Josh Watkins recorded a career-high 26 points, including two big baskets late, as Utah held off a furious second-half rally by visiting Portland for a 72-67 victory on Monday.

Portland (3-9), trailing by 12 at the half, fought back to tie the game 55-55 with 8:00 left. But Watkins responded with nine points down the stretch as Utah (3-8) won its second straight and evened its home record at 3-3.

Jason Washburn registered 18 points and seven rebounds for Utah, including the last two points of the game on free throws with 9.7 seconds left.

Nemanja Mitrovic led the way with 14 points and Ryan Nicholas had 13 for Portland, which has dropped nine of 10 games and five straight. The Pilots are coming off two consecutive 20-win seasons.

Utah sprinted to as much as a 17-point lead, but settled for 39-27 advantage at halftime. The Utes shot 61.5 percent from the field and scored 11 points off 10 Portland turnovers in the first half.

Watkins, held to three points Friday, had 12 points and all of his six assists in the opening 20 minutes and Washburn was 5-for-5 from the field for 10 points.