The University of Utah Runnin’ Utes looked to bounce back as they closed out their non-conference schedule at Vivint Arena against the No. 20 ranked TCU Horned Frogs on Wednesday. The Utes would lead for a brief time in the first half but poor ball control prevented Utah from pulling away with the win. The Utes would fall 75-71, after a late rally.

Here are the takeaways from the game:

The Horned Frogs controlled the pace

For the most part, TCU had their way on offense. Emanuel Miller would lead the team with 21 points, seven rebounds. Mike Miles Jr. followed with 18 points and four assists.

In the first half, the Horned Frogs would score on four straight possessions leading to a 12-2 run and 27-17 lead. Utah would later come back to tie the game midway through the second half but a missed free throw by Marco Anthony would lead to 4-0 run against the Utes.

The biggest difference in the game came from the paint where the Horned Frogs dominated the Utes, 46-28.

Turnovers were a major factor in the loss

One of the biggest offensive struggles for the Utes was ball management and it was evident in their passing. Oftentimes they seemed careless with the ball, but credit TCU’s defense.

Utah would cough it up 19 times in their loss, with 11 of those coming in the first half alone. The Horned Frogs would score 23 points off of the Utes’ turnovers.

The Utes actually shot the ball better than TCU, hitting 34.8% on threes and 46.3% overall. TCU went 31.3% on threes and shot 44.6% overall. The key difference was that the Horned Frogs put up 10 more shots than the Utes. This was in large part due to those turnovers.

Behind the play of Gabe Madsen, the Utes went on to outscore TCU 42-40 in the second half, before their late rally fell short.

Madsen led the way with a career-high game

Madsen would lead the team with a career-high of 26 points and making a career high of seven three-pointers. He scored 16 in the second half as the Utes furiously tried to come back.

Marco Anthony ended the night with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds. Efficiency was the theme for Branden Carlson who had 14 points on 5-5 shooting, eight rebounds and three blocks. Although he was only 3-6 on free-throws.

Down nine with a minute left, Madsen would hit two more three-pointers, but it wasn’t enough as the rally fell short.

Up next

After a quick Christmas break, the Utes resume Pac-12 play next Thursday in Berkeley against the 1-12 Cal Bears. They’ll finish their Northern California trip with a New Year’s Eve matchup against the Stanford Cardinal.