LAS VEGAS (ABC4 Sports) – The Utes started the Pac-12 season well, but it ended with a thud.
Utah dropped its sixth straight game, losing in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament to Stanford Wednesday night, 73-62. At 17-15, Utah’s season is likely over.
Brandon Angel’s double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds led a balanced attack that lifted 10th-seeded Stanford to a 73-62 win over seventh-seeded Utah in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on Wednesday night.
Angel followed up two free throws with a jumper that gave the Cardinal a 53-40 lead and they stayed ahead by double figures the rest of the way.
Harrison Ingram added 15 points for Stanford (14-18), which advances to face second-seeded and eighth-ranked Arizona on Thursday. Maxime Raynaud and Spencer Jones both scored 12.
Branden Carlson scored 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah (17-15), which has lost six straight. Gabe Madsen scored 13 and Lazar Stefanovic 10.
“It was a tough night for us,” head coach Craig Smith said. “We were struggling to find another guy to get some easy baskets. I thought we had some easy looks.”
“Some days shots fall, and some days they don’t,” Madsen said. “That’s just basketball. Today was one of the those days that some people, me included, didn’t shoot that well.”
Madsen was 4-for-13 from the field, while the Utes made just 37.9 percent of its shots, and was 7-for-24 from three-point range. Stanford scored 38 points in the paint.
Utah made three-straight shots, pulling within 58-48 on a Stefanovic 3-pointer with six minutes left That was the first time in the second half the Utes made consecutive shots, but Jones quickly responded with a 3-pointer.
The next time Utah made consecutive shots, Carlson made it 70-60 at the 1:20 mark, but Angel made two foul shots and Ingram one.
Carlson, who hasn’t decided yet whether he will return to Utah next year, said the way the regular season ended may have affected the way the team played tonight.
“Losing a couple games in a row kind of gets to you,” Carlson said. “And then there were games we just should have had. We were right there the whole time. A few shots here and there, it changes the outcome of those games and changes the momentum coming into this week.”
Stanford had an 11-point lead on two possessions in the middle of the first half but the Utes answered with an 11-2 run, starting and ending with a Madsen 3-pointer, to cut it to 22-20. Jones then had a three-point play and 3-pointer in scoring seven-straight points and the Cardinal got it back to 10 until Carlson hit a 3-pointer to in the close seconds to pull Utah within 34-27.
Starting point guard Rollie Worster fouled out with zero points and three assists. Utah committed 12 turnovers to just four for Stanford.
The teams split close games during the regular season with the road team winning on the other’s home court.
