Runnin' Utes Drop Back-and-Forth Game to Oregon State
SALT LAKE CITY – On a night where it went back-and-forth all game, the Utah men's basketball team didn't make enough plays late in its 75-70 loss to Oregon State Wednesday evening inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The first half was slower than usual with Utah heading out of the 7:47 media break on top just 22-19 when Timmy Allen connected on both free throws. Branden Carlson made it 25-19 on the next possession down on offense with a triple. Oregon State answered with a 9-2 spurt to go up 28-27. Both teams exchanged leads the next couple of minutes before back-to-back scores from Alfonso Plummer forced OSU to call a timeout to keep the senior from getting hot with 2:37 left in the half.
That plan, however, did not work as Plummer went on to score nine of Utah's final 11 points heading into the locker room on top 40-37. Allen and Plummer each had a dozen points in the first half while Carlson added nine points on 3-of-3 shooting.
The start of the second half was similar to the final four minutes of the first stanza with both teams going on short spurts to take a lead before the other team answered to regain a short-lived advantage. With Utah on top 42-39, another 7-0 run by the Beavers gave them a 46-42 edge on a short jumper in the paint from Jarod Lucas. However, a pair of free throws and corner three from Pelle Larsson gave the Utes (10-12, 7-11 Pac-12) the 47-46 lead with 15:01 on the clock.
Oregon State then took the 19th lead change with 6:32 left to go when Roman Silva finished at the rim before Gianni Hunt completed the 7-0 run with a 3-pointer. Back-to-back buckets from Allen followed by Carlson hitting 1-of-2 from the line brought Utah within 67-65 of Oregon State (14-11, 10-9 Pac-12) and 4:01 remaining before Silva converted on the and-1.
Down 72-67 after a layup from OSU's Hunt, Allen found a wide-open Mikael Jantunen for the corner 3 to cut the Beavers' lead to 72-70. Utah was able to draw a charge on Silva with 48 ticks on the clock down on the next sequence, but a turnover on a lop attempt saw Lucas head to line to shoot 1-and-1. Lucas wound up missing the second and kept Utah within reach, trailing 73-70, with 23 seconds to go but another costly turnover saw Lucas seal the game with pair of free throws to make it 75-70.
Allen finished with a game-high 23 points after going the distance playing all 40 minutes to go with his five rebounds and six assists. Plummer added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Larsson finished with dozen points going perfect from the field (3-of-3) and free throw line (4-of-4) with three rebounds and a pair of assists. Carlson rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Utes with 10 points.
NOTEABLES
Allen is now 25th all-time in scoring at Utah after scoring 23 points with 1,266 career points and now needs five points to pass Brandon Taylor for 24th all-time … despite the loss, Utah shot 54 percent (24-of-46) from the field while Oregon State shot 53 percent (29-of-55) … OSU was able to turn all 12 offensive rebounds into 24 points while also out rebounding the Utes 30-20.
UP NEXT
Utah will wrap up its regular-season this Saturday, March 6, when it entertains Arizona State at Noon (MT) on FS1 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
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