floor.”

HAWKINSON ROLLS ON: Josh Hawkinson leads the Cougars in scoring and rebounding with 16.8 points and 11.2 boards a game, while Ike Iroegbu averages 14.2 points and leads WSU with 4.1 assists per game. Together, the forward and guard are shooting 55.2 percent (185-for-335) from the field and accounting for 39 percent of the Cougar’s points this season. Only twice this season has neither Iroegbu nor Hawkinson led WSU in scoring, and just once neither led the Cougars in rebounding.

His 11.2 rebounds per game average puts Hawkinson on pace to break his own WSU single-season rebounding record from last season. He broke the Washington State school record with 11 straight double-double games. The streak was snapped last weekend at Arizona. Hawkinson leads the conference in rebounds per game, defensive rebounds per game and double-doubles. Iroegbu leads the Pac-12 in 3-point field goal percentage.

STATISTICAL LEADERS:

Total Points: Josh Hawkinson (268)

Points Per Game: Josh Hawkinson (16.8)

Total Rebounds: Josh Hawkinson (179)

Rebounds Per Game: Josh Hawkinson (11.2)

Offensive Rebounds: Josh Hawkinson (24)

Defensive Rebounds: Josh Hawkinson (155)

Total Field Goals: Josh Hawkinson (100)

Field Goals Attempted: Josh Hawkinson (178)

3-Pointers Made: Ike Iroegbu (23)

3-Pointers Attempted: Renard Suggs (54)

Free Throws Attempted: Josh Hawkinson (72)

Free Throws Made: Josh Hawkinson (59)

Assists: Ike Iroegbu (69)

Turnovers: Ike Iroegbu (51)

Blocks: Valentine Izundu (38)

Steals: Charles Callison (24)

LAST FIVE RESULTS:

Jan. 1 vs. USC, L 90-77

Jan. 3 vs. UCLA, W 85-78

Jan. 9 vs. Washington, L 99-95 (OT)

Jan. 14 at Arizona State, L 84-73

Jan. 16 at Arizona, L 90-66

NEXT FIVE GAMES:

Jan. 21 vs. Utah, 8 p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

Jan. 23 vs. Colorado, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Jan. 28 at USC, 7:30 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Jan. 30 at UCLA, 4 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Feb. 3 vs. Arizona, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

(All Times Pacific)

* Pac-12 Game

PAC-12 SCORES/SCHEDULE (Jan. 20-21)

Washington 95, Colorado 83 (1/20)

UCLA 82, Oregon State 73 (1/20)

Arizona State at California, 6 p.m. (FS1)

USC at Oregon, 6 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

Utah at Washington State, 8 p.m. (FS1)

Arizona at Stanford, 8 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)