Bajema's Early Splurge Helps Huskies Oust Utah

Cole Bajema is the kind of guy who comes to Las Vegas and goes to bed at 8 o'clock. Small town. Floppy haircut. Milk and cookies room service.

Only on Wednesday night at T-Mobile Arena, the University of Washington swingman changed up his approach and really let loose. In fact, he was the life of the party.

With his Pac-12 tourney opener not tipping off until 8:45, Bajema put away the Do Not Disturb sign and had a first-half scoring outburst that helped send the Utah Utes home with an 82-70 first-round loss — and third defeat to the UW in as many tries.

The 6-foot-7 junior from Lynden, Washington, treated this postseason event like the 2A high school state tournament. He came off the bench and immediately looked for his shot. For a moment, the floor belonged to him and no one else.

Midway through the opening half, Bajema poured in 11 of his 16 points as fast as someone loses $100 at the blackjack table. The Huskies (17-14) were later tied but never trailed again. They advanced to a second-round matchup against USC (25-6) on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m.

"He was great," UW coach Mike Hopkins said of Bajema in a Pac-12 Network interview. "He's been a shooter for us all year."

Cole Bajema had a 16-point outing.

Nate Roberts came up with 11 rebounds against Utah.

Terrell Brown Jr. goes for two of his game-high 22 points.

Daejon Davis get bumped on his way to the basket.

Terrell Brown Jr. ran the show in the UW's opening Pac-12 tourney win.

Nate Roberts scored just 3 points, but he had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Terrell Brown Jr. reacts to a foul call.

With the game knotted at 16, Bajema watched teammate Terrell Brown Jr. drive the lane and kick the ball back to him well behind the line. His high-arching shot zipped through the net in a rush.

Following a Lazar Stefanovic trey for the Utes (11-20), Bajema drove the lane, got bumped, converted the shot and sank the free throw that came with it for a 22-19 advantage.

With the UW up 24-23, Bajema let fly with another pinpoint 3-pointer from 25 feet that went whistling in.

Finally, Bajema sank a pair of free throws for a 29-28 edge.

In four-plus minutes, he successfully said hit-me enough times to make everyone in a Husky jersey feel really good about things for the rest of the night. He came up a winner on 5-for-9 shooting, 3 of 4 behind the line. It was enough to get the UW headed to a very positive night.

"I tell Cole to shoot," Brown said. "I think him and Jamal [Bey] are some of the greatest shooters in the conference."

Bajema did this to Utah once before. In early January, he was summoned off the bench and hit 5 of 8 3-pointers for a then career-best 15 points to carry the UW to a 74-68 victory in Salt Lake City.

His offensive contribution on this night seemed to greatly loosen up his teammates and give them swagger.

To open the second half, Brown had his own eight-point splash as the Huskies began to pull away and the Pac-12's leading scorer topped the UW with 22 points.

Bey, the UW's Las Vegas native, totaled 19 points in his homecoming.

Bajema came off the bench once more after intermission and gave the Huskies' their biggest lead to that point, 57-48, with another confident 3-pointer. There was 11:25 left to play. He dunked in the closing seconds.

Afterward, Bajema briefly might have thought about going to a show, ordering a round for everybody and staying out all night. Chances are, he was sound asleep after getting a shower and a bite to eat.

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