A second-half surge by the Utah men's basketball team Thursday night saw it claw back from as much as 16 points in the first half to force triple overtime against #8/8 Arizona, but couldn't seal the victory in its 105-99 loss inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
The Utes went down early on, 8-2, after a hot start from the Wildcats but answered right back scoring on four-straight trips down on offense to take an 11-8 lead. The lead would change in favor of the Arizona out of the 14:13 media break as it took a 27-17 lead over the Utes (15-8, 6-6 Pac-12) and then another went up 10 again at the 3:23 mark (31-21).
However, a 10-3 run by the Wildcats coupled by a shooting slump (1-for-10) from the Runnin' Utes saw Utah head into the locker room down 41-25.
Utah slowly clawed its way back midway through the second half after exchanging basket after basket with the Wildcats (18-5, 9-3 Pac-12). Gabe Madsen opened the scoring spree for Utah, knocking down one of his five 3-pointers on the night to start an 11-0 run that tied things up at 63-63 with 6:09 left to play in regulation.
Despite Arizona scoring nine of its final 14 points from the foul line, Utah managed to knock down 5-of-8 from the field – but none more important than the game-tying 3-pointer from Madsen with 19 ticks to go and send things into overtime 76-76.
The Wildcats drew first blood in overtime but Hunter Erickson responded with a huge 3-pointer for Utah. A basket from Branden Carlson then put the Utes on top 81-80 before Deivon Smith was hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give Utah an 82-80 edge. However, Caleb Love managed to hit a runner with 28 seconds left to tie the game. The Utes had an opportunity to seal it in the first overtime period but Smith was called out of bounds on a baseline drive with less than :05 to go in the first overtime period.
In the second OT period, Utah went down as much as 88-84 early on after Love hit all three of his free throws with 4:00 on the clock. A nice dump off from Keba Keita to Carlson afterwards followed with an alley-oop jam from Smith to Keita tied things back up, 88-88. Down 91-89 with 2:12 left to go, both teams had missed opportunities on the offensive end before Keita was fouled on a play right after Erickson had stolen the ball. The 6-8 sophomore then lined up and knocked both of his free throws with 1:03 remaining in the second OT. Love and the Wildcats had an opportunity at the end of double OT but weren't able to convert – which sent the game to triple overtime, Utah's first since Dec. 3, 2005.
The third and final overtime period started like the other two, but an untimely shooting slump (1-for-5) by the Utes saw Arizona take advantage to build a 101-93 lead before time turned into Utah's ultimate enemy.
Thursday's loss snapped a 12-game home winning-streak for the Utes, leaving Arizona (12-0) and Colorado (13-0) as the only two unbeaten teams at home in the Pac-12.
Carlson finished with a game-high 27 points and 15 rebounds on 11-of-19 shooting while Madsen chipped in with 17 points on 5 boards. Smith was able to record the elusive triple-double he had been narrowly missing the past couple games and finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to become just the third player in the Pac-12 to record multiple triple-doubles in a single-season and first since Andre Iguodala (3; 2003-04).
BY THE NUMBERS
With 21 offensive boards in triple OT, this is just the seventh time Utah has recorded 20-plus offensive rebounds in a game since the turn of the century and first since pulling down 22 against Abilene Christian on Nov. 9, 2021 … Utah is now 60-47 all-time in overtime games and 4-3 in triple OT games … it was Utah's first triple OT game at home in program history, was previously 4-2 on the road in triple OT contests.
UP NEXT
The Runnin' Utes close out their three-game homestand this Saturday, Feb. 10, as Arizona State rolls into town for a 6 p.m. (MT) match-up on ESPN2 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Roxy Bernstein will have the call once again, this time alongside another Wildcat in Corey Williams.
