Monday night against San Diego State, Utah redeemed itself from last year’s loss and beat the Aztecs at home 81-76.
All starters finished in double digits, led by forward Jordan Loveridge, who scored 21 points. Head coach Larry Krystkowiak hopes the team can continue to have a balanced attack each game.
“It think we do have some pretty good offensive firepower,” Krystkowiak said. “I’d love to be able to have multiple guys in double figures on a nightly basis.”
Jakob Poeltl finished the game with 15 points and 12 boards, and although he only scored five points in the second half, he will take a win over his personal performance any night.
“We have this team chemistry — nobody cares who’s scoring a basket,” Poeltl said. “We all care about each other. It’s not about who’s doing what, it’s about us as a team, executing so we can win games.”
The Runnin’ Utes shot 37 percent from three-point range and were 40 percent from the floor. The team managed to clean up its free-throw shooting game from last time and shot 75 percent, hitting 12-of-13 late in the game.
Kyle Kuzma, who finished the game with 14 points and seven boards, got the Utes going early on by nailing two three-pointers to give them a 9-4 lead. However, SDSU soon went on a 12-3 run to go up quickly 16-12.
Baskets from Lorenzo Bonam and Poeltl put an end to the Aztec streak, followed by the Utes taking the lead after a second-chance basket from Loveridge put them up 19-18.
But just like before, the Aztecs soon scored two quick three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to jump out to a six-point lead.
Poeltl started to bring the Utes back behind a dunk and a free throw, only to have San Diego State respond with another three. This didn’t discourage Poeltl. He continued to attack the basket and continued to get to the free-throw line, showing improvement from last season by hitting 7-of-11 from the charity stripe.
With under a minute left to play in the half and the game tied at 32, Loveridge nailed another three-pointer, and at the last second, Brandon Taylor, who was 0-of-12 from the floor this season, finally found the net and added another three pointer to make the score 38-32 heading into the locker rooms.
After SDSU scored on its first possession of the second half and Utah was called for a double dribble, the Utes quickly got back on track behind a three-pointer from Taylor. The Utes led by as many as nine points in the second half, but the Aztecs started to creep their way back and went on a 12-point run to take a three-point lead with about 14 minutes left to play.
Loveridge then sunk a three-pointer to tie the game, and after some back-and-forth play from the two teams, the score remained close.
Taylor hit a couple of free throws to open up a four-point lead for the Utes, but then a foul committed by Kuzma, his fourth of the night, gave SDSU the opportunity to stop Utah’s momentum and tie the game at 56. A three from Bonam and then another one from Brekkott Chapman gave the Utes some breathing room. With about four minutes left to play, Utah held a 66-59 advantage.
A couple of baskets later, with over three minutes left to play, SDSU scored a three to make it a five-point game. Poeltl scored a basket as the shot clock expired with just about a minute left to extend the lead to seven, but SDSU wouldn’t go down quietly. .
SDSU was forced to foul Utah towards the end, and the teams started to exchange free throws and three-pointers. With 26.2 seconds left, Utah had just a two-point 77-75 lead after the Aztecs clawed back into it.
The door was left open for SDSU when Bonam fouled Trey Kell as he shot a three form the corner, but Kell missed two of his three free throws. Bonam then sealed the deal by making Utah’s last free throws.
With the team hitting so many late free throws, Loveridge expected him and his teammates to come up in the clutch, considering how much it is emphasized in practices.
“Everyday we come in, and that’s a big part of practice, and we’ll have to run if we don’t and we’re always being penalized if we don’t make free throws,” Loveridge said. “We’ve lost games in the past — I know I have and some of the other guys who have been on the team … because we haven’t made free throws, so we know how important that is.”
Next up, the Utes head to Puerto Rico for the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Their first game is Thursday night.
@kbrenneisen