Utah Basketball Bounces Back With Dominating Win Over Manhattan
Dec 11, 2021, 5:03 PM
(Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News)
(Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – After suffering a loss on the road to TCU on Wednesday, Utah basketball bounced back with a 96-62 win over Manhattan on Saturday at home.
Four Utah players scored in double figures, led by Riley Battin and Lahat Thioune with 14 points each. Branden Carlson chipped in 13 points, while Both Gach added 12 points.
Craig Smith’s team did a tremendous job sharing the ball, dishing out 26 assists on 35 made field goals.
A sequence 🙌 pic.twitter.com/wDQHqWNehs
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) December 12, 2021
The Utes rolled out a different starting lineup as David Jenkins Jr. was moved to the bench and Marco Anthony was inserted into the lineup, along with Rollie Worster, Both Gach, Riley Battin and Branden Carlson. Jenkins was going through a shooting slump over the last few games.
Utah Settles Down In First Half An Conquers Manhattan’s Defensive Looks
Both Gach has played really well over the last two weeks and he started strong once again on Saturday afternoon. Gach had 10 of Utah’s 12 points in the first five minutes of the game. He started with a breakaway dunk, followed by back-to-back three-pointers.
Manhattan throws a bunch of different looks on the defensive end, including a full court press. While Utah’s tempo was completely slowed down when the Jaspers made any shots, the Runnin’ Utes were able to settle in.
Towards the end of the first half, Utah made five of their six shots, while holding Manhattan without a field goal for three minutes.
The Runnin’ Utes took a 47-30 lead into the halftime break. Both Gach had 11 points to lead the way for Utah, while Branden Carlson chipped in 10 points and three rebounds.
Manhattan was held to 30% shooting from the field. Utah hit 55% from the floor.
Runnin’ Utes Cruise To Win Over Jaspers
It was a very stagnant second half at the start. Utah outscored Manhattan 15-9 through the first eight minutes of the half but they were on a 7-0 run at that point. The Jaspers were held scoreless for three minutes and the Utes were up 62-39.
Utah put the nail in the coffin around the eight-minute mark of the second half as they were getting some nice plays in transition.
The Runnin’ Utes improved their record to 7-3 on the season. They will play their final non-conference road game on Saturday, December 18 against Missouri at 2:30 p.m. MT on the SEC 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.
