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Friday, December 21
Salt Lake City, Utah
7:00 PM
University of Utah
6-5
76
vs
62
Northern Arizona
2-8
1
2
F
Northern Arizona
30
32
62
Utah
38
38
76
Utes Win Second Straight with 76-62 Victory Over NAU
12/21/2018 9:44 PM | Men's Basketball
Barefield leads Utah with 15 points off the bench
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Runnin' Utes used an early second-half scoring run to separate itself and come away with a 76-62 non-conference victory Friday evening at the Huntsman Center. Senior Sedrick Barefield led a trio of double-digit scorers with a team-high 15 points and Utah won for the second straight game as the team heads into the holiday break.
NAU would lead by as many as four points after going up 8-4 early in the game, but Utah countered with a 6-0 run to take its first lead and then later used an 11-2 run to go up 29-21 with less than five minutes to play. NAU would go nearly four minutes without a field goal during the time, but did manage to get back within three points, down 31-28 following a 7-2 run. The Utes matched its highest lead of the half though, outscoring the Lumberjacks 7-2 over the final 2:44 to take a 38-30 lead into the break.
The Utes opened the second half with a 10-2 run to push its lead to 48-32 never looked back on the way to the 14-point win. Utah moved to 6-5 overall with the win, while improving to 5-0 at home on the year. The Lumberjacks fell to 2-9 overall and dropped its seventh straight with the defeat.
Barefield poured in a double-digit scoring effort for the second straight game while coming off the bench and has now managed to score 10 points or more in eight of 11 games played this season. Freshman Riley Battin also scored in double-figures for a second straight game, finishing Friday night's affair with 13 points. Fellow freshman Timmy Allen chimed in with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 effort from the charity stripe.
Senior Novak Topalovic led the Utes on the boards with nine rebounds and he managed to score eight points on the evening, as well. Barefield led the way with a game-high six assists and three steals.
Utah finished the game shooting .492 (29-59) from the field overall, which included a .304 (7-23) effort from downtown. The Utes were out-rebounded by the Lumberjacks 16-12 in the first half, but came away winning the battle of the boards overall pulling down 38 boards overall and limiting NAU to 33 rebounds in the game.
Utah will break for Christmas and the team will be back in action next weekend, hosting No. 6-ranked Nevada next Saturday, Dec. 29. The Utes and Wolf Pack are set to tip-off at noon MT at the Huntsman Center, with the contest to be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
GAME NOTES
• With the win, Utah moved to 2-0 all-time against Northern Arizona, which includes a 2-0 mark in Salt Lake City.
• The Utes moved to 157-61 all-time when facing teams from the Big Sky Conference. Utah is 6-0 against Big Sky opponents since 2014-15 and has not dropped a game to a Big Sky team since 2012-13.
• Utah moved to 5-0 at home on the season and won for the eighth straight game at the Huntsman Center dating back to last season. Utah has won 14 consecutive home games against non-conference teams (not including postseason play).
• The Utes are now 26-4 at home during the month of December since joining the Pac-12 in 2011-12. Utah has won 22 straight at home in December and 24 of the past 26 games.
• Utah moved to 2-0 on the season with the starting line-up consisting of: Parker Van Dyke, Both Gach, Timmy Allen, Riley Battin and Jayce Johnson.
• At least three Utes scored in double figures for the ninth time this season. Utah is now 6-3 when three or more players score 10+ points.
• Despite the game being tied five times and having five different lead changes, Utah led for a little more than 30 minutes overall, while NAU led for a total of 5:16.
• Utah outscored the Lumberjacks 16-2 in points off turnovers, with 11 points coming via the fast break.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Utah vs. Northern Arizona | December 21, 2018
Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On having done what they needed to do, to be ready for Nevada …
"I don't think so. No matter where we stood right now I am not thinking too far ahead and I've been excited, as you guys know we've played three games in three weeks then we played three games in six days, and I think we are all excited to go home and we have guys taken care of that can't make it home so we are going to enjoy some family time. Our coaches will work diligently over the break, divvy up the scout a little bit and have a good plan for three days of practice pre-new year and then open up league against Arizona. In my mind, the league is already on and our league can basically start before league officially starts in my mind."
On Sedrick Barefield's performance …
"He did a nice job coming off the bench and giving us a nice spark and kind of assess the situation a bit. He came in and the line was great, the six assists and one turnover is the kind of line that you need to have. I thought he missed some easy ones and made some tough ones but more than anything we guys came he did a good job of dropping it off and assisting his teammates. I'm not going to get into Barefield coming off the bench but that's part of the idea. We have great numbers at our disposal with guys on our staff that crunch the numbers when guys are on the court at the beginning of the game and the last two games Sedrick has come off the bench and has played pretty well. It's not set in stone and he's not buying for the six man of the year award or anything like that because we are going to make some changes with starting lineups based on how things go for us on the practice court and how things go for us in other areas of these guy's lives like classes and different things that are really important beyond just the athletic side of it. But the promptness to meetings and making sure if you have appointments with trainers, even on days off when the trainers have off, and guys don't show up for appointments with trainers, those kinds of things will probably keep you put of the starting lineup too so we will be able to assess the on and off the court stuff which will be very important to our culture and very important to us winning games."
Northern Arizona Head Coach Jack Murphy
On playing close early and Utah's run…
We have a young team and playing on the road in a Pac-12 environment with a big crowd even though it wasn't packed, but the crowd was loud and active and the students were active, and I thought at the start of the second half, Utah, a great program with a great coach and great tradition, went on a run and our guys were looking at the bench for me to take a timeout and I thought for the betterment of our team going forward in the future I was not going to bail them out. I was not going to bail them out. They had to get down there and grind and defend and get through it as a unit. At that point in time, that's where they went on their little run. I could have stopped the run early, but I am not sure that would have helped our team in the long run because it isn't so much about tonight as it is about Big Sky. I'm not sure even if I take a timeout at that point we win the game. All I know is for our team to move forward and get better for the Big Sky Conference play, those five men on the court had to battle it out and we just talked about that in the locker room.
On Brooks DeBisschop's play …
It was a really good game by Brooks. I was proud of him not only on the offensive end but also the defensive end of the floor. He had his hands up, was active, and had him down for three steals, but he had so many more deflections. He was just really involved and really good. I'm really happy with how Brooks played, for sure.
NAU would lead by as many as four points after going up 8-4 early in the game, but Utah countered with a 6-0 run to take its first lead and then later used an 11-2 run to go up 29-21 with less than five minutes to play. NAU would go nearly four minutes without a field goal during the time, but did manage to get back within three points, down 31-28 following a 7-2 run. The Utes matched its highest lead of the half though, outscoring the Lumberjacks 7-2 over the final 2:44 to take a 38-30 lead into the break.
The Utes opened the second half with a 10-2 run to push its lead to 48-32 never looked back on the way to the 14-point win. Utah moved to 6-5 overall with the win, while improving to 5-0 at home on the year. The Lumberjacks fell to 2-9 overall and dropped its seventh straight with the defeat.
Barefield poured in a double-digit scoring effort for the second straight game while coming off the bench and has now managed to score 10 points or more in eight of 11 games played this season. Freshman Riley Battin also scored in double-figures for a second straight game, finishing Friday night's affair with 13 points. Fellow freshman Timmy Allen chimed in with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 effort from the charity stripe.
Senior Novak Topalovic led the Utes on the boards with nine rebounds and he managed to score eight points on the evening, as well. Barefield led the way with a game-high six assists and three steals.
Utah finished the game shooting .492 (29-59) from the field overall, which included a .304 (7-23) effort from downtown. The Utes were out-rebounded by the Lumberjacks 16-12 in the first half, but came away winning the battle of the boards overall pulling down 38 boards overall and limiting NAU to 33 rebounds in the game.
Utah will break for Christmas and the team will be back in action next weekend, hosting No. 6-ranked Nevada next Saturday, Dec. 29. The Utes and Wolf Pack are set to tip-off at noon MT at the Huntsman Center, with the contest to be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
GAME NOTES
• With the win, Utah moved to 2-0 all-time against Northern Arizona, which includes a 2-0 mark in Salt Lake City.
• The Utes moved to 157-61 all-time when facing teams from the Big Sky Conference. Utah is 6-0 against Big Sky opponents since 2014-15 and has not dropped a game to a Big Sky team since 2012-13.
• Utah moved to 5-0 at home on the season and won for the eighth straight game at the Huntsman Center dating back to last season. Utah has won 14 consecutive home games against non-conference teams (not including postseason play).
• The Utes are now 26-4 at home during the month of December since joining the Pac-12 in 2011-12. Utah has won 22 straight at home in December and 24 of the past 26 games.
• Utah moved to 2-0 on the season with the starting line-up consisting of: Parker Van Dyke, Both Gach, Timmy Allen, Riley Battin and Jayce Johnson.
• At least three Utes scored in double figures for the ninth time this season. Utah is now 6-3 when three or more players score 10+ points.
• Despite the game being tied five times and having five different lead changes, Utah led for a little more than 30 minutes overall, while NAU led for a total of 5:16.
• Utah outscored the Lumberjacks 16-2 in points off turnovers, with 11 points coming via the fast break.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Utah vs. Northern Arizona | December 21, 2018
Utah Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On having done what they needed to do, to be ready for Nevada …
"I don't think so. No matter where we stood right now I am not thinking too far ahead and I've been excited, as you guys know we've played three games in three weeks then we played three games in six days, and I think we are all excited to go home and we have guys taken care of that can't make it home so we are going to enjoy some family time. Our coaches will work diligently over the break, divvy up the scout a little bit and have a good plan for three days of practice pre-new year and then open up league against Arizona. In my mind, the league is already on and our league can basically start before league officially starts in my mind."
On Sedrick Barefield's performance …
"He did a nice job coming off the bench and giving us a nice spark and kind of assess the situation a bit. He came in and the line was great, the six assists and one turnover is the kind of line that you need to have. I thought he missed some easy ones and made some tough ones but more than anything we guys came he did a good job of dropping it off and assisting his teammates. I'm not going to get into Barefield coming off the bench but that's part of the idea. We have great numbers at our disposal with guys on our staff that crunch the numbers when guys are on the court at the beginning of the game and the last two games Sedrick has come off the bench and has played pretty well. It's not set in stone and he's not buying for the six man of the year award or anything like that because we are going to make some changes with starting lineups based on how things go for us on the practice court and how things go for us in other areas of these guy's lives like classes and different things that are really important beyond just the athletic side of it. But the promptness to meetings and making sure if you have appointments with trainers, even on days off when the trainers have off, and guys don't show up for appointments with trainers, those kinds of things will probably keep you put of the starting lineup too so we will be able to assess the on and off the court stuff which will be very important to our culture and very important to us winning games."
Northern Arizona Head Coach Jack Murphy
On playing close early and Utah's run…
We have a young team and playing on the road in a Pac-12 environment with a big crowd even though it wasn't packed, but the crowd was loud and active and the students were active, and I thought at the start of the second half, Utah, a great program with a great coach and great tradition, went on a run and our guys were looking at the bench for me to take a timeout and I thought for the betterment of our team going forward in the future I was not going to bail them out. I was not going to bail them out. They had to get down there and grind and defend and get through it as a unit. At that point in time, that's where they went on their little run. I could have stopped the run early, but I am not sure that would have helped our team in the long run because it isn't so much about tonight as it is about Big Sky. I'm not sure even if I take a timeout at that point we win the game. All I know is for our team to move forward and get better for the Big Sky Conference play, those five men on the court had to battle it out and we just talked about that in the locker room.
On Brooks DeBisschop's play …
It was a really good game by Brooks. I was proud of him not only on the offensive end but also the defensive end of the floor. He had his hands up, was active, and had him down for three steals, but he had so many more deflections. He was just really involved and really good. I'm really happy with how Brooks played, for sure.
Team Stats
NAU
UTAH
FG%
.404
.492
3FG%
.318
.304
FT%
.500
.786
RB
33
38
TO
10
7
STL
4
5
Game Leaders
Pts
15
FGM
6
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
2
FTM
1
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Eric Weddle
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Thursday, August 21