Saturday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, the Runnin’ Utes took on the Washington Huskies for Alumni Night. Utah delivered a dominating first half performance defensively that set the Utes up to run away with a 25 point victory margin, 86-61.
Here are the takeaways from the win:
Solid defensive performance
Utah shutdown the Huskies offensively and would add 18 points off turnovers. After leading by as many as 19 points the Utes softened their defense and the Huskies went on a 11-1 run that would cut the lead to 8 points. But Utah would extend the lead back to 14 by the end of the half.
Washington shot only 34 percent from the field and was 8-26 from the perimeter. Utah also out-rebounded the Huskies 48 to 30. Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington with 17 points and nine rebounds, Cole Bejama added 13 points and four rebounds.
It was an offensive blowout
Utah was all gas and no breaks throughout the night. Nothing worked defensively for the Huskies to slow down the Utes from breaking man defense and full court press. In the first half Gabe Madsen went on an 8-0 run alone, including two back-to-back 3-pointers with 9 minutes to play in the first half. Utah continued to play lights out in the second half extending the lead by as many as 24 points with 3:42 left to play.
Utah had four players in double figures. Branden Carlson led the team with 25 points and 8 rebounds. Madsen added 17 points while Marco Anthony recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Rollie Worster missed recording a triple-double by one rebound. He completed the night with 11 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.
Keba Keita goes down
The freshman center Keba Keita left midway through the first half after sustaining a leg injury attempting to get a basket under the rim and was fouled. Landing awkwardly, Keita was helped off the court and headed straight for the locker room to be checked out. He would join his team on the bench towards the end of the second half with a walking boot.
Craig Smith was hopeful that Keita would be good t go for the team next week, so it’s an encouraging sign that the walking boot just just be a precaution. Any prolonged absence from Keita would be a big blow to the team, as the freshman enforcer is Utah’s most dominating presence in the paint.
Up next
Utah heads on the road for their Oregon road trip. They’ll take on Oregon State next Thursday at 9 PM. Utah will then head to Eugene for a big challenge against the Ducks. Both games will be on the Pac-12 network.
