Takeaways: Late Blunders Hurt Utes in Loss
The Runnin' Utes fell at home to the Oregon State Beavers 75-70, ensuring that they will finish with a losing season as they sit at 10-12 with one game to go. This game was tight from the beginning, and, unfortunately, Utah turnovers in the final minute of the game kept Oregon State at arm's length without much of a threat of a shot.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
Allen leads the way
As he has during most of his career, Timmy Allen led the Utes in scoring, finishing with 23 points. Allen was very efficient and played under control most of the night, shooting 10-15 with five rebounds and six assists. For the past two seasons, as Allen goes, generally the Utes go as well— both good and bad. With Rylan Jones out, he’s taken on the role as the primary ball handler and on Thursday, his four turnovers underscored a theme for the Utes with effective shooting, but untimely turnovers.
(Un)timely turnovers
Despite Oregon State going on a small run late in the second half, a Mikael Jantunen three-pointer with just over a minute left made it a one possession game. Turnovers 14 and 15 on the night came on passes in the paint from two players who led Utah all game in Allen and Pelle Larsson. Larsson drove to the basket and tried to get it to a diving Brandon Carlson, but the pass was behind Carlson. After Oregon State's Jarod Lucas missed the second of a one-and-one, Allen drove and kicked the ball back out to Carlson, but the ball was tipped and Alfonso Plummer's foot was on the half court line as he tried to keep it in play. Those two plays summed up how the season has felt in many instances, with Utah being their own worst enemy.
The youth card has been played throughout what seems like the entire season, but by now that’s a pointless excuse.
The Utes were dominated on the glass
Another common theme all season has been inconsistent rebounding. While it was a fairly clean game in terms of referee involvement, a little aggression might have been good for Utah, as they were out rebounded 30 to 20. Both teams shot well and both struggled with turnovers, but 12 Oregon State offensive rebounds tells all that you need to know about the difference in the game. The Beavers owned the offensive glass and second chance points, making the difference in the game.
The bulk of the Utah rebounds came from Jantunen and Allen with seven and five respectively. Carlsen continued his up and down season collecting rebounds, as the Utes center finished the game with only two.
Up next
The Runnin' Utes are set to host Arizona State in the final regular season game on Saturday, March 6th before the Pac-12 tournament begins next week. At this point, it’s highly unlikely to expect any kind of a tournament invite, unless teams opt out—something Utah would probably do anyways, as assistant coach Tommy Connor was vocal about how bad this season has worn on the team.