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Friday, November 15
Salt Lake City, UT
7:00 PM
University of Utah
3-0,0-0Pac-12
73
vs
69
Minnesota
1-3,0-0Big Ten
1
2
F
Minnesota
33
36
69
Utah
39
34
73
Photo by: Rob Gray
Men's Basketball Gives Krystkowiak Win No. 200 with Victory over Minnesota
11/15/2019 10:34 PM | Men's Basketball
The Utes led Minnesota from start to finish in another Friday night thriller at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah men's basketball team gave head coach Larry Krystkowiak career win No. 200 in a thrilling Friday night bout against Minnesota, leading the Golden Gophers from start to finish for the 73-69 victory inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center
The win Friday is Utah's first victory over a Big Ten team since taking down Michigan at home, 68-52, on Dec. 9, 2009.
Utah (3-0) got off to a scorching-hot start to the game, reeling off 12-straight points, forcing Minnesota head coach head coach Richard Pitino to call a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding. However, it didn't do much as the Utes tacked on four more points for the 16-0 lead before Daniel Oturu finally put the Golden Gophers on the board with a straight-away three at the 16:09 mark.
Despite all the media talk about whether or not Utah would have trouble with the physicality of a Big Ten team like Minnesota, the Utes' post players did not back down and held the Golden Gophers to just eight points in the paint at the 7:53 media break with three blocks for the 29-17 lead.
Minnesota (1-3) slowly crept back into the game in the waning minutes of the half thanks to Oturu, who had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. However, the hot-start by Utah allowed them to hold serve, 39-33, heading into the locker room.
After tough start out the break that saw the Golden Gophers cut the lead to 41-38, Utah finally regained its offensive groove out of the 15:34 media timeout and went on a quick 9-2 burst thanks to a trio of threes from Rylan Jones and Jaxon Brenchley – which forced another Minnesota timeout.
That groove didn't last long as five-straight turnovers on as many possessions allowed the Golden Gophers to pull within 50-48 of the Utes thanks to an 8-0 run with 7:50 left to play. Riley Battin finally broke the dry spell for the U out of that timeout and scored on a reverse layup that was called for goal-tending, putting an end to a 6:21 scoring drought.
Just like the Nevada game, Timmy Allen and Both Gach fueled the Ute offense and went toe-to-toe with the Minnesota offense. After a huge baseline 3-pointer from Gach to make it 55-49, Allen reeled off six-straight points of his own to keep Utah on top 61-57 with 4:13 remaining in the game.
After a pair of free throws from Batting made it 63-59, Allen got the entire arena on its feet with a thunderous one-handed jam and pushed the Utah lead to 65-59 – forcing yet another Golden Gopher timeout.
The scoring went back-and-forth from that point on until Marcus Carr drained his third triple of the game to bring Minnesota within 70-68 with 23 ticks left to play. After a quick foul and two free throws from Gach pushed it to 72-68, Carr went 1-of-2 from line to get the Golden Gophers within 72-69. Branden Carlson came up with a huge block after Minnesota recovered the missed shot from Carr before Jones made a critical foul with five seconds left to keep Carr from shooting the game-tying three. Carr wound up missing both shots at the line and allowed Utah to hold on for the 73-69 win.
Allen finished with his second double-double of the season, posting 19 points and 10 rebounds while Gach matched his fellow sophomore with 19 points of his own on 5-of-9 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Battin chipped in with 13 points and eight boards while Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers for Utah with 10 points and six assists with two steals.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah has not trailed in a game since the 6:36 mark in the second-half of the Nevada game when Gach put the Utes up for good … the last time Utah had four players in double-figures was against UCLA (3/9/19) last season at home … the starters for the Utes were locked in Friday night scoring 65 of the team's 73 … the Utes also outscored the Golden Gophers 34-26 in the paint despite the perceived physicality of the Big Ten … Utah shot 53.2-percent from the field on Friday and have now shot above 44-percent in the first three games of the year.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On his 200th win…
"It doesn't really have a lot of value to me, it has a lot to do with the kids and being here at this university. It says to me someone's believed in me long enough to get 200 wins, and I'm thankful for that. Our coaching staff has as much to do with it as I do, and a lot of it is because of the people we have around us."
On Rylan Jones…
"I have been a big believer of him. I've watched him since we moved to town, and I've seen him win a lot of games and make his teammates better. He's a gritty, tough kid. He's making lots of improvements and hasn't been thrown a lot of pitches. He's very much in grind mode and has a long way to go, but I'm happy for him, and it's fun to see him gain some more confidence."
On the strength of the team…
"You can't let a mistake turn into another mistake. We got sped up and had to regain our composure at points. I'm a big believer in it and I shared it with my team before the game that this is a team. When you talk about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the ability of each man. When we don't take it on ourselves and try to beat the world, then we've got a fighting chance when we stick together."
UP NEXT
The Utes now hit the road for the Myrtle Beach Invitational (Nov. 21-24) where they'll take on host Coastal Carolina in the opening game on Thursday, Nov. 21, with a 5 p.m. tip. Rich Hollenberg will have the call on ESPNews while Fran Franschilla serves as the analyst inside the HTC Center.
2??0??0??
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) November 16, 2019
Congratulations on career win No. 200, @LKrystkowiak! #GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/LlxIKHZujo
The win Friday is Utah's first victory over a Big Ten team since taking down Michigan at home, 68-52, on Dec. 9, 2009.
Utah (3-0) got off to a scorching-hot start to the game, reeling off 12-straight points, forcing Minnesota head coach head coach Richard Pitino to call a timeout in an attempt to stop the bleeding. However, it didn't do much as the Utes tacked on four more points for the 16-0 lead before Daniel Oturu finally put the Golden Gophers on the board with a straight-away three at the 16:09 mark.
????@ballerbranden35#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/3n1XrxNNxV
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) November 16, 2019
Despite all the media talk about whether or not Utah would have trouble with the physicality of a Big Ten team like Minnesota, the Utes' post players did not back down and held the Golden Gophers to just eight points in the paint at the 7:53 media break with three blocks for the 29-17 lead.
Minnesota (1-3) slowly crept back into the game in the waning minutes of the half thanks to Oturu, who had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. However, the hot-start by Utah allowed them to hold serve, 39-33, heading into the locker room.
After tough start out the break that saw the Golden Gophers cut the lead to 41-38, Utah finally regained its offensive groove out of the 15:34 media timeout and went on a quick 9-2 burst thanks to a trio of threes from Rylan Jones and Jaxon Brenchley – which forced another Minnesota timeout.
That groove didn't last long as five-straight turnovers on as many possessions allowed the Golden Gophers to pull within 50-48 of the Utes thanks to an 8-0 run with 7:50 left to play. Riley Battin finally broke the dry spell for the U out of that timeout and scored on a reverse layup that was called for goal-tending, putting an end to a 6:21 scoring drought.
Just like the Nevada game, Timmy Allen and Both Gach fueled the Ute offense and went toe-to-toe with the Minnesota offense. After a huge baseline 3-pointer from Gach to make it 55-49, Allen reeled off six-straight points of his own to keep Utah on top 61-57 with 4:13 remaining in the game.
?????? @TutBoth
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) November 16, 2019
??55 | ??49 | 2H 06:20#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/L99NV0ypiu
After a pair of free throws from Batting made it 63-59, Allen got the entire arena on its feet with a thunderous one-handed jam and pushed the Utah lead to 65-59 – forcing yet another Golden Gopher timeout.
TA, @timmybuckets35 WITH THE SLAM!!!! ??
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) November 16, 2019
??65 | ??59 | 2H 01:36#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/gjsINHqUFT
The scoring went back-and-forth from that point on until Marcus Carr drained his third triple of the game to bring Minnesota within 70-68 with 23 ticks left to play. After a quick foul and two free throws from Gach pushed it to 72-68, Carr went 1-of-2 from line to get the Golden Gophers within 72-69. Branden Carlson came up with a huge block after Minnesota recovered the missed shot from Carr before Jones made a critical foul with five seconds left to keep Carr from shooting the game-tying three. Carr wound up missing both shots at the line and allowed Utah to hold on for the 73-69 win.
Allen finished with his second double-double of the season, posting 19 points and 10 rebounds while Gach matched his fellow sophomore with 19 points of his own on 5-of-9 shooting and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Battin chipped in with 13 points and eight boards while Jones rounded out the double-digit scorers for Utah with 10 points and six assists with two steals.
BY THE NUMBERS
Utah has not trailed in a game since the 6:36 mark in the second-half of the Nevada game when Gach put the Utes up for good … the last time Utah had four players in double-figures was against UCLA (3/9/19) last season at home … the starters for the Utes were locked in Friday night scoring 65 of the team's 73 … the Utes also outscored the Golden Gophers 34-26 in the paint despite the perceived physicality of the Big Ten … Utah shot 53.2-percent from the field on Friday and have now shot above 44-percent in the first three games of the year.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak
On his 200th win…
"It doesn't really have a lot of value to me, it has a lot to do with the kids and being here at this university. It says to me someone's believed in me long enough to get 200 wins, and I'm thankful for that. Our coaching staff has as much to do with it as I do, and a lot of it is because of the people we have around us."
On Rylan Jones…
"I have been a big believer of him. I've watched him since we moved to town, and I've seen him win a lot of games and make his teammates better. He's a gritty, tough kid. He's making lots of improvements and hasn't been thrown a lot of pitches. He's very much in grind mode and has a long way to go, but I'm happy for him, and it's fun to see him gain some more confidence."
On the strength of the team…
"You can't let a mistake turn into another mistake. We got sped up and had to regain our composure at points. I'm a big believer in it and I shared it with my team before the game that this is a team. When you talk about the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the ability of each man. When we don't take it on ourselves and try to beat the world, then we've got a fighting chance when we stick together."
UP NEXT
The Utes now hit the road for the Myrtle Beach Invitational (Nov. 21-24) where they'll take on host Coastal Carolina in the opening game on Thursday, Nov. 21, with a 5 p.m. tip. Rich Hollenberg will have the call on ESPNews while Fran Franschilla serves as the analyst inside the HTC Center.
###
Team Stats
MINN
Utah
FG%
.351
.532
3FG%
.364
.438
FT%
.417
.667
RB
39
41
TO
5
16
STL
11
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
3
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's BasketballG
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