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Saturday, March 9
Eugene, OR
5:00 PM
University of Utah
18-13,9-11Pac-12
65
at
66
Oregon
20-11,12-8Pac-12
1
2
F
Utah
37
28
65
Oregon
32
34
66
Comeback Falls Short for Utah in Eugene
3/9/2024 8:03 PM | Men's Basketball
The Utah men’s basketball team saw its comeback fall short in Eugene, falling to Oregon 66-65.
EUGENE, Ore – The Utah men's basketball team saw its comeback in the second-half fall just short Saturday evening inside Matthew Knight Arena as it fell to Oregon 66-65.
Scoring was a premium for the Utes in the opening minutes as Oregon took an early 15-5 lead before Branden Carlson lit up the scoreboard with seven-straight points to bring Utah within 15-12 of the Ducks.
A turnaround 3-pointer from Carlson gave Utah (18-13, 9-11 Pac-12) its first lead of the night, 21-19, and an early 12 points for the 7-footer. The Ducks would tie it up after a pair of free throws but a no-look pass from Hunter Erickson to Deivon Smith on the drive to the paint made it 23-22 in favor of the Utes with 7:46 left in the half.
Smith then took the mantle for Utah offensively and rattled off nine-consecutive points to give the Utes the lead back again, 30-26, after Oregon (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12) shortly retook the lead 26-25. Utah then went ahead 37-32 into the break thanks to another four points from Carlson followed by a highly-contested bucket from Ben Carlson.
The Utes shot well in the first half, knocking down 6-of-13 from beyond the arc and .500 as a team in the first 20 minutes of action.
Utah took a big punch to the gut at the 17:02 mark in the second half when Br. Carlson went down with an elbow injury after getting tangled in the post with UO's N'Faly Dante. The Ducks then went on an 8-2 run to go get back on top 48-47 out of the first media break.
Erickson gave Utah the lead again after draining back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 53-48 with 11:53 left to play. However, with Carlson out, Oregon took advantage and went to Dante for the 58-53 lead before a pair of free-throws from Smith put an end to the Utah scoring drought.
Gabe Madsen came in clutch when the Utes needed him the most, knocking down a trey to cut the lead to 63-59 with 5:46 to before hitting another one a few possessions later to bring Utah within 66-63 and 3:39 to play.
Smith brought Utah within 66-65 with 38 ticks left to go after knocking down a pair of free throws. The Utes would then get a huge stop on the other that saw Madsen pass it up to Smith – who raced it up the court alongside of Madsen. Smith found Madsen down the lane, who then passed it on to Ben Carlson for the final shot of the game that struck iron to give the home team the win.
Br. Carlson finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land before his injury while Smith added 15 points with 6 rebounds. Madsen rounded out the double-digit scorers for Utah with 14 points on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Utah has a quick turnaround on hand as it returns home to Salt Lake City for a short period before heading to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament (March 13-16) inside T-Mobile Arena. Utah will find out what seed it will be at the conference tournament later tonight once the UCLA and Arizona State is completed.
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.
Scoring was a premium for the Utes in the opening minutes as Oregon took an early 15-5 lead before Branden Carlson lit up the scoreboard with seven-straight points to bring Utah within 15-12 of the Ducks.
A turnaround 3-pointer from Carlson gave Utah (18-13, 9-11 Pac-12) its first lead of the night, 21-19, and an early 12 points for the 7-footer. The Ducks would tie it up after a pair of free throws but a no-look pass from Hunter Erickson to Deivon Smith on the drive to the paint made it 23-22 in favor of the Utes with 7:46 left in the half.
Smith then took the mantle for Utah offensively and rattled off nine-consecutive points to give the Utes the lead back again, 30-26, after Oregon (20-11, 12-8 Pac-12) shortly retook the lead 26-25. Utah then went ahead 37-32 into the break thanks to another four points from Carlson followed by a highly-contested bucket from Ben Carlson.
The Utes shot well in the first half, knocking down 6-of-13 from beyond the arc and .500 as a team in the first 20 minutes of action.
Utah took a big punch to the gut at the 17:02 mark in the second half when Br. Carlson went down with an elbow injury after getting tangled in the post with UO's N'Faly Dante. The Ducks then went on an 8-2 run to go get back on top 48-47 out of the first media break.
Erickson gave Utah the lead again after draining back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 53-48 with 11:53 left to play. However, with Carlson out, Oregon took advantage and went to Dante for the 58-53 lead before a pair of free-throws from Smith put an end to the Utah scoring drought.
Gabe Madsen came in clutch when the Utes needed him the most, knocking down a trey to cut the lead to 63-59 with 5:46 to before hitting another one a few possessions later to bring Utah within 66-63 and 3:39 to play.
Smith brought Utah within 66-65 with 38 ticks left to go after knocking down a pair of free throws. The Utes would then get a huge stop on the other that saw Madsen pass it up to Smith – who raced it up the court alongside of Madsen. Smith found Madsen down the lane, who then passed it on to Ben Carlson for the final shot of the game that struck iron to give the home team the win.
Br. Carlson finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point land before his injury while Smith added 15 points with 6 rebounds. Madsen rounded out the double-digit scorers for Utah with 14 points on 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
Utah has a quick turnaround on hand as it returns home to Salt Lake City for a short period before heading to Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament (March 13-16) inside T-Mobile Arena. Utah will find out what seed it will be at the conference tournament later tonight once the UCLA and Arizona State is completed.
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.
###
Team Stats
Utah
Oregon
FG%
.411
.417
3FG%
.385
.200
FT%
.750
.632
RB
36
36
TO
14
11
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
19
FGM
7
3FGM
3
FTM
2
Pts
15
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballG
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