The University of Utah Runnin’ Utes men’s basketball team was back home this weekend to take on the Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears. Utah came out on top in both games to improve their season to 14-9, 5-6 Pac-12. The Utes are now 10-1 in the Jon. M Huntsman Center.

Utah vs. Stanford

This game was a close one up until the last second, as the clock ran out at 50-50 and went into overtime. The Utes scored 28 points in the first, then 22 in the second, and finished off the night with 14 in OT to win the game at 64-56. 

“We got a lot of stops and we held them to six points in overtime, which I thought was great, and that was even with the corner three late, and it was a good effort for us defensively,” said coach Larry Krystkowiak. 

Freshman Branden Carlson had a great night with eight blocks, 15 points and went 5-6 on the free throw line. Timmy Allen matched Carlson with 15 points but was 9-12 on free throws. Riley Battin finished out the night with 11 points and two 3-pointers. 

Overall, the Utes hit a 36.8% field goal percentage, had 42 rebounds and hit 69.6% on the free throw line.

Utah vs. California 

The Utes took a lead early in the first at 17-6 as California didn’t score for over three minutes. Cal was able to answer back — but not by much as they went into halftime with the Utes leading by 12 at 34-22.

For the second half, things started much slower as six minutes passed and the Utes led by 36-26. But the Utes were eventually able to pick things up to make it 46-33 with a 13-point lead and only 8:36 left. Utah ended up winning 60-45. 

In a post game interview with the Pac-12 Networks, Allen said, “Do what I can and not let them score. I take pride in taking defensive assignments so I’m proud of it and it was a good team effort all around.”

Allen lead the team with 21 points, the only player on both sides to reach the 20 point mark. Alfonso Plummer tabbed eight and Battin hit seven. 

Overall, the Utes had a 45.3% field goal percentage and went 24-53. They hit a 27.8% 3-point field goal percentage and went 5-18. They also were 70% successful on the free throw line, going 7-10.

Next up for the Utes

Next week the Runnin’ Utes will head to Oregon to take on Oregon State and Oregon. The first game will come against Oregon State on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Corvallis, the game will broadcasted on the Pac-12 Networks. After that, Utah will head to Eugene to face the No. 14 Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m. and will be on FS1.

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This article has been updated to reflect the second and third highest scorers for the Utes. These scorers are Alfonso Plummer and Riley Battin, not Battin and Rylan Jones. It has also been updated to reflect the correct field goal percentage. The team went 5-18, not 5-8.