The University of Utah hosted a fiesty Sam Houston State squad on Thursday night at the Huntsman Center. The Bearkats opened the season traveling to Oklahoma and stunning the Sooners on their home court. Unfortunately for the Utes, it was more of the same as the school from the WAC finished off yet another upset with a convincing 65-55 victory.

Here are the takeaways from Utah’s first loss of the season:

Here are the takeaways from the game:

Bearkats set the tempo with their defense

Sam Houston State’s defense shut down the Utes offensively for most of the first half. Their full-court press seemed to fluster Utah and disrupt the flow of the Utes offense.

The Bearkats started the game on a 9-3 run. Utah’s Rollie Worster would hit a three-pointer at the 15:33 mark—only Utah’s second field of the game—and the Bearkats would capitalize off of turnovers and go on a 7-0 run before the Utes were able to get points on the board again with 11:59 to play.

The Bearkats would go into a shooting slump that saw them score only two points in nearly six and a half minutes. The Utes cut the deficit from 13 to five points in that span. Utah would go on to trail 27-23 to end the first half.

Throughout the night, Utah would constantly get itself in a hole and then pull within a possession or two of the lead. All game, Utah only held the lead for 25 seconds, with the last time being at the 18:37 mark in the first half.

The second half would be much of the same, with Utah climbing close and then the Bearkats pulling away.

On the night, Utah shot 43.5 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three. The Bearkats had 22 points in the paint to Utah’s 14 points. Their bench also outscored the Utes 22 to 14.

Utah finished the night with 16 turnovers to the Bearkats 11. The Utes were also out-rebounded 41-31. The Utah front court struggled mightily, as Branden Carlson was held to nine points and no other center or power forward scored.

Utah was brutal at the foul line

This one gets its own section because it was self-inflicted. Overall, the biggest struggle for for the game came from the free throw line. The Utes were ice cold, only hitting 50 percent (8-16) while Sam Houston hit 86.7 percent (12-14) of their free throws. Marco Anthony, finally back healthy and seeing his first action of the season, was 0-3 from the free throw line.

Worster and Stefanovic were bright spots

Rollie Worster led the Utes with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Lazar Stefanovic would add another 12 points and be crucial in keeping them within a one possession lead with 4:27 to go in the game. However, despite pulling within one possession on several occasions in the second half, the Utes were never able to get ahead and take the lead.

Sam Houston’s Qua Grant would score the next 10 points and the lead would extend the lead 63-53 with less than a minute to go. The talented guard led all scorers with 22 points for the game.

Up next

Utah will travel to Ft. Myers, Florida to face Georgia Tech on Monday, November 21, as they continue the Ft. Myers Tip-Off Tournament. Depending on the results of that game, they’ll return to the court Wednesday to play either Mississippi State or Marquette.