Takeaways: Utes Beat the Cardinal to End Four Game Skid
The University of Utah snapped a four game losing skid on Thursday with a convincing victory over a solid Stanford Cardinal squad. Putting together two complete halves of basketball had been an issue for the Utes of late, until their 79-65 victory.
Here are the takeaways from the game:
Free-throws make a difference
One game after shooting 2-11 from the field—a percentage that would get you chewed out by even a rec league coach—the Utes showed that that performance was mostly a fluke. Against Stanford, they only missed five with nearly double the opportunities, goin 25-30. Timmy Allen found his way to the line early and often, coming up clutch with a 10-12 performance. He was the leading scoring overall with 22 points.
Of course, free-throws weren’t the reason for the victory, as each team shot 30 of them. Instead, it was something the Utes have struggled with mightily, lately.
For a change, Utah dominated the boards
Stanford isn’t exactly known for their physicality, but they’ve done a much better job of it than the Utes. However, their matchup in Salt Lake City was a different story. Allen and Mikael Jantunen led the way with eight and seven, respectively. Pelle Larsson was just behind them with six—all three higher than any Cardinal. The Utes had a nine rebound advantage.
Center Branden Carlson, who had just moved to the bench, still struggled on the boards with four rebounds in 24 minutes, but he ended up having a big impact on the game with 12 points and four blocked shots.
The Utes need to continue taking steps forward in this category if they want to finish the season on a strong note.
Allen has the right attitude
I don’t have the exact quote, but in Allen’s postgame interview he said something that should be refreshing for Ute fans to hear. When discussing the recent losses Allen explained that it didn’t matter if those games were close, they still did stuff that caused them to lose the games.
It’s a simple thing, but something fans want to hear. Losses can only be spun so much and everyone can get tired of hearing how a blowout to USC was much closer than it appeared. There’s a certain line to be careful crossing when it comes to looking for the positives and the Utes recent four game losing streak hasn’t been easy for fans and boosters, alike.
If Allen’s attitude can rub off on his young teammates, they’ll be better off for it now and going forward.
Up next
The Runnin’ Utes close their busy home stand out with a perfect opportunity to start a winning streak, as they host the 6-8 Cal Bears on Saturday at 8PM.