SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team had another great night on offense to complement its defense in its 82-53 routing of UC Riverside Friday night inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The Utes (2-0) had five players reach double-figures for the second-consecutive game led by
Lawson Lovering's game-high 18 points on 7-of-11 shots with 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
UCR drew blood first on a Jhaylon Martinez jumper 1:10 into the game, but from that point on it was all Utah as the Runnin' Utes went a 15-2 run to force a Highlander timeout with 14:38 on the clock. The stingy defense, which has become a staple for Utah, held UC Riverside to just 13 first-half points as the Utes went into the locker room on top 48-13.
The 13 points given up was the fewest points scored by an opponent in a half in the
Craig Smith Era and fewest since giving up just 10 to Arizona State on Feb. 25, 2016, per the Stat Train. Additional, Utah held UCR to just a 16.7-percent shooting from the field in the first 20 minutes of action.
UC Riverside (1-1) battled in the second half to outscore the Utes 40-34 but it was nowhere near enough to dig themselves out of the 48-13 deficit from the first half.
Utah's front court did a majority of the damage on Friday, accounting for 55 of the team's 82 points (67%) between Lovering,
Branden Carlson,
Keba Keita and
Ben Carlson – which was more than what UCR combined as a team.
Branden Carlson had an efficient night offensively, scoring 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting with a perfect 5-for-5 night at the line to go with his 6 rebounds and 3 assists.
Ben Carlson also had a great night offensively, going 4-for-6 from the field for 11 points and 6 rebounds. Keita flirted with a double-double once again off the bench, tallying 10 points with 7 rebounds.
Cole Bajema was the lone guard in double-figures for Utah, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting with 5 rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS
Branden Carlson now moves into 22nd on the all-time scoring list after posting 16 points against UCR to move to 1,306 career points, passing Ken Gardner (1,291; (1968-71) and Johnnie Bryant (1,301; 2005-08)) …
Jayden Teat scored his first collegiate basket with 37 ticks left in the game with a nice drive to the basket … the last time Utah had 20-plus assists (22) in a game was against Stanford on Feb. 2, 2023 … Friday was the second-straight game Utah has registered 30-plus made field goals.
UP NEXT
The Runnin' Utes will now turn their attention to the Charleston Classic (Nov. 16-19) where they'll play three games in four days inside TD Arena. Wake Forest is first up on the docket for Utah as the two programs clash for the first time since Keith Van Horn and Tim Duncan squared off on the hardwood floor in 1998. The Utes and Demon Deacons are set to battle it out in the final game of the night on Thursday, Nov. 16, starting at 7 p.m. (MT) / 9 p.m. (ET) local on ESPNU with Jay Alter and Debbie Antonelli on the call.
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
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