The University of Utah men’s basketball team picked up a massive win over the Washington State Cougars on Thursday night behind Branden Carlson’s huge first half. The Utes desperately needed a win here after losing three straight. They got it in a good way, maintaining a comfortable lead over Washington State for the entire night. The Cougars threatened to make it a late game, but the Utes executed well down the stretch to pocket their sixth conference win, 77-63. 

Carlson continues to shine every time he touches the court for the Utes, putting up another monster game tonight. He finished the first half with 21 points on 8-8 shooting, including three 3-pointers. That 21 was more than double anyone else in the game. He also did a great job defensively on projected NBA Draft pick Mouhamed Gueye, limiting him to 3-9 shooting before the break. Down the stretch of the half, Craig Smith went with Carlson and Keba Keita on the court together, which sparked a run where the Utes cemented their lead after the Cougars had cut into the deficit.

“BC can stretch it and shoot it,” said Smith. “I thought that lineup was big … we played the double big lineup and it got us some separation going into the half.”

Smith is right: that lineup was huge for Utah, both literally and figuratively. Smith has talked about wanting to use it all season, as well as last year. This was not the first glimpse of it, but it absolutely worked tonight. It would make sense to see it more going forward.

Carlson finished with 28 points. Rollie Worster had 14 and Gabe Madsen had 12. The big game from Carlson combined with quality supporting minutes from other scorers made it tough for Washington State to keep up. They have to play this way offensively in order to beat good teams. Carlson cannot do it all himself; he needs supporting scorers to be hitting their shots, and Worster and Madsen stepped up enough tonight to get this win.

Utah doesn’t have a go-to second scorer, but getting these contributions from the stable of Worster, Madsen, Lazar Stefanovic, Marco Anthony and whoever else are very key.

“I feel like we’re a very balanced team,” Smith said. “We do need balance, but we do have a ‘lead dog’ so to speak that can go out and get buckets.”

Credit where credit is due, the Utes looked much better offensively than they did during the three-game losing streak. It helps when Carlson is on fire, but playing through their big man has to be the recipe for success for this roster. Without the threat of his scoring inside, Utah is way too easy to guard. Carlson’s health is absolutely essential if this team wants to go anywhere in the last few months of this season.

Utah looked good tonight. They are in the mix of the Pac-12 at the moment, with a chance for a good seed at the tournament still very much in play. They will need to show this level of execution against the better opponents left on the schedule, but with Carlson in the lineup on their home floor, they can beat anyone in the conference on a given night.

Utah has the Washington Huskies up next at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday.

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