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Seattle • For the past year, Jakob Poeltl's free-throw shooting has been a community cause.
The Runnin' Utes coaching staff tweaked his stroke. Jack Sikma, an NBA buddy of Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak's who led the league in free throw percentage in 1988, weighed in. So did Poeltl's Austrian coaches.
So many people helped the sophomore center with his free-throw shooting, it was no big surprise for Poeltl when the career 55.6-percent shooter stepped to the line for six shots in overtime and made every one.
"I don't think at all," said Poeltl. "I know I can make them, I've made them before in close game situations this year. I just knock them down."
Led by Poeltl's 29 points, the Utes (15-5, 4-3) held their composure in an 80-75 overtime win at Pac-12 front-runner Washington. It was the first time Utah swept a two-game conference road trip since joining the Pac-12 five seasons ago — serving as an important step forward for a program trying to scoot its way back into conference contention.
With 14 points in the extra period, including eight by Poeltl, the Utes kept steady against an athletic team backed by a raucous crowd of 8,073 at Alaska Airlines Arena. Utah has now won three straight on the road, and four of their last five Pac-12 games since starting conference play 0-2.
"We knew there were going to be some ebbs and flows in the game," Krystkowiak said. "I talked about, 'Let's do whatever we can necessary to do something that our program hasn't done before.'"
At the heart of the effort was Poeltl, who set a new conference-best performance in scoring while adding 10 rebounds and four assists. Against a physical UW front court, Poeltl had an 8-for-14 night from the floor and made 13 of 16 free throw attempts.
Utah's attack got other strong efforts as well, with four other Utes scoring at least 10 points. But the threat of Poeltl helped give the Utes an edge, and the big man fought through double-teams, dished off without turning over and made his free throws when they counted — looking very much like the NBA lottery pick most expect him to be next spring.
He helped lead Utah's rallies out of pauses in the game as the UW faithful made the arena thick with noise: The Utes went on a 7-3 run out of the gate in overtime, then they made five straight free throws after the Huskies tied it up at 73 with 1:17 to go. Poeltl's last six free throws — as well as a Utah defense that held UW to one make for its last four shots — put the game on ice.
" Teams will double him, front him, and change things every game," said sophomore forward Kyle Kuzma, who added an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double. "For him to be that mentally tough, it's good to see. He's grown a lot this year, I think."
So have the Utes, who lost an overtime game at Stanford to open Pac-12 play. There was no such letdown against Washington, as the Utes attacked the rim with Lorenzo Bonam and Poeltl, getting back-to-back goaltending calls. Utah didn't trail once during overtime.
The Utes also led toward the end of regulation, coming out of a media timeout down two points with a 9-2 run. Poeltl made a 3-point play that put Utah up five with 1:29 to go.
Washington guard Andrew Andrews got to the line to make a pair of free throws, then following a missed shot by Bonam, freshman guard David Crisp made a corner 3-pointer over Poeltl to send the game to overtime.
The Utes shot only 41.4 percent in the game, but helped make it up with 16 offensive rebounds that translated to 13 second chance points. The Utes also benefited from Washington's bigs getting in early foul trouble: Second-leading scorer Marquese Chriss (15 points) fouled out in regulation, and Dime and Noah Dickerson had to tone down their physicality after getting two fouls each in the first eight minutes of the game.
Bonam slashed his way to 12 points, including four in the overtime period. Jordan Loveridge and Dakarai Tucker each had 10.
The contest remained close throughout, tied for almost 10 minutes of game time, with the lead changing 15 times.
The Utes hope they can display similar grit this Wednesday back at the Huntsman Center, looking to pay back Cal for a loss earlier this month, part of a 1-3 start in league play. They feel like they've grown quite a bit since then.
"In [those] games, we lost our poise and were kind of all over the place," Poeltl said. "Ever since the Oregon State game, we've found a little more rhythm on offense. We're back to what we're used to doing … it's been a lot better."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Storylines
R Utah knocks off its third straight Pac-12 opponent.
• The Utes move into a six-way tie for third place at 4-3.
• Utah outscores Washington 14-9 in overtime.
• Jakob Poeltl contributes 29 points, 10 rebounds, four assists.