SALT LAKE CITY – After seemingly finding their groove two weeks ago against the Washington schools, Utah basketball appears to have lost their mojo after guard Gabe Madsen was injured against Oregon last weekend on the road.

The inconsistency on offense without their second-leading scorer earned Utah their second straight loss, this time against the Stanford Cardinal, 78 – 70.

Once again, Lazar Stefanovic stepped up to the plate in and effort to ease Madsen’s loss, giving the Utes a fighting chance as their leading scorer of the night with 26 points, but it wasn’t enough to put Utah on top.

Utah played hard but have some things to continue working out offensively without Madsen available. Will come up short to Stanford, 78-70.#Utes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 3, 2023

Utah Versus Stanford First Half

Early on, the Utes struggled to get the offense going with the Cardinal jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead despite some really sloppy play from both sides. At the 16-minute mark, Ben Carlson cut into that lead with Utah’s first three of the night making it a 7-5 game.

Both teams having issues keeping the ball in play it feels like early in this one.

Stanford has a narrow 7-5 lead at the 15-minute mark. #Utes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 3, 2023

At the 13-minute mark, Stanford had been on a 2-minute scoring drought, however, continued to lead 10-9. Lazar Stefanovic forced his way to get one off the board tying the game up at 11, but shortly after the Cardinal answered back and was up 15-11 by the media timeout.

Like a hot knife through butter, @_Lazar_Stef slices through the defense off the @ballerbranden35 offensive rebound‼️

📲 https://t.co/3DheJFju3n⁰#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/CFCnbF6c3u

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 3, 2023

Stefanovic would later drain two more threes at about the 10-minute mark tying the Utes back up with the Cardinal at 17. Rollie Worster added his own three to the mix putting the Utes within one of Staford, 23-22, at the break.

Stefanovic has done a really good job picking up some of the scoring slack with the absence of Madsen the past two games. He's always been steady, but seems to have that extra edge knowing a little more on him right now.#GoUtes https://t.co/0eOSveB9bQ

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 3, 2023

With under five to play, Stanford built up a seven-point lead, 31-24 over the Utes. At the three-minute mark Branden Carlson came through with the statement dunk, but Stanford had an immediate response and the Utes continued to trail, 36-28. Stanford continued to build their lead while Utah struggled to keep anything consistently going on offense to close out the half going to the locker room ahead, 46-31.

At the half pic.twitter.com/ilVdXWPPYE

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 3, 2023

Utes, Cardinal Second Half

It only took Stanford seconds to add to their lead out of the half while the Utes still had some issues to shake off on the offensive side of the ball.

Stefanovic eventually made his presence known with his third three-point shot of the night while teammates Marco Anthony and BC followed up with their own putting the Utes within 10 of the Cardinal, 50-40.

Ben Carlson's three has extended Utah's run to 10-0 over a 2:21 second stretch. The #Utes still trail Stanford, 50-44, but are hot and closing ground.#GoUtes #UteProud

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 3, 2023

BC put a shot in off the glass while also getting a trip to the line that added an additional point, making it a seven-point game, 54-47 with under 14 to play. A series later and Carlson put another off the glass to make it 54-49. With under 12 to play Stefanovic drained his fourth three of the night putting the Utes within three-points, 57-54 by the timeout.

😤😤@ballerbranden35 And-1

📲 https://t.co/3DheJFju3n⁰#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/9CGh7cM7Iy

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 3, 2023

Stanford put two on the board immediately out of the timeout to make it a 59-54 game. The Cardinal added another two quickly before the Utes answered with a Worster three putting the game at 61-57 in favor of Stanford with under 10 minutes to play.

#Utes currently in a 2-minute scoring drought. They have had moments in this game where they seem like they can't be stopped and other moments where they completely lose that confidence.

Stanford leads 63-59 with 7:16 left to play.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) February 3, 2023

BC hit a dunk at about the three-minute mark that got the crowd back into the game, but Utah still trailed Stanford, 69-63 at the media break.

 

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports

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