The Utah men’s basketball team (18-12, 9-10 Pac-12) headed into their matchup with the Oregon State Beavers looking to continually climb the Pac-12 standings and build their NCAA tournament resume. The Beavers came out hot in the first half, building an early lead and eventually taking a 46-33 advantage into halftime. Utah made a valiant effort at a comeback in the second half, cutting the deficit to just six points with 13:36 remaining. Oregon State, however, continued to build their lead in the remaining minutes to secure the upset win, 92-85.
First Half
The beginning of the first half saw Utah storm out to an early 13-7 lead thanks to a Gabe Madsen 3-pointer, but the Oregon State offense eventually caught fire, taking back the lead 14-13 at the 12:20 mark of the first half.
The Utes offense stagnated as turnovers started to lead to open layups and 3-pointers from the Beavers midway through the first half. After starting the game hot, it looked like Utah might run away with this game, but Oregon State had other ideas. The final 12 minutes in the first half were absolutely dominated by the Beavers, as they closed out the half on a 39-20 run to eventually take a 46-33 lead into halftime.
Branden Carlson was responsible for 15 first-half points to lead the majority of the offensive production throughout the first 20 minutes of action. Despite Carlson’s big half, the defensive intensity was lacking in the first half as the Beavers seemingly got whatever they wanted on the offensive end.
Utah struggled mightily on the road heading into this matchup, and that theme stayed consistent as the Utes trailed by 13 to an Oregon State team that has not found very much success throughout the entirety of this season. If the Utes wanted to turn this game around, they needed to string together stops on the defensive end and control the pace of the entire second half offensively.
Second Half
Carlson came out in the second half with a quiet intensity, looking to lead his team to victory in a game that seemed like a must-win. With 14:10 reminding in the game, a Carlson 3-pointer cut the lead to single digits for the first time since midway through the first half. If Utah wanted to pull out the comeback victory, other Utes besides Carlson needed to step in a big way.
The Utes did find a way to close the gap to just six points, but some defensive lapses and excellent Oregon State ball movement led to another Beaver run and a 13-point advantage with 9:12 remaining. Utah continued to play hard, attempting to cut into the Oregon State lead, but there was not enough time remaining in the game to mount a massive comeback.
The Utes didn’t give up as they fought until the final buzzer, but unfortunately, Oregon State had built enough of a second-half advantage to limit the comeback effort. When it was all said and done, Utah fell 92-85, in a heartbreaking loss.
Utes Stuffing the Stat Sheet
Branden Carlson put up a career-high 40 points and seven rebounds to lead all scorers in the game, while Deivon Smith noticed another double-double with 19 points and 10 assists to pace the Utah backcourt. Madsen rounded out the majority of the Utah scoring with 13 points, dishing out seven assists as well.
What’s Next for the Utes?
Utah will head to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks in the final game of the regular season. The game will tip off at 6:00 p.m. MST on Saturday, March 9, on the Pac-12 network. Don’t miss the action this Saturday in prime time.
