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Utah Routes No. 25 USC 86-64

Utah+Routes+No.+25+USC+86-64

Despite a poor start to the beginning of the game, the Runnin’ Utes took care of business on Thursday night in the Huntsman Center, and they defeated the No. 25 USC Trojans 86-64.

USC opened up the game by scoring 10 unanswered points, and head coach Larry Krystkowiak called a timeout, and his team got keyed in on the game.

“I don’t think there was a lot to be said,” Krystkowiak said. “We missed three bunnies, and I didn’t like the look on our guys’ faces. It wasn’t a great start, made a couple substitutions, and this crowd was sitting there for quite a spell.”

And the Trojans lead wouldn’t last for long as Utah went on to thrash them by 22 points.

The Utes had a balanced approach, and five players scored in double digits. Devon Daniels recorded 17 points and David Collette and Lorenzo Bonam each had 15. Sedrick Barefield finished with 14 points, and Kyle Kuzma ended with a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Utah finished shooting 55.2 percent from the field, and it was 52.9 percent from three point range. The Utes also out-rebounded the Trojans 37-34.

Following that poor start, though, the Utah players weren’t too concerned about the lack of their shot-making.

“The message was that we were taking good shots, but the rim didn’t like us,” Kuzma said.

Utah finally got on the board when Bonam hit a basket, and Kuzma made it competitive. Kuzma scored a layup, then Collette registered his first points of the game. Kuzma then nailed a three-pointer to make it a one-point game. After another basket from Kuzma, the Utes took their first lead of the game, 11-10.

It was a back and forth game for the following minutes as the lead continue to switch hands. A three-pointer from Daniels did give Utah a 16-14 lead.

Tyler Rawson completed a three-point play, and USC got a bit lackadaisical, and it turned over the ball on Utah’s side of the court when it was inbounding the ball, so Utah went up 23-16. Although the Trojans nailed a three-pointer to stop Utah’s run, Collette would fire back with a three of his own.

And just as fast as USC went up by double digits, so did the Utes as they took a 31-21 lead with less than five minutes to play in the first half.

As the first half dwindled down, Barefield gave the Utes a 13 point advantage after he made a three to make the score 39-26.

Utah went up by 15 points, but a foul with 1.7 seconds left in the first half made it a 13 point game again heading into the locker rooms. Utah led 44-31.

The Utes got off to a sloppy start to open up the second half, and USC climbed within 10 points of the Utes. However, Zamora drained a three-pointer to make it a 51-38 game.

Utah continued to run up the score, and Daniels made a three-pointer to make it a 15 point game about seven minutes into the second half. Barefield increased Utah’s lead to 17 points when he knocked down a pair of free throws, and Utah led 62-45.

“In the second half I told them, ‘Let’s not settle for jump shots, let’s keep putting the heat on them,’” Krystkowiak said.

After a free throw and a Barefield three-pointer, the Utes were up 66-45. As USC was attempting to trim Utah’s lead, Collette had to go to the bench, because he was called for his fourth foul. However, this didn’t hamper Utah’s play. With 5:35 left to play, Barefield hit Bonam for an alley-oop dunk, and Utah lead by 23 points, 78-55, and USC could never get back in the game.

Next up, the Utes will face No. 5 UCLA on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Huntsman Center.

[email protected]

@kbrenneisen

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