The Runnin’ Utes continued their recent hot-streak on Thursday with a 63-44 win over the Oregon State Beavers. It was an impressive defensive clinic that saw the Beavers struggle early and often.

Here are the takeaways from the victory:

Domination from start to finish

For the second game in a row, the Utes led from start to finish. Rollie Worster and Branden Carlson got the Utes off to a hot start with seven and five points, respectively, before the first timeout.

Utah’s biggest scoring run of the night was 10, as they opened up the game with a 10-0 run. The Beavers were outmatched from the tip to the final buzzer, with that initial cold stretch sealing their fate. Oregon State didn’t hit the 20 point mark until 18 minutes left in the second half.

Utah played tough defense

Oregon State was 0-14 from long distance, before Jordan Pope finally made their first three-pointer with 5:54 to play in the game. Michael Rataj would hit their second three of the game on their next possession, but the Beavers ended up finishing an atrocious 2-18 from deep.

Thanks to their rocky start to the game, the Beavers only connected on 7-28 shots in the first half and ended up shooting 34% total for the entire game. Utah held Oregon State leading scorer Jordan Pope to 11 points, one under his season average. No other Beaver scored in double-figures.

Worster led a solid collective effort

Despite his shooting struggles, Gabe Madsen led the Utes with 13 points, but it was Rollie Worster who stole the show. The veteran guard continues to pile up solid stat lines. One game after missing a triple-double by one rebound, Worster rallied 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds with only one turnover in 32 minutes.

Worster has had a quietly impressive season averaging 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists. Now the question is, can he get that elusive triple-double with nine regular season games left?

Up next

Utah travels to Eugene, Oregon for a Saturday battle with the Oregon Ducks at 6 PM MST. The Ducks have won 10 straight games against Utah and have dominated the series since the Utes joined the Pac-12. Utah will go into the game 15-7 overall with a 8-3 Pac-12 record. Their last game against Oregon spiraled the Utes into a three game losing streak.

The Utes are currently in second place in the Pac-12, but tied in the losss column with Arizona and USC.