Runnin’ Utes Dominate Beavers in Corvallis
The University of Utah Runnin’ Utes takes on the Washington State Cougars at the Jon. M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Jan. 19 2023. (Photo by Xiangyao “Axe” Tang | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
January 27, 2023
The University of Utah men’s basketball team picked up a dominant win over the Oregon State Beavers late Thursday night. The game wasn’t close after 0-0, as the Utes jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. Oregon State has struggled in conference play this season, standing at 2-8 after tonight’s game, and the Utes took advantage of an overmatched Beavers squad.
Branden Carlson came back down to earth a little bit after his fantastic weekend last time out, but still chipped in 12 points and 6 rebounds. Gabe Madsen led all scorers with 13 and Rollie Worster added 12.
Utah held the Beavers to just 44 points, with a lot of those coming in garbage time. It was 32-16 at halftime, a terrific defensive effort from an already very strong defensive team. Utah shut down everything that Oregon State wanted to do and then some.
It all adds up to a strong victory that looked just too easy for the Utes. The Utes could have taken tonight easy in preparation for the better matchup heading their way on Saturday, but they took everything seriously from start to finish and handled their business, getting the victory 63-44.
If the Utes are serious about attempting to get themselves into the big dance at the end of the season, they will need to face some of the ghosts from earlier this season. Up next on Saturday is the Oregon Ducks, who topped the Utes at the Huntsman Center a couple of weeks ago. Oregon is 21-3 all-time against Utah. The Utes have only beaten them one time since 2008, a win in Eugene back in 2017.
The Ducks are not as good as Utah this season. The Utes should be able to win the game on Saturday, but they cannot seem to figure out how to crack the quackers. If they lose, they’re staring at a daunting rest of the schedule while needing to be pretty much perfect if they are to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. Arizona, UCLA and USC still await later down the line. Utah is tied for second place in the Pac-12 right now. Can they stay there?
Time will tell, but for now they turn their focus to the Ducks for a marquee matchup on Saturday at 6 p.m. MST. They’ll need to play better basketball this time around in a tough environment, but a win could do wonders for team morale down the stretch run of the season.
