Utah picks up BIG win over Stanford
You've heard about him. ... Coaches and players have raved about him in practice. ... He's shown flashes of dominance in games. But Branden Carlson had yet to put it all together over the course of a full game.
That all changed Thursday night when the 7-foot freshman used his impressive wingspan to dominate Stanford, helping lead Utah to a 64-56 overtime victory. Carlson finished with a game-high 15 points, adding 10 rebounds and an astonishing eight blocks.
"Sometimes I'm more reserved," Carlson said. "Definitely, coaches want me to alter shots and block them. Tonight I was really more comfortable going after them."
The win was huge for the Utes, giving them their third Quadrant 1 victory of the season — and helping offset the pair of road losses to UCLA and USC last weekend.
“I just came in ready to play, ready to help our team get a W after we had two tough losses in LA,” Carlson said. “Me, myself, as well as my teammates came here ready to contribute and ready to play our roles.”
It was another cold-shooting night for the Utes, who finished the game 23-of-65 (35.4%) from the field. Timmy Allen finished with 15 points but shot just 30% from the field (9-of-12 free throws) while Riley Battin added a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Tied at regulation, the Utes and Cardinal went in overtime where Utah's Jaxon Brenchley helped take over. Leading by one, Brenchley knocked down a three-pointer before finding Carlson for a dunk on the next drive, giving the Utes a 59-53 lead late in overtime that sealed the victory.
"My guy was closing heavy to me because I had just made that 3 and I drove baseline," said Brenchley, who finished with six points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists. "I saw BC's guy coming to me, I just dumped it off and he's going to throw that down."
Utah set the tone early with a trap-based half-court defense that had Stanford struggling to begin the game. Rather than putting the game away in the first, the Utes' offense went cold as they didn't make a field goal over the final 10 minutes of the half.
"They had a great game plan. Our pace slowed down and around the rim they were able to block some shots," Stanford coach Jerod Haase said. "After the start, our defense was good but we need to find ways to put the ball in the basket."
Carlson's effort was particularly impressive against Stanford's Oscar da Silva, holding him to eight points and 11 rebounds on 4-of-12 shooting. This allowed Utah to be more aggressive against the Cardinal three-point shooters, limiting Stanford from deep and forcing them into a 6-for-23 (26.1%) showing.
Utah next faces Cal on Saturday from the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MST and will be shown on the Pac-12 Network.
“There’s a lot of facets to a game and if you want to be competitive and put yourself in a position, whether you’re on the road, home, neutral, anything, we’ve got to be a lot better than we’ve been on the road,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “I think you just kind of stay in your foxhole with each other and you just try to be a little sharper and you try to win the next possession.”