Utah Runnin’ Utes outlasted by BYU in 262nd basketball meeting between them

The University of Utah’s upset bid vs. BYU was alive and well for about 27 minutes of game action on Saturday night at the Huntsman Center.

Then, the already-shorthanded Utes ran out of gas.

With the 18th-ranked Cougars trailing by one, an 18-6 run included a little bit of everything, stemming the tide on their way to a 75-64 decision in the 262nd meeting between the in-state forever rivals.

After a baby lefty hook in the lane from one-time Utah commit Caleb Lohner pushed BYU to a four-point advantage, Alex Barcello got to the rim for a layup. A Lohner steal at midcourt wound up in the hands of a streaking Gavin Baxter for a breakaway dunk.

Baxter’s flush put BYU (6-0) up eight at 48-40 with 11:06 to go, prompting a timeout from Craig Smith, whose rotation only went seven-deep after Dusan Mahorcic was lost for the night early in the first half to an apparent right knee injury. Mahorcic was helped off the floor and did not return. Utah began the night without Marco Anthony (ankle), Gabe Madsen (undisclosed), and Bostyn Holt (ACL), who is out for the season.

Utah (5-1) had what became a 12-point second-half deficit down to six four times inside the final 5:00, but could never get back over the hump.

The first half was a grinder, marked by defense, but also by BYU’s distinct size advantage playing a role in the paint and on the glass.

The Cougars were plus-8 on the glass and had 20 points in the paint in the first half, but the Utes played enough defense to keep themselves in it despite whatever deficiencies were present.

Utah yielded just 35.3% shooting in the first half, including 1-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. With Rollie Worster drawing the primary defensive assignment on Barcello, BYU’s leading scorer had just four points on 1-for-4 shooting in 16 first-half minutes.

The Utes took a 29-27 lead into the locker room thanks to a Branden Carlson baby-hook in traffic, then Lazar Stefanovic creating a midcourt steal and taking it in for a breakaway dunk with 33 seconds left.

The Tribune will update this story.

from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/3p0YLSK