Utah Posts Dominating Win Over Washington During Alumni Night

SALT LAKE CITY – After a big win Thursday night against Washington State, Utah returned to the Huntsman Center to play host to the Washington Huskies.

The Runnin’ Utes got another big win two days later in front of some of their basketball alums for Alumni Night 86 – 61 over Washington. The Utes got off to a quick start and never looked back against the Huskies moving their record to 14-7.

The Runnin’ Utes finished the night shooting 51% from the field, 47% from the three and 64% from the line while outrebounding the Huskies 48 to 30.

#LightTheU#Utes get a dominating 86-61 win over Washington for Alumni Night.#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/u1nBQprjXf

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

Branden Carlson led the way with 25 points and eight rebounds followed by Rollie Worster with 11 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists.

Washington Versus Utah: First Half

Utah got off to a good start five minutes into the game with several players contributing to an 11-7 lead over the Huskies. Branden Carlson (seven points), Marco Anthony (two points) and Gabe Madsen (two points) all took turns building the score up, while also out-rebounding Washington 7-3.

#Utes have done a nice job getting contributions from several different people out on the floor early in this contest. Utah currently leads the Huskies by two, 9-7.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

Worster added his name to the contributors with a jump shot with just under 14 minutes to play with Anthony sinking one more shot to extend Utah’s lead to 15-9 over UW.  After the Huskies got a trip to the line to cut their deficit, Lazar Stefanovic sank a shot to make the score 17-11 with about 12 minutes left in the first half.

Utah has been super efficient early in this game. Five #Utes have contributed points, while the team has been very good rebounding the ball with 12 as a team compared to UW's 6.

Utah leads this one 17-11 with 12 to play.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

UW would get sloppy and careless with the ball over the next three-four minutes of the game leading to a 15-0 Utah run and score of 32-13 with just under nine minutes to play. It would be another minute before Washington would break their drought hitting a two that cut the score to 32-15 with 7:46 left in the first half.

Utah can't be stopped. Won't be stopped. Huskies have been sloppy and careless with the ball and the #Utes have majorly taken advantage with a 15-0 run and a 32-13 score in their favor. #GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

Utah had their own scoring drought after their scoring abundance going three minutes without making a shot. In that time the Huskies closed the gap to 10, 36-26 with under four minutes to play. A foul on Luka Tarlac off the bench allowed UW to further make up ground from the line cutting the score down to 36-28. Tarlac would make up for it with the fake-shot pass to Worster who put it in the bucket and moved the deficit back up to 10.

We haven't gotten to see much from Tarlac this season, but he's in now. Foul off the bench aside, I've liked what I've seen. Coach Smith has talked about his basketball acumen, and you can definitely see it out on the floor.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

The Utes finished the first half strong going three of three on the last shots before time ran out to have a 44-30 lead. They finished shooting 46% from the field, 44% from the three, and 67% from the line. Utah was strong rebounding the ball with 25 which earned them 10 of their points.

Huskies, Utes Finish Up

Utah got back out to a dominating start out of the half extending their lead back out to 17 by the first media break after BC put a Tarlac assist in the bucket. Out of the media break, BC went to the line and made it an 18 point game, 53-35.

Nearly five minutes into this second half and the #Utes have extended their lead to 17. BC cleaned up an assist from Tarlac to make the score 52-35.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

Washington would gain some control of the game back going on a 6-0 run through the next five minutes of play cutting Utah’s lead, 57-43. With 11:17 left to play, UW fouled Anthony sending him to the line and going one of one to put the Utes up 58-43.

Madsen with a three puts the #Utes up 61-45 with just over 10 left to play.#GoUtes

— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) January 22, 2023

With 4:23 left in the game, the Utes went on another 9-0 run to put the game more than out of reach for the Huskies, 77-53.

Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @BodkinKSLsports

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