Utah Men’s Basketball Battles Hard, Comes Up Short To No. 6 Houston
Nov 17, 2023, 7:41 PM
SALT LAKE CITY – The Runnin’ Utes were on the road against No. 6 Houston on Friday afternoon as part of ESPN’s Charlston Classic tournament and despite battling hard, came up short to the Cougars.
The Utes were right in the thick of things at halftime despite being down 39-30 but ultimately succumbed to Houston with a final score of 76-66 in the Cougars’ favor.
The Utes will round out their first road trip of the season on Sunday against St. John’s in the third-place game. That game will tip-off at 3:30 pm MT and can be viewed on ESPN.
Proud of how the guys battled. Back at it on Sunday. pic.twitter.com/ephnqmYvF9
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 17, 2023
Utah Men Stats Leaders
- Scoring Leader: Gabe Madsen- 29 points (a career high)
- Rebound Leader: Branden Carlson & Lawson Lovering- 8 rebounds
- Assists Leader: Rollie Worster- 6 assists
Madsen went 10-19 from the paint, 8-15 from the three, and 1-2 from the line to earn his team high 29 points. Madsen was also good for six rebounds, two assists, and one steal in 38 minutes of play.
MADSEN!!!! pic.twitter.com/nw497iNTl2
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 17, 2023
Carlson was second on the team in scoring with 17 total points racked up going 4-13 from the field, 2-8 from the three, and 7-10 from the line on top of being one of the rebound leaders. Additionally, Carlson added one assist and two steals in 29 minutes of play.
Lovering and Worster rounded out the Utes’ top three scorers with nine points apiece on top of being team leaders in rebounds and assists.
Noteworthy Utah Men’s Basketball Team Stats
The Utes were 35.8% from the field, 32.4% from the three, and 70% from the line shooting against Houston.
Utah collected 38 team rebounds, three blocks, five steals and 16 assists against the Cougars. Most notably on top of not having the best shooting night outside of Madsen, Utah turned the ball over 15 times allowing for 19 additional Houston points.
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 X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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