On Thursday night, the University of Utah men’s basketball team faced off against Pac-12 rival Oregon State at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. The Utes were coming off of a Bay Area road trip where they managed to take down Stanford and Cal last weekend. They kept their Pac-12 momentum going, defeating the Beavers with a final score of 79-60. Here’s how the game played out.

Gameflow

Senior Branden Carlson started off the game with a two-point shot, beginning his big night for the Utes. Junior Gabe Madsen kept the Utes with a field goal of his own, while Junior Rollie Worster had a turn around shot that gave the Utes an early 8-3 lead over the Beavers. Oregon State then responded with a 3-pointer, but Madsen had a three of his own followed by a Ben Carlson shot that gave the Utes a 13-6 lead. 

While the Utes played a solid game all around, Branden Carlson was certainly the star of the show. He had multiple wow plays throughout the game, with his first being a dunk to give the Utes a 15-6 lead, firing up the Huntsman crowd. This eventually led to the first media timeout of the game.

Out of the timeout, Oregon State was able to go on a quick 5-0 run, but Worster and fifth year senior Marco Anthony both scored points for the Utes, building a 21-13 lead for the team. Madsen then drilled another 3-pointer to give the Utes 24 points. However, Oregon State managed to stay in the game for the first half. Another 3-pointer by them tightened Utah’s lead to just 24-18, and forced a timeout. Carlson had a nice putback to make the score 26-18 coming out of the timeout, which was followed by Madsen’s third 3-pointer of the half to give the Utes a 29-20 lead. Another 3-pointer from Oregon State tightened the lead to 29-23.

The Utes, on a night where they shot 90% from the line, scored two free throws to build their lead to 31-23. Sophomore Lazar Stefanovic then hit another 3-pointer for the Utes, while a Branden Carlson putback dunk got the crowd going with a 36-23 Utah lead going into another timeout. After this, Oregon State managed to put together a solid end to the half. They went on a 11-6 run to limit the Ute’s lead to 42-34 at halftime.

Oregon State came out of the break strong, scoring a 3-pointer 3 possessions in a row. Utah kept up the scoring, but their lead was just 44-43 early on. Branden Carlson then had an and-one with a successful free throw, giving the Utes a 47-43 lead and regaining their momentum. An Anthony 2 followed by a Carlson 2 gave the Utes a 51-45 lead going into another media timeout.

Anthony would go on to score six points in a row for the Utes, eventually building up their lead to 57-47. The Beavers kept fighting, but a Carlson 3-pointer eventually gave the Utes a 64-53 lead with just nine minutes left to play. Stefanovic also hit a big three, while another dunk by Carlson built the Utes lead all the way to 70-55 with just a little over 5 minutes left to go in the game. This effectively ended the game, as Utah went on to outscore the Beavers 9-5, with Carlson scoring yet another three to put the game at 77-60 and out of reach. The final score of 79-60 showed a dominant game for the Utes, with a strong effort from the Beavers who simply could not keep up. The victory helped the Utes move to 12-4 on the season, a strong start.

Stats

As previously mentioned, Branden Carlson was the star of the show for the Utes, putting in a career-high tying 27 points on 10-19 shooting with two 3-pointers and a perfect 5-5 from the line. He also collected 11 rebounds and two assists en route to a double-double.

Madsen, Anthony, and Stefanovic all also had solid games. Madsen collected 13 points with three rebounds and an assist. Anthony also had a double-double, with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists. Stefanovic had 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists of his own. Worster had just 6 points, but led the team with 8 assists on the night, showcasing his play-making ability.

Coach’s Thoughts

Head coach Craig Smith was happy with how his team played in the game, but he talked in his postgame presser of how his team needed to, and did, improve throughout the game.

“They were over a point a possession in the first half — it is not good enough,” Smith said. “And so, give our guys credit, man. We had a different mindset in the second half defensively, held them to 31% [shooting].”

The Utes defense did notably improve against an Oregon State team that was shooting really well with some tough looks. While giving up 34 points in the first half, the Utes clamped down, giving up just 26 points in the second half. Coach Smith was proud of how his team adjusted at halftime to an Oregon State team that was giving them a fight, as it was a good sign for things to come. The Utes team could’ve allowed Oregon State’s streak of three possessions in a row with 3-pointers, but they rallied defensively and won in dominating fashion over a solid opponent.

Looking Ahead

Following the Runnin’ Utes’ Thursday night victory, the team will stay home and compete at the Huntsman Center against their other Oregon-based rival, the Oregon Ducks, on Saturday, Jan. 7. The Utes will try to maintain their undefeated 5-0 start to Pac-12 play against the 8-7 Ducks. The game will begin at 5 p.m., and will surely be accompanied by an excited Huntsman crowd.

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