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MBB: Utah vs. Utah Valley Live Thread: Utes Win 75-67

Utah nearly blows a 15-point second half lead after Utah Valley cut it to one with just over three minutes left. But strong defense and a 7-0 run to end the game gave the Utes the win in the end
Ryan Kostecka|
MBB: Utah vs. Utah Valley Live Thread: Utes Win 75-67
MBB: Utah vs. Utah Valley Live Thread: Utes Win 75-67

Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak is far too experienced to hit the panic button this early in the season.

After falling to hated-rival BYU 82-64 on Saturday night at the Marriott Center in Provo, Krystkowiak was so impressed with his team that he elected to give them the rest of the weekend off.

“We played so well Saturday night we figured we ought to take Sunday off,” Krystkowiak said with little enthusiasm during a Zoom call with reporters on Monday. “We might have had the best film session in the time I have been here looking at the game film on Sunday. A lot of the things we had breakdowns on, we can fix. … I think our defense is ahead of our offense.”

Timmy Allen and Rylan Jones, who combined to score 52 points in last season's 102-95 OT victory over BYU, were largely held in check. It was clear that that the Cougars wanted to take the ball out of their hands or force them into tough shots, which worked.

Allen finished with nine points (3-of-11) and five assists while Jones was held to five points (2-for-10) in one of his worst outings of his career.

“They struggled because it is called college basketball. ... They struggled because it was a pretty good game plan from the other team,” Krystkowiak said.

Allen, Jones and the Utes will look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they host Utah Valley on Tuesday at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

Follow this livestream for updates and analysis. You can also follow @Ryan_Kostecka and @UtahUtes_SI on Twitter for up-to-the-second action.

PREGAME
*Alfonso Plummer continues to shine for Utah, leading the team in scoring at 17.7 points per game while shooting 41.7% from beyond the arc

*Allen is the only other Ute to average double figures, putting up 11.3 ppg

*Against BYU, the Utes shot just 36.4% (24-for-66) from the field and 32.1% (9-for-28). If not for  Plummer (19 points) and Riley Battin (14 points), it would've even been more of a dismal performance shooting the ball

Utah Starters: Rylan Jones, Alfonso Plummer, Timmy Allen, Mikael Jantunen and Brendan Carlson

Utah Valley Starters: Le'Tre Darthard, Evan Cole, Trey Woodbury, Jordan Brinson and Fardaws Aimaq 

*Utah Valley is led by 6-foot-11 center Fardaws Aimaq, who's averaging 17.2 points and 15.6 rebounds per game

*JJ Overton leads the team in scoring with 19.7 ppg on 63.9% shooting from the floor while Trey Woodbury is putting up 19 ppg on 54.5% shooting from beyond the arc

*Jordan Brinson is the fourth Wolverine to be averaging double figures, scoring 13.0 ppg

*Utah needs a better game out of star freshman Pelle Larsson, who was sensational in the first two games of the year before struggling against BYU

FIRST HALF
*Fairly simple for the Utes tonight… they have to run the offense better and rebound better. Do that and they should win by 15-20 at least…

*UVU wins the tip and we are underway...

*Jantunen with the first bucket of the game for the Utes, off a nice dish from Jones. Utes down 6-2 early…

*Utah doing a decent job moving their feet on defense already picking up two charging fouls on the Wolverines in the first three minutes of play

Utah 6 - Utah Valley 8
15:58 left 1H
Utes not the sharpest on the offensive end to begin the game as UVU playing with more energy

*At some point, Timmy Allen is going to have to develop some sort of a shot on offense. Defenders go under screens on him as he’s no threat to them scoring from the outside…

*Larsson checks into the game at the 14:55 mark in place of Plummer, who has yet to take a shot tonight

*Without Plummer on the floor, Utah struggles. Nobody can space the floor or create their own shot, which leaves for a lot of desperate drives into the lane. Somebody has to step up on offense when Plummer is out of the game…

*Utah settling in now by spreading the ball on offense with a lot of drive-and-dish. Seems to be working as they’ve battled back to be tied at 17

Utah 17 - Utah Valley 22
8:33 left 1H
Utes had it tied at 17 but the Wolverines have capitalized on the other end. Utes 0-3 from deep, UVU is 3-7...

*Utah with its biggest lead of the game at 27-22, thanks to 10p by Carlson and 6p by Battin…

*Utah also has forced UVU into 4 offensive fouls already in the game, Utes doing a good job of moving their feet.

*Jones knocks down Utah’s first three of the half, this time coming with just over 5 minutes left in the half…

Utah 35 - Utah Valley 29
3:12 left 1H
Plummer with a gorgeous stepback to knock his first three-pointer of the game, on his first attempt with just over 3 to play in the half...

*One thing nice about no fans, you can hear the refs and Krystkowiak arguing. It’s getting a tad heated as K isn’t pleased with some of the questionable calls being assessed against his boys…

*One of the officials called a flop on Rylan Jones and then appeared to be animated about it once speaking with Krystkowiak. Once again, not a man I would ever want to cross...

*Cole keeping UVU in the game with a game-high 13 points and five rebounds...

*Larsson fouled hard going for an alley-oop... this game is quickly turning physical as both teams are questioning calls by the officials and taking it out on one another

*Larsson with a good defensive play, drawing UVU's 6th offensive charge of the half...

Utah 41 -  Utah Valley 35
Halftime
After a slow start, the Utes recover to close out the half strong and lead heading into the break…

HALFTIME

*Utah doing a much better job rebounding the ball tonight, tied at 17 with UVU

*Carlson ended the half with a season-high 12 points, but still has just two rebounds. Have to find a way for the 7-footer to be more aggressive on the boards

*Battin had a solid half with 6 points, two rebounds and two assists. Once again, he's providing the Utes with a nice spark off the bench

*Allen responded after the bad game against BYU with a decent half, finishing with 9 points on 4-of-8 shooting with three rebounds. He did miss his only three of the game...

*UVU's leading scorer JJ Overton is out for the game, didn't travel with the team...

SECOND HALF
*Utah will begin the half with the ball

Utah 50 - Utah Valley 37
16:15 left 2H
Utes coming out strong to start the second half on a 9-2 run. Allen with a transition dunk and Jones with a three-pointer to spark the start

*With Jones riding the stationary bike, Utah is about to get a lot of run by Larsson and Martinez…

*Utah playing a lot of 3-guard lineups tonights with a combination of Jones, Plummer, Larsson and Martinez — a lot of the times with Allen in as well... 

Utah 54 - Utah Valley 43
11:23 left 2H
Game has dropped down as play has become quite sloppy with neither team getting the best looks on offense…

*Battin has looked very good this game. Played under control and making the right decision a lot of the times

*Allen quietly putting together a very good game. Now with 18p and 5r on 8-of-15 shooting… but more than anything he’s being more aggressive and knowing when to force the action and when to pull it out

Utah 61 - Utah Valley 51
7:49 left 2H
UVU not going away easily as a Martinez jumper for the Utes made the score double digits…

*UVU with a couple of quick buckets to make it a 6-pt game here late in the half...

Utah 65 - Utah Valley 60
5:12 left 2H
After Jones negated a mini UVU run, Cole knocked down three-pointer, cutting Utah's lead to 5

*Plummer knocked down a huge three-pointer to push the lead back to 8 after Utah's TO

*At some point, Utah is going to have to force anybody but Cole to beat them. He’s got 31 points after knocking down a three-pointer… no other UVU player has more than 8

Utah 68 - Utah Valley 65
3:38 left 2H
Cole is feeling for UVU, now with 31p and 9r. Utes reeling here at the end and will need a strong finish to hang onto this one…

*Brinson of UVU has just fouled out of the game… big for Utah as he’s been the ball on-defender for the Wolverine’s. Jones shooting 2 with 3:04 left and leading 68-67

*Interesting, Krystkowiak is going with his starting lineup here at the end minus Plummer, with Larsson in his spot… Utes lead 70-67 with the ball with 1:51 to go

*Great finish by Carlson, who gets the bucket to fall while being fouled. Even better passes by Allen and Battin to set the play up…

*Utah going with Jones, Plummer, Allen, Battin and Carlson for the final two minutes of the game

*Larsson and Jantunen replace Plummer and Battin on defense… Krystkowiak going with an offense-defense substitutions here late in the game

*Jantunen forces a turnover by Cole, which leads to a one-and-one situation for Carlson with 32.8 remaining and Utah leading by five

*Carlson misses the front end of the one-and-one, but Allen grabs the offensive rebound and gets it to Larsson, who’s fouled. He knocks down both, Utes lead by 7 with 23.4 to go

UTAH 75 - Utah Valley 67
FINAL
It wasn't pretty but the Utes somehow found a way to pull it out by ending the game on a 7-0 run

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