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Late Rally Not Enough for Men's Hoops at Stanford

by Utah Athletics
Feb 13, 2021

Box Score (PDF)

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Utah men's basketball team made a late push in the second half but fell just short Saturday night as it fell to Stanford on the road 73-66 at Maples Pavilion.
 
The Utes got off to a great start, jumping out to a 14-4 lead out of the 15:27 media break when Ian Martinez got a steal for a dunk. However, Stanford answered with a run of its own and hit Utah with an 18-3 run to take the 22-17 lead. That blitzkrieg by the Cardinal was made possible thanks to five Ute turnovers coupled with 1-of-8 shooting.

 
Branden Carlson, who picked up his 21st career block against Stanford at the 11:18 mark, put an end to the scoring drought when he hit the backend of his two free throws to make it 22-18 in favor of the Cardinal. Timmy Allen finally gave Utah (9-8, 6-7 Pac-12) its first field goal in 6:45 minutes of action at the 2:55 mark when he got the ball to bounce in on a drive to the rack. Utah cut the Stanford lead to 30-22 on a two-handed jam from Pelle Larsson but the Cardinal finished with a 4-0 run as Utah headed into the break trailing 34-22.

 
Utah was held to just 31-percent shooting in the first half to Stanford's 48-percent – including an 11-4 edge for the Cardinal (13-8, 9-6 Pac-12) in points off six Utah turnovers.
 
Stanford held its double-digit lead for most of the second half with Utah unable to string along consecutive stops and convert on the offensive end. The Cardinal took their largest lead of the game after three-straight scores from Michael O'Connell, 56-40, at the 9:21 mark.
 
The Utes looked like they were mounting a comeback when a two-handed jam from Martinez started an 8-0 run that was capped off by an and-1 play from Alfonso Plummer, who started the game with eight points in four-plus minutes, cut the Stanford lead down to 56-48 with 6:08 left to go.

 
But, a quick 5-0 spurt by the home team pushed the lead back up to double-digits before Utah was able to convert on some Cardinal turnovers with 1:07 to play. Carlson made it a 68-61 game after back-to-back scores within nine seconds of each other thanks to a turnover from Jaiden Delaire.
 
Plummer then cut it down to 70-64 when he rattled in a three before Allen's drive to the basket made it 71-66 with six ticks remaining. However, a couple free throws from O'Connell on the ensuing possession off a Utah foul iced the game and snapped a three-game win-streak for the Utes.
 
Allen led the game with 18 points and eight rebounds on 5-of-9 shooting – including 7-of-8 from the line. Plummer finished with 14 points of his own while Carlson chipped in with his second double-double of the year with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
 
NOTABLES
The 11 rebounds is a new career-high for Carlson, his previous high was 10 boards three other times with the latest coming against Washington State on the road (1/21) … Utah had shot 50-percent or better in its previous five games before finishing Saturday night with a .426 clip … this was the first game Utah has had single-digit assists in a game this season …  the last time Utah had 16 turnovers it lost to Washington on the road after taking a 44-41 halftime lead … this is the fourth time this season Carlson has led the Utes in rebounds.
 
UP NEXT
The Utes remain on the road next week as it heads to the Pacific Northwest for a pair of games against Oregon State (Feb. 18) and Oregon (Feb. 20). Both games are set to air on Pac-12 Networks.
 
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