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The University of Utah Athletics
Sunday, December 5
Salt Lake City, UT
3:00 PM
University of Utah
6-2,1-1Pac-12
66
vs
58
California
4-5,1-1Pac-12
1
2
F
California
35
23
58
Utah
29
37
66
Team Stats
Cal
Utah
FG%
.404
.383
3FG%
.200
.320
FT%
.615
.800
RB
39
39
TO
10
7
STL
5
5
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballPhoto by: Nick Grace
Men's Basketball Outlasts Cal Sunday Afternoon
12/5/2021 6:42 PM | Men's Basketball
The Utah men’s basketball team picked up its first conference win of the year on Sunday, defeating Cal 66-58.
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team outlasted a gritty California team Sunday afternoon inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center and picked up its first Pac-12 win of the year after downing the Golden bears 66-58. In addition, head coach Craig Smith also picked up his first Pac-12 victory at the helm of the Runnin' Utes.
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Both teams took a while to get the offensive engine going as Utah and Cal went into the 14:55 media break a combined 2-of-16. Utah's offense looked like it was getting on track when Both Gach drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Utes on top at the 10:43 break (10-6).
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However, Makale Foreman jump-started the Golden Bear offense and gave them their first lead, 13-12. A put-back layup from Lazar Stefanovic and drive to the rack from Rollie Wooster brought Utah (6-2, 1-1 Pac-12) within 28-25 but Foreman scored five of his 13 first-half points the rest of the way for Cal to send the Utes into the locker room down 35-29.
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Utah got off to a much better start in the second-half and regained the lead at the 16:47 mark after Gach knocked down a short jumper in the paint, 36-35. He then drained a 3-pointer to make it a 10-0 run for the Utes and forced Cal (4-5, 1-1 Pac-12) to call a timeout with 15:58 on the clock.
The Runnin' Utes continued to maintain its lead despite Cal cutting the lead down to 44-43 before Branden Carlson connected on an and-1 opportunity to push it back up to 47-43 out of the 11:46 media timeout.
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After a 3-pointer from Riley Battin, Stefanovic drained a corner three two sequences later and nearly had Utah on top by double-digits. However, Cal went on a 5-0 spurt to get within 58-54 before David Jenkins Jr. found a wide-open Lahat Thioune for the two-handed flush to make it 60-54 in favor of the Utes with 3:52 left to play.
Utah's defense clamped down on Cal and held the Golden Bears without a field-goal the rest of the way to secure the 66-58 Sunday afternoon victory.
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Gach led the way for Utah once again, this time with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds - including 3-of-4 from deep. Coming off an ankle injury just this Wednesday, Carlson chipped in with 12 points and four rebounds while Stefanovic added 11 points and six rebounds with three assists.
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BY THE NUMBERS
The 22 combined turnovers by Utah in its last three games is the lowest total dating back to the 1996-97 season per STATS, LLC … Gach led the team in scoring for the second-straight game … Gabe Madsen made his return to the line-up after sitting out since playing in the season-opener on Nov. 9 at the 14:55 mark … Lahat Thioune had a solid night, scoring eight points on 3-of-3 shooting with six rebounds for the Utes, who are depleted in the front court with injuries.
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UP NEXT
Utah now hits the road for a neutral-ish site contest against TCU this Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. (MT) on ESPN+ inside Dickies Arena – which is just 3.1 miles from Schollmaier Arena, home of the Horned Frogs.
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For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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Both teams took a while to get the offensive engine going as Utah and Cal went into the 14:55 media break a combined 2-of-16. Utah's offense looked like it was getting on track when Both Gach drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Utes on top at the 10:43 break (10-6).
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However, Makale Foreman jump-started the Golden Bear offense and gave them their first lead, 13-12. A put-back layup from Lazar Stefanovic and drive to the rack from Rollie Wooster brought Utah (6-2, 1-1 Pac-12) within 28-25 but Foreman scored five of his 13 first-half points the rest of the way for Cal to send the Utes into the locker room down 35-29.
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Utah got off to a much better start in the second-half and regained the lead at the 16:47 mark after Gach knocked down a short jumper in the paint, 36-35. He then drained a 3-pointer to make it a 10-0 run for the Utes and forced Cal (4-5, 1-1 Pac-12) to call a timeout with 15:58 on the clock.
Â??AND1!!
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) December 5, 2021
??https://t.co/WSvdGzXdLn pic.twitter.com/nfcAYyURbV
The Runnin' Utes continued to maintain its lead despite Cal cutting the lead down to 44-43 before Branden Carlson connected on an and-1 opportunity to push it back up to 47-43 out of the 11:46 media timeout.
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After a 3-pointer from Riley Battin, Stefanovic drained a corner three two sequences later and nearly had Utah on top by double-digits. However, Cal went on a 5-0 spurt to get within 58-54 before David Jenkins Jr. found a wide-open Lahat Thioune for the two-handed flush to make it 60-54 in favor of the Utes with 3:52 left to play.
ÂBlink and you'll miss it. ??@WorldStarDave ?? @ThiouneLahat!!
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) December 5, 2021
?? Pac-12 Network
?? https://t.co/lM7O7YBUk6@UtahMBB | #GoUtes | #Pac12MBB pic.twitter.com/9fj2Eqi9J2
Utah's defense clamped down on Cal and held the Golden Bears without a field-goal the rest of the way to secure the 66-58 Sunday afternoon victory.
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Gach led the way for Utah once again, this time with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting with six rebounds - including 3-of-4 from deep. Coming off an ankle injury just this Wednesday, Carlson chipped in with 12 points and four rebounds while Stefanovic added 11 points and six rebounds with three assists.
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BY THE NUMBERS
The 22 combined turnovers by Utah in its last three games is the lowest total dating back to the 1996-97 season per STATS, LLC … Gach led the team in scoring for the second-straight game … Gabe Madsen made his return to the line-up after sitting out since playing in the season-opener on Nov. 9 at the 14:55 mark … Lahat Thioune had a solid night, scoring eight points on 3-of-3 shooting with six rebounds for the Utes, who are depleted in the front court with injuries.
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UP NEXT
Utah now hits the road for a neutral-ish site contest against TCU this Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 6 p.m. (MT) on ESPN+ inside Dickies Arena – which is just 3.1 miles from Schollmaier Arena, home of the Horned Frogs.
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For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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