Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Eastern Washington on December 20, 2025 at 5:00 PM
5:00 PM
Men's Basketball
vs Eastern Washington
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The University of Utah Athletics
Friday, November 17
Charleston, SC
2:30 PM
University of Utah
3-1,0-0Pac-12
66
vs
76
Houston
5-0,0-0Big 12
1
2
F
Houston
39
37
76
Utah
30
36
66
Team Stats
UH
Utah
FG%
.452
.358
3FG%
.333
.323
FT%
.500
.720
RB
39
38
TO
7
15
STL
10
5
Game Leaders
Pts
29
FGM
10
3FGM
8
FTM
1
Pts
17
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
9
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
3
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
Photo Credit: Omar Torres/Utah Athletics
Men's Basketball Battles No. 6 Houston Tough in 76-66 Loss
11/17/2023 6:10 PM | Men's Basketball
A career-high 29 points from Gabe Madsen wasn’t enough as Utah fell to #6 Houston 76-66 in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic.
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Despite the efforts of a career-high night from Gabe Madsen, the Utah men's basketball team fell just short in the Charleston Classic semifinal match against #6/6 Houston, 76-66, inside TD Arena.
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Utah came out attacking first, taking a 12-4 lead after Branden Carlson knocked down a pair of free throws out of the timeout (16:29) by Houston. Rollie Worster made it 14-7 in favor of the Utes (3-1) before the sixth-ranked Cougars ramped up the defensive pressure and turned six Utah turnovers into eight points for the 17-16 edge with 11:20 left in the first half.
Things settled down from that point on with both teams combining to go just 2-for-15 from the field heading into the 7:21 media break with Houston (5-0) ahead 24-20. After Utah tied things up at 26-26 behind back-to-back triples from Gabe Madsen, Houston went on an 11-2 run for the 37-28 lead before Carlson's bucket in the paint put an end to the scoring lull.
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The Runnin' Utes managed to head into the locker down just 39-30 despite giving up 12 points on eight turnovers in the first half against an aggressive Houston team thanks to Carlson (12) and Madsen (11) – who combined to account for 23 of Utah's 30 first-half points.
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A scoring lull for Utah out of the first media break in the second-half saw the Cougars take their largest lead of the game 50-36 at the 14:02 mark.
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After six-straights points from the charity stripe by Utah to cut the Houston lead down to 51-42, Madsen got the offense rumbling when he sandwiched a lay-up from Lawson Lovering with a pair of treys to bring the Runnin' Utes within 54-50 and 9:45 to play.
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Madsen tied his career-high in points and 3-pointer made when he drained his seventh 3-pointer of the night for his 26th point to bring the Runnin' Utes within 56-55. Worster tied things up at 56-56 when he knocked down the second of his two free-throws on the ensuing possession but the Cougars answered right back with an 8-0 run to force the Utes to call a timeout with 5:11 remaining.
The Utes got as close as 72-66 with 1:47 left to go after Madsen drained his career-high eighth triple for 29 points, but Houston showed why it was the sixth-ranked team in the country down the stretch and outscored the Utes 20-10 after the game was tied 56-56 with 7:09 left on the clock.
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Madsen finished with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting – eight of which came from beyond the arc. His eight triples ties Johnnie Bryant (Jan. 26, 2008 vs. TCU) for the second-most in a single-game at Utah. Carlson chipped in with 17 points and 8 rebounds after Thursday night's performance. Lovering nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 8 rebounds while Worster also had 9 points to go with his 6 assists.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Utah moves to 1-9 all-time against the No. 6 ranked team in the country and 1-3 when playing them on neutral floors … head coach Craig Smith is now 1-11 against ranked opponents early into his third year with the Runnin' Utes … Utah was outscored in the paint 30-18 and also saw Houston turn 15 turnovers into 19 points … Madsen is the first Pac-12 player since ASU's Torian Graham vs. #5 Oregon (3/9/17) to hit at least seven 3-pointers against an AP Top-10 team.
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UP NEXT
Utah will now play in the third-place game on Sunday, Nov. 19, against St. John's at 3:30 p.m. (MT) on ESPN inside TD Arena with Jay Alter and Debbie Antonelli once again on the call. Â
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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, X and Instagram.
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Utah came out attacking first, taking a 12-4 lead after Branden Carlson knocked down a pair of free throws out of the timeout (16:29) by Houston. Rollie Worster made it 14-7 in favor of the Utes (3-1) before the sixth-ranked Cougars ramped up the defensive pressure and turned six Utah turnovers into eight points for the 17-16 edge with 11:20 left in the first half.
Â.@ballerbranden35 right where he left off here in Charleston! pic.twitter.com/vncUd6pWa3
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 17, 2023
Things settled down from that point on with both teams combining to go just 2-for-15 from the field heading into the 7:21 media break with Houston (5-0) ahead 24-20. After Utah tied things up at 26-26 behind back-to-back triples from Gabe Madsen, Houston went on an 11-2 run for the 37-28 lead before Carlson's bucket in the paint put an end to the scoring lull.
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The Runnin' Utes managed to head into the locker down just 39-30 despite giving up 12 points on eight turnovers in the first half against an aggressive Houston team thanks to Carlson (12) and Madsen (11) – who combined to account for 23 of Utah's 30 first-half points.
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A scoring lull for Utah out of the first media break in the second-half saw the Cougars take their largest lead of the game 50-36 at the 14:02 mark.
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After six-straights points from the charity stripe by Utah to cut the Houston lead down to 51-42, Madsen got the offense rumbling when he sandwiched a lay-up from Lawson Lovering with a pair of treys to bring the Runnin' Utes within 54-50 and 9:45 to play.
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Madsen tied his career-high in points and 3-pointer made when he drained his seventh 3-pointer of the night for his 26th point to bring the Runnin' Utes within 56-55. Worster tied things up at 56-56 when he knocked down the second of his two free-throws on the ensuing possession but the Cougars answered right back with an 8-0 run to force the Utes to call a timeout with 5:11 remaining.
ÂMADSEN!!!! pic.twitter.com/nw497iNTl2
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 17, 2023
The Utes got as close as 72-66 with 1:47 left to go after Madsen drained his career-high eighth triple for 29 points, but Houston showed why it was the sixth-ranked team in the country down the stretch and outscored the Utes 20-10 after the game was tied 56-56 with 7:09 left on the clock.
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Madsen finished with a career-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting – eight of which came from beyond the arc. His eight triples ties Johnnie Bryant (Jan. 26, 2008 vs. TCU) for the second-most in a single-game at Utah. Carlson chipped in with 17 points and 8 rebounds after Thursday night's performance. Lovering nearly had a double-double with 9 points and 8 rebounds while Worster also had 9 points to go with his 6 assists.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Utah moves to 1-9 all-time against the No. 6 ranked team in the country and 1-3 when playing them on neutral floors … head coach Craig Smith is now 1-11 against ranked opponents early into his third year with the Runnin' Utes … Utah was outscored in the paint 30-18 and also saw Houston turn 15 turnovers into 19 points … Madsen is the first Pac-12 player since ASU's Torian Graham vs. #5 Oregon (3/9/17) to hit at least seven 3-pointers against an AP Top-10 team.
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UP NEXT
Utah will now play in the third-place game on Sunday, Nov. 19, against St. John's at 3:30 p.m. (MT) on ESPN inside TD Arena with Jay Alter and Debbie Antonelli once again on the call. Â
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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, X and Instagram.
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