Men's Basketball Closes Three-Game Road Swing at Colorado Saturday - University of Utah Athletics (2024)

Men's Basketball 2/21/2024 5:05 PM

The Utah men’s basketball team is headed to Boulder this Saturday for its match-up against Colorado at 7 p.m.

SALT LAKE CITY – After a thrilling finish inside Pauley Pavilion to close out its LA trip, the Utah men's basketball team closes its three-game road swing at Colorado this Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m. (MT) inside the CU Events Center. Ted Robinson will have the call on Pac-12 Networks alongside Pac-12 legend Bill Walton as the Runnin' Utes look to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive with their first in-season sweep of the Buffs since 2016-17.

TOP NOTCH
With just five regular-season games remaining as the Utes head into this week's slate of league games, Utah has several players in the top-10 of several statistical category in Pac-12 play.

BRANDEN CARLSON
#3 in Blocks (24)
#4 in DREB (90)
#5 in Scoring (16.9)
#5 in Rebounding (7.5)
#10 in 3FGM (29)

DEIVON SMITH
#1 in Assists (101)
#1 in APG (6.7)
#1 in A/TO Ratio (2.4)
#9 in DREB (76)

KEBA KEITA
#2 in FG% (.598)
#4 in Blocks (19)
#6 in OREB (37)
#9 in Rebounding (6.2)

COLE BAJEMA
#7 in 3FG% (.420)
#10 in 3FGM (29)

GABE MADSEN
#6 in Steals (22)
#6 in 3FGM (36)

WORLD'S GREATEST PLAY
Down 69-68 with 6.6 left on the clock and a UCLA timeout after they scored the go-ahead bucket. Out of the timeout, Utah raced down the full length of the court on two passes to Deivon Smith, who beat two defenders between the free throw line and top of the key for straight shot to the hoop for what looked like a lay-in. However, it was tipped by a UCLA defender and hit the edge of the backboard before fifth-year senior Branden Carlson came crashing down on the boards for the put-back to give Utah the game-winning basket with .2 remaining on the clock.

LAST TIME OUT
The opening minutes of the first half had a good flow despite Utah trailing 16-12 near the halfway point before a series of events unfolded in the final 10 minutes of the first half. It all started with 9:53 on the clock when UCLA's Sebastian Mack was ejected with a flagrant 2 foul after hitting Branden Carlson with an arm bar across the throat region. A few minutes later Bruins head coach Mick Cronin was hit with a technical during a dead ball a with 6:04 on the clock. Gabe Madsen made it a 21-19 after hitting 1-of-2 from the line from the technical. After Utah battled back to tie things up at 34-34 with less than a minute to go, the Runnin' Utes bench was assessed a technical foul for bench decorum. Despite UCLA not being able to take advantage of the free throw, a jumper from William McClendon with 12 ticks left on the clock saw Utah trail just 36-34 at the break.

After a wild first 20 minutes of action, the second half of the game had a much better flow to the game with nine different lead coaches and three ties. Cole Bajema hit a couple very timely 3-pointers in the second half to keep the Utes within striking distance as well as extend the UCLA defense – including one with 7:17 left to play. From that point on, Deivon Smith and Keba Keita were able to take advantage of Bajema's threat from deep and scored 13 of the next 15 points for Utah – including a nice flip back pass from Smith to Keba for the lay up with 19 seconds to go and give the Runnin' Utes the 68-67 lead.

The Bruins would go down on the other end out of the timeout get the go-ahead basket when Dylan Andrews drained a jumper by the free throw line with 6.6 seconds to go. Luckily for the Utes, UCLA called a timeout after that basket and allowed the Utes to go over their plans on the final play. A press break saw the inbounds in the hands of Carlson and then straight to a streaking Smith – who broke free from two defenders for a what looked like an open lane to the rack before a UCLA defender got a hand on the ball that went off the edge of the top of the backboard. That ball would land in the hands of Carlson, who crashed the glass and trailed the ball after making the pass to Smith, for the put-back with .2 seconds left on the clock for the game-winner.

UP NEXT
Utah returns home to the Jon M. Huntsman Center for its final two home games of the regular-season the following week, starting with Stanford on Thursday, Feb. 29, for its first game on leap day since 2020. The Utes will then close out the 2023-24 season home slate on Saturday, March 2, against California. Roxy Bernstein and Don MacLean will have the call between the Cardinal and Utes beginning at 6:30 p.m. (MT) before closing the weekend out together between the Utes and Golden Bears at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Utah men's basketball team will wrap up the 2023-24 regular-season on the road at the Oregon schools starting with Oregon State at 9 p.m. on Thursday, March 7. The Runnin' Utes will then head down to Eugene for a battle with the Oregon Ducks on Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m. (MT).

For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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