Runnin’ Utes Defeat Rival Cal in Thursday Night Showdown
Utah basketball’s Both Gach (#2) puts an arm over the shoulder of teammate Lazar Stefanovic (#20) in a matchup against the UCLA Bruins at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. (Photo by Jack Gambassi | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
December 30, 2022
On Thursday night, the Utes played against rival California Golden Bears in the Bay Area. They defeated their conference rivals 58-43, pushing themselves to 3-0 in Pac-12 play, making it the first time they achieved this feat since the 2014-15 season.
To start out the game, the Utes found themselves up 25-15. Fifth-year Marco Anthony was then able to score, pushing the Utes’ lead to 27. The Runnin’ Utes had a golden opportunity as Cal missed seven shots in a row, but the score stagnated at halftime with the Utes up just 27-18.
The Utes came out of the locker room cold, managing to make just one of their six shots to begin the second half. The Golden Bears took advantage of this, thinning the Utes’ lead to 29-24 with about 17 minutes left in the game. Cal continued their strong second half, going on an overall 13-6 run to begin, which pushed Utah’s lead to just 2 points at 33-31.
Utah then exploded with dominance, scoring 13 points in a row to push their lead to 46-31. Junior Gabe Madsen had a key assist to sophomore Lazar Stefanovic to finish off the 13-0 run for the Utes.
Cal responded after Utah’s 13th point on the run, managing to put together seven straight points to weaken Utah’s lead to 46-38 with about 7:30 left in the game. However, Stefanovic and Madsen teamed up again to hit a 3-pointer to end Cal’s late surge.
The Madsen 3 was huge, as the Utes managed to stop the Golden Bears from scoring a single field-goal after their 7-0 run, finishing the game with a victory of 58-43. Cal finished the game with just 43 points, the fewest the Utes have allowed since 2018, and the fewest allowed on the road since 2015, according to Utah Athletics.
Senior Branden Carlson and Stefanovic led the Utes as they each had 11 points in the game. Carlson managed to extend his streak of games with at least one block to 17, as he has not played in a game without a block since the Utes played at Cal last February. Anthony tallied nine points of his own, while recording six rebounds and three assists throughout the game.
The Runnin’ Utes will stay in northern California, competing against conference rival Stanford Cardinals on New Years Eve this Saturday at 2 p.m. MST. The Utes have an excellent opportunity to build momentum and begin Pac-12 play 4-0, facing off against a Stanford team that is 5-8 on the season.
