It was a must-win road game against the worst team in the Pac-12 conference, and despite a monster effort by Branden Carlson, the Utes couldn’t find a way to keep up with Oregon State Thursday night, losing 92-85.
There were a few key takeaways from this one:
Defense was a major issue
The math is simple. Utah allowed a team that averages 69.7 points per game to score 92 points. Coach Smith summed it up perfectly in his press conference following the loss: “At the end of the day, we have to guard way better than we guarded tonight, teams that do well on the road usually are good defensively because defense travels and we allow them to shoot 51% and obviously you get 92 points, it’s going to be very, very difficult to win.”
Some credit has to be given the Oregon State. Utah tried to get back into the game by fouling, but the Beavers made most of their shots at the charity stripe, going 31 for 37.
The Bench didn’t get it done
The starters played heavy minutes in this one, but when they took a breather, the drop off in play was noticeable.
Utah got 41 minutes from bench players, but only 4 points to show for it. Hunter Erickson, who played 9 minutes, finished with 0 points, 0 assists, 1 rebound, 3 turnovers, and 3 fouls.
It’s hard to win games when the bench can’t find a way to help.
Carlson was incredible
Carlson did everything he could to attempt to will the Utes to a win, finishing the game with 40 points on 16 of 26 shooting, including going 5 of 10 from 3-point range. He also had 7 rebounds.
There was a stretch late in the second half where Carlson was the only Ute to score for nearly 7 minutes. It was difficult to see a senior that has given so much to the program and continual effort not get the help he needed to secure the win in a contest Utah couldn’t afford to lose.
Up Next
The 18-12 Runnin’ Utes won’t have a lot of time to dwell on this loss, as they turn around to play their season finale in Eugene Saturday against the Oregon Ducks.
The Ducks have lost 3 of their last 4 games, but with a 19-11 record, a win again Utah could set them up to receive the tournament bid that could have gone to the Utes.
