Utes Dominate First Half In Win Over Colorado
Jan 20, 2019, 7:25 PM
Utah Utes forward Timmy Allen (20) wrestles with Colorado Buffaloes guard Eli Parquet (24) for the ball as Utah and Colorado play in the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2019. Utah won 78-69. (Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Utes improved to 2-2 in Pac-12 Conference play with a 78-69 victory over Colorado.
Utah benefited from a dominant first half, in which they held the Buffaloes to just 19 points. In the second half, the Utes were outclassed by Colorado and perhaps broke a nervous sweat down the stretch.
After Utah surged to a 9-3 early, Colorado nearly caught the Utes at 9-7. Then, sparked by a 3-poiner by Donnie Tillman, the Utes buried the Buffaloes on 25-4 run to take a 34-11 lead with 5:49 remaining in the first half.
Timmy Allen’s free throw with 2:13 remaining gave Utah a 26-point lead, its biggest of the half.
At halftime, the Utes led 41-19.
“It’s never going to be perfect, but right up until about the last four minutes of the first half it was really solid. We played with a tremendous amount of energy, I thought, defensively,” said head coach Larry Krystkowiak after the game.
Despite having a huge lead going into the second half, it was no cakewalk for the Utes to finish the game.
Colorado cut the lead to 70-60 with three and a half minutes left. Both Gach nailed a 3-pointer on the next possession to give Utah a 13-point cushion. Colorado continued to threaten what was once a 28-point lead for Utah, but ultimately came up nine points short in the defeat.
By The Numbers
Sedrick Barefield led the game with 22 points with five 3-pointers made.
Allen finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds to complete the double-double.
Colorado was led by D’Shawn Schwartz, who turned in 21 points.
Next Up
The Utes will hit the road and face Stanford on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
