Utes Can’t Overcome Poor Start In Road Loss To Stanford

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Utah Utes men’s basketball team couldn’t complete the second half comeback after digging a deep hole to start the game. They lose their 8th straight road game with a 70-62 defeat at the hands of Stanford.

Timmy Allen led the Utes with 17 points, including 13 points in the second half. He also had 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-14 field goal shooting.

Branden Carlson had another outstanding performance with 12 points and 4 rebounds while tying his career-high of 8 blocked shots. He had 8 blocks in Utah’s first meeting against Stanford on February 6 in Salt Lake City.

For Stanford, Tyrell Terry had 27 points on 7-11 shooting from the three-point line. Oscar Da Silva added 20 points and 7 rebounds.

.@ballerbranden35 probably wants to play Stanford every game. He has 8 blocks again against the Cardinal.#Utes #Pac12Hoops @kslsports

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) February 27, 2020

Turnover-Filled First Half

The Utes had one of the worst starts to a game this season. But the difference between this bad start and others which includes Colorado, Utah didn’t fold and kept fighting.

Utah had 9 turnovers in the early going with Stanford scoring 9 points off of those turnovers. The Cardinal had a 34-16 lead with 4:18 remaining in the first half. That was the largest lead of the game for Stanford.

The Utes regrouped and was able to chip away at the deficit before trailing by 12 points at the halftime break. After 20 minutes of play, Utah had 12 turnovers and shot 2-14 from beyond the arc.

Final.#GoUtes🏀🔴 #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/Pt8my5SpDm

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 27, 2020

Second Half Turnaround

Head coach Larry Krystkowiak must have said something in the locker room at halftime to motivate his team. Utah had a 12-6 start to the second half to pull within six points.

Late in the second half, the Utes were forcing turnovers and trailed by just three points with two minutes remaining before Stanford nailed a three-pointer to put the nail in the coffin.

Jaxon Brenchley nearly had a career-high with 13 points. It’s his third game this season scoring in double figures. His career-best is 14 points against Mississippi Valley State.

After dealing with injuries and offensive struggles, Both Gach had his best game since returning from injury with 15 points on 6-11 shooting.

Utah shot the ball well with the exception of the three-point line. They made 49 percent of their field goals but just 20 percent of their threes, going 4-20 from the perimeter.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
🔥🔥@tyterry05🔥🔥
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/DIbPU8VXbC

— Stanford Men's Basketball (@StanfordMBB) February 27, 2020

The Utes dropped their record to 15-13 overall and 6-10 in Pac-12 play. They will play their final regular season road game on Saturday against the California Golden Bears. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. on the Pac-12 Network.

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