The Runnin' Utes defeated the Colorado Buffaloes 73-62 on Saturday night in the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Utah led the game from the get go and stretched it to as many as 18 points. Colorado made a late push, but Utah held them off in the end.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
Utah was the better team most of the night
From the opening tip, Utah was the superior team in every way. The Runnin' Utes shot 35% from three-point range and 49% from the field overall, although they shot above 50% in both categories in the first half. Utah had more assists (+5), rebounds (+12), and really controlled the game from start to finish.
Utah consistently got to their spots on offense and defensively really disrupted Colorado's offense most of the night. About halfway through the second half, Utah broke the game open with back-to-back dunks from Will Exacte Jr. and Keba Keita to take a 16-point lead with 9:22 to go.
Utah coach Craig Smith tightened up his rotation, as all starters played a minimum of 30 minutes.
Early on, Colorado capitalized on Utah mistakes
Despite looking like the dominant team most of the game, Utah's early turnovers and defensive lapses in the first 25 minutes kept Colorado close. Utah had 6 first half turnovers to Colorado's 2, and the Buffaloes had 8 first half lay ups, including 10 points off turnovers. Tad Boyle's team played very scrappy and kept it just close enough that Utah could not get comfortable in the second half. However, Utah matched Colorado's intensity late in the game to come away with a solid home win. Colorado would finish shooting just 37% from the field.
Carlson demands attention, but Anthony was the heartbeat
Game-in and game-out, Branden Carlson is the top guy on every opponent’s scouting report. In this game, he frequently saw double teams as soon as he received the ball in the paint and still dropped 17 points. He also had 3 blocks, defensively.
Marco Anthony was a steady presence and played tough on both sides, quietly putting together a game of 17 points and 8 rebounds in 37 minutes. Anthony scored some tough buckets in late shot clock situations and is a great reflection of the toughness and development of this team.
Up next
The Runnin' Utes will travel to Arizona for a doubleheader against the Arizona schools on the Pac-12 Network. They’ll play the No. 4 Wildcats on February 16th at 8 PM MST. Utah will follow that up with the Sun Devils on Saturday at 4 PM MST.
