Utes Drop Tight Contest Against Tulane

Sunday, November 24

Conway, SC

8:30 AM

University of Utah

4-2,0-0Pac-12

Tulane

5-1,0-0AAC

Tulane

Utah

11/24/2019 11:09 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Utah men’s basketball team dropped a tight match Sunday morning in its final game of the Myrtle Beach Invitational.

CONWAY, S.C. – The University of Utah couldn't fend off a late push from Tulane Sunday morning and dropped its final game at the Myrtle Beach Invitational 65-61 in the HTC Center.

The opening minutes of the game saw both teams exchange buckets and three lead changes before the Utes (4-2) took a 17-15 lead after Timmy Allen completed a three-point play out of the 11:35 media break for his eighth point of the game.

Then, a 7-0 run from Tulane gave it the 23-21 lead before the two teams went back-and-forth like a heavy bout fight with six lead changes in the final 6:28 minutes of action. A last second drive down the basket by the Green Wave (5-1) saw the sixth and final lead change and put Utah behind 32-31 at halftime.

Nothing changed from the waning minutes of the first half as both teams continued to exchange leads at the start of the second frame. Heading into the 11:46 media break, the Utes held a narrow 42-41 advantage thanks to a 3-pointer from Jaxon Brenchley – which was the 13th lead change of the game.

Utah came out of the break dialed in, going on a 9-2 run to go up 51-43 and forced Tulane to call its second timeout. However, the Utes couldn't quite expand its lead and create separation with Tulane answering every time Utah got close to a double-digit lead.

With a 61-57 edge at the final media break with 3:50 left to play, Tulane rattled off an 8-0 run to get ahead 63-61 before Utah called a timeout on its end of the floor with 37.2 seconds left. After a missed shot, an offensive board gave the Utes the ball back with 15.2 ticks on the clock.

After back-to-back timeouts from both teams, Utah had a good look at the basket that was just off before Tulane grabbed the rebound. With 5.7 seconds left in the game and trailing 63-61, Utah saw the time cut down to 2.1 ticks after committing five fouls to put the Christion Thompson at the line – who put the game away when he hit both of his free throws.

Allen and Branden Carlson led the team with 14 points apiece while Rylan Jones chipped in with 11 points and six assists. Mikael Jantunen posted a new season-high with his 10 points to round out the group of double-digit scorers for Utah while Carlson tied his season-high in points.

BY THE NUMBERS
Sundays game saw 16 different lead changes and had seven ties … the 20 turnovers is a new season-high for the Utes, 12 of which came in the first half … it was the second-straight game where Utah had four players reach double-digits in scoring.

QUOTABLE
Head coach Larry Krystkowiak

Opening Statement…
"We couldn't get any stops. They had a heck of a performance from (Jordan Walker), he got into the lane, made some plays, dropped it off to their big guy, hit some big shots. Those are finishing game-winning plays. Then we struggled at our end. Momentum got the best of us and it was costly for sure. It was kind of a slugfest. Not to make any excuses for both teams but it was pretty ugly. There weren't any decisive leads up until we got an eight-point lead. It was a survival-of-the-fittest kind of thing. There was a lot of chicken we left on the bone at different spots. We had 20 turnovers and you can't win too many games with 20 turnovers."

UP NEXT
With the Myrtle Beach Invitational wrapped up, the Utah men's basketball team now returns home to the friendly confines of the Jon M. Huntsman Center for a three-game homestand. First up for the Utes will be the Aggies of UC Davis on Friday, Nov. 29, for a 7 p.m. (MT) tip-off. JB Long will have the call on the Pac-12 Network broadcast while Don MacLean serves as the analyst.

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