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Comeback Falls Short for Runnin' Utes Against Arizona State,

by Utah Athletics
Feb 26, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY – A late run by the Utah men's basketball team to cut a 14-point deficit fell just short in the waning moments as the Runnin' Utes dropped a 63-61 heartbreaker to the Sun Devils Saturday night inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
 
Marco Anthony had a hot start to the game for Utah, scoring seven of the team's first nine points after Branden Carlson opened with a one-handed jam. The San Antonio, Texas, native had 11 early points to keep the Utes on pace with Arizona State - who hit a trio of 3-pointers by the 7:31 mark to keep within a possession of Utah before Lazar Stefanovic lost his defender for the wide-open three to go up 23-20.

 
The game slowed down a bit after that on both sides with ASU outscoring the Utes 13-7 the rest of the way to send Utah (11-18, 4-15 Pac-12) into the locker room down 33-30. Despite trailing at the break, Utah shot .481 from the field compared to ASU's .424 shooting clip.
 
After some back-and-forth scoring between the Utes and Sun Devils, ASU went on an 11-1 run to take a 52-38 lead. The Runnin' Utes went 0-for-8 from the field during that stretch before a 7-0 run by Utah out of the 11:28 media break brought it within 52-45 and forced ASU (12-16, 8-10 Pac-12) to call a timeout with 9:18 left to play.

 
Down 58-45 at the under-eight media break (7:07), Utah slowly mounted its comeback with a 7-1 spurt after Anthony hit two from the line before knocking down a short jumper in the paint which inched Utah within 59-52 of ASU with 3:22 remaining. A reverse lay-up by Carlson followed by a pair of free throws from Rollie Worster cut it 59-56 with two minutes on the clock.
 
After ASU missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Carlson responded on the other end with a straightaway 3-pointer to knot it up 59-59 and extend the 14-1 run for Utah - which forced Arizona State to call a timeout with 1:04 left to play.

 
A late foul with 48.5 ticks left saw Jalen Graham knock down both shots from the foul line to go up 61-59 before Carlson found a diving Anthony for the two-handed jam with 28 seconds remaining tied 61-61. Marreon Jackson broke loose as the clock wound down and converted on the lay-up with six seconds on the clock. A quick inbounds found Worster to go coast-to-coast for the baseline jumper that nearly went in before bouncing back out to hand Utah its fifth loss this season in games within five points.
 
Anthony finished with a season-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting while Carlson added 15 points and six rebounds on 7-of-13 shooting.
 
UP NEXT
The Utes will get a few extra days to rest up and prep for their final game of the regular-season when Utah welcomes in Colorado for a 7:30 p.m. (MT) tip-off inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center on ESPNU with Dave Feldman and Adrian Branch once again on the call.
 
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, Twitter and Instagram.
 
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