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Tuesday, March 19
Salt Lake City, UT
9:00 PM
University of Utah
20-14,9-11Pac-12
84
vs
75
UC Irvine
24-10,17-3Big West
1
2
F
UC Irvine
40
35
75
Utah
46
38
84
Team Stats
Irvine
Utah
FG%
.411
.552
3FG%
.333
.500
FT%
.643
.688
RB
40
36
TO
6
11
STL
7
2
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
21
FGM
8
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
16
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
3
Pts
13
FGM
5
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
13
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballPhoto by: Hunter Dyke/Utah Athletics
Men's Basketball Advances with 84-75 Win Over UC Irvine in NIT Opener
3/20/2024 1:07 AM | Men's Basketball
SALT LAKE CITY – Backed by four players in double-digits and pair of players with double-doubles, the Utah men's basketball team defeated UC Irvine 84-75 in the first round of the NIT Tuesday night inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
Utah's opponent for the second round at home are the third-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes. Date, time and TV Network is still to be determined between the Runnin' Utes and Hawkeyes. The Runnin' Utes are 1-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes in their lone meeting back on Dec. 29, 1964, a 92-88 decision in favor of the Utes to win the Los Angeles Classic.
Utah is now 20-14 overall on the season – which is the first time it has reached the 20-win plateau since 2017-18 when it went 23-12 and advanced to the NIT Championship game. The Runnin' Utes now move to 16-13 (.552) all-time in the NIT and 6-9 in their opening round game of the NIT.
Deivon Smith recorded his 11th double-double on the season – three of which were triple-doubles – with 13 points and 10 assists to go with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. Branden Carlson also had a double-double of his own for his sixth of the season with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks on 8-of-9 shooting to make it the sixth time this season Utah has had two players with a double-doubles in a game.
First half of action was a game of runs with Utah (20-14) going on a 9-2 run to open the game before UCI followed with a 6-0 spurt of their own to tie things up at 11-11 shortly after the first media break. Up 18-17 after the under-12 break, Hunter Erickson sparked a 7-0 run and gave Utah its largest lead of the frame, 25-17.
The Anteaters (24-10) took a brief lead, 28-27, behind an 11-2 run but was short-lived as the two teams headed into the under-4 media timeout tied 31-31. After a corner three from Erickson, UC Irvine reeled off another 7-0 run for the 38-34 lead over Utah but the Runnin' Utes responded immediately with three-consecutive triples capped off by a buzzer-beater from Gabe Madsen to give Utah the 46-40 edge at half.
Utah pushed its lead into the double-digit range out of the gates in the second stanza but UCI kept clawing away each time to bring it down to single-digits until the Utes managed to spark a 7-0 run for the 63-48 lead off of a 3-pointer from Erickson.
The Utes got their largest lead of the game halfway through the second half, 67-52, at the 10:40 media break before Keba Keita scored out of the timeout to extend the lead to 17.
However, the Big West Regular-Season Champions did not back down and mounted a 21-8 run against Utah to bring it within 77-73 before head coach Craig Smith was forced to call a timeout with 2:00 minutes remaining in the game.
Carlson put an end to the bleeding for Utah with 1:40 left on the clock when he knocked down both free-throws to make it 79-73 in favor of the Utes before draining two more on the next possession to force a UCI timeout (1:13). Madsen would sink three of his four free-throws to ice the game and put it out of reach and secure the victory.
Tuesday served as the 10th time this season Carlson had scored 20-plus points in a game this season after finishing with a game-high 21 points. Madsen was second in scoring on the night, posting 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists – which ties his career-high. Erickson chipped in with 13 points off the bench for Utah on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting on top of Smith's 13 points.
BY THE NUMBERS
The 11 blocks by Utah tied for third all-time in a single-game … Carlson's 5 blocks tie his season-high … the .552 shooting clip as a team is tied for the second-highest this season … the 23 assists tie the season-high and tied for the third-highest single-total in the Craig Smith Era.
For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Utah's opponent for the second round at home are the third-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes. Date, time and TV Network is still to be determined between the Runnin' Utes and Hawkeyes. The Runnin' Utes are 1-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes in their lone meeting back on Dec. 29, 1964, a 92-88 decision in favor of the Utes to win the Los Angeles Classic.
Utah is now 20-14 overall on the season – which is the first time it has reached the 20-win plateau since 2017-18 when it went 23-12 and advanced to the NIT Championship game. The Runnin' Utes now move to 16-13 (.552) all-time in the NIT and 6-9 in their opening round game of the NIT.
Deivon Smith recorded his 11th double-double on the season – three of which were triple-doubles – with 13 points and 10 assists to go with 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal. Branden Carlson also had a double-double of his own for his sixth of the season with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks on 8-of-9 shooting to make it the sixth time this season Utah has had two players with a double-doubles in a game.
First half of action was a game of runs with Utah (20-14) going on a 9-2 run to open the game before UCI followed with a 6-0 spurt of their own to tie things up at 11-11 shortly after the first media break. Up 18-17 after the under-12 break, Hunter Erickson sparked a 7-0 run and gave Utah its largest lead of the frame, 25-17.
The Anteaters (24-10) took a brief lead, 28-27, behind an 11-2 run but was short-lived as the two teams headed into the under-4 media timeout tied 31-31. After a corner three from Erickson, UC Irvine reeled off another 7-0 run for the 38-34 lead over Utah but the Runnin' Utes responded immediately with three-consecutive triples capped off by a buzzer-beater from Gabe Madsen to give Utah the 46-40 edge at half.
Utah pushed its lead into the double-digit range out of the gates in the second stanza but UCI kept clawing away each time to bring it down to single-digits until the Utes managed to spark a 7-0 run for the 63-48 lead off of a 3-pointer from Erickson.
The Utes got their largest lead of the game halfway through the second half, 67-52, at the 10:40 media break before Keba Keita scored out of the timeout to extend the lead to 17.
However, the Big West Regular-Season Champions did not back down and mounted a 21-8 run against Utah to bring it within 77-73 before head coach Craig Smith was forced to call a timeout with 2:00 minutes remaining in the game.
Carlson put an end to the bleeding for Utah with 1:40 left on the clock when he knocked down both free-throws to make it 79-73 in favor of the Utes before draining two more on the next possession to force a UCI timeout (1:13). Madsen would sink three of his four free-throws to ice the game and put it out of reach and secure the victory.
Tuesday served as the 10th time this season Carlson had scored 20-plus points in a game this season after finishing with a game-high 21 points. Madsen was second in scoring on the night, posting 16 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists – which ties his career-high. Erickson chipped in with 13 points off the bench for Utah on an efficient 5-of-8 shooting on top of Smith's 13 points.
BY THE NUMBERS
The 11 blocks by Utah tied for third all-time in a single-game … Carlson's 5 blocks tie his season-high … the .552 shooting clip as a team is tied for the second-highest this season … the 23 assists tie the season-high and tied for the third-highest single-total in the Craig Smith Era.
For the latest news and information on the Utah cross country and track & field programs, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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