Late Run Gives Utah Basketball First Road Win Of Season After Defeating Stanford
Feb 17, 2022, 10:58 PM
(Photo courtesy of Utah Athletics)
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah men’s basketball team picked up their first true road win of the season after defeating Stanford 60-56 on Thursday.
Gabe Madsen and Both Gach made big plays down the stretch to help Utah basketball end the game on a 12-2 run to beat Stanford. Gach and Branden Carlson led the Runnin’ Utes with 13 points apiece. Madsen and Worster each scored 11 points.
For Stanford, Jaiden Delaire and James Keefe had 11 points apiece.
Got it done on the Farm!! pic.twitter.com/gxK0IICM2C
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2022
Stanford Wins Battle Of Runs In First Half Against Utah
Stanford threw the first punch with an 8-0 run before the Utes responded with a 9-0 run. After going over four minutes without scoring, Stanford went on another run of 9-0 before Rollie Worster got a layup to go to stop the bleeding.
Utah had little momentum going into the halftime break with Marco Anthony hitting a midrange jumper to send the Runnin’ Utes to the locker room trailing 28-21. The Utes shot just 38% from the field and struggled from beyond the arc, hitting just one of their nine attempts.
Rebounding was an issue as well with the Cardinal winning the battle of the boards, 20-15 in the first half. Of those 20 rebounds, eight came on the offensive glass and gave Stanford nine second chance points.
Both Gach led the Utes in the first 20 minutes of play with five points. Marco Anthony, Rollie Worster and Branden Carlson each had four points.
Brandon Angel scored eight points to lead the Cardinal in the first half.
Utah Takes Down Stanford With Late Run
Utah was trying to get over the hump and get the lead back but whenever they were close, Stanford pulled away. The Runnin’ Utes pulled within five points with five minutes remaining. Utah had many chances to get the lead with Stanford going over nine minutes without a field goal.
With under four minutes to go and Utah trailing by four, Gabe Madsen made a nice steal and pass to Both Gach for a layup. Then Gach made an impressive block that led to a bucket by Branden Carlson, who tried dunking on James Keefe but the ball went in anyway. The game was tied at 54 with 2:35 remaining in the game.
Gabe Madsen gave the Utes the lead with a big triple with under two minutes to play. Utah took a two-possession lead before the Cardinal got an easy dunk. Madsen missed the front end of a one-and-one but Stanford badly missed the game-tying triple.
The Runnin’ Utes improved their record to 10-16 overall and 3-13 in Pac-12 play. They will wrap up their Northern California road trip against the Cal Bears on Saturday, February 19 at 4 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.