SALT LAKE CITY – Utah basketball starting center Branden Carlson was named first-team All-Pac-12 Tuesday morning. Teammate Marco Anthony received honorable mentions on the all-defensive team.

While the Runnin’ Utes are not where they ultimately want to be yet, the honors for Carlson and Anthony are signs Craig Smith has the program trending in the right direction.

After a disappointing 11-20 (4-16) finish in 2021-’22, Utah improved their standing to 17-14 (10-10) for the 2022-’23 season. Much of that improvement can be attributed to the efforts of veteran guys like Carlson and Anthony for putting in the preseason work and rallying the troops.

Congrats to our guy @ballerbranden35 on becoming just the 4th Runnin' Ute to earn multiple all-conference honors!!#GoUtes | @pac12

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) March 7, 2023

Carlson And Anthony’s On-Court Contributions

Carlson joins an elite group for Utah basketball, becoming just the fourth Ute to earn multiple all-conference honors. (Delon Wright, Brandon Taylor, and Timmy Allen are the other three.) Carlson, Wright, and Allen are the only Utes to have earned back-to-back all-conference honors.

The big man averaged 16 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks for the Utes in 2023 while also having 21-straight games scoring double digit points.

Anthony’s honorable mention for the all-defense team is the guard’s first and the sixth time overall a Ute has earned an all-defense award. Anthony is also the third-straight Ute to earn an honorable mention joining the likes of Brandon Taylor and Kyle Kuzma.

Anthony consistently earned kudos from broadcast teams for being difficult to play through and was often put on the opposing team’s best offensive threat. While Anthony’s defensive abilities were what often popped off the page, he was also good for 9 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, and 2 assists on average per game.

Carlson and Anthony will now be turning their attention to the 10-seeded Stanford Cardinal in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament starting on Wednesday.

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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