Monday night’s 70-58 win over the visiting Idaho State Bengals probably produced a few anxious moments for the small number of University of Utah fans who made the trek to the Huntsman Center, but in the end it was a great little test for the Runnin’ Utes.
That’s especially true considering the competition moves up a notch later this week when Sam Houston visits on Thursday, and especially next week when coach Craig Smith’s crew hits the road for the first time and will face Georgia Tech in a tournament in Florida.
“I just think my teammates put me in a position to be able to do that. I think we had some play calls for me. A lot of it is I (was) in the right position and it was a little dump-off for a dunk. Just unselfish plays by my teammates.” — Utah center Branden Carlson.
“It is not always pretty, but it is good for the team to get a little adversity right away,” said guard Gabe Madsen, who didn’t quite reach the career-high 25 points he had in Friday’s blowout of Cal State Bakersfield, but still had a career-high eight rebounds to go with eight points.
Smith agreed with his sophomore guard, saying he was pleased with how the Utes (3-0) responded in the final 10 minutes after Idaho State had cut a 12-point advantage to one point with about 10 minutes remaining.
“I thought late obviously we did a much better job of being in attack mode,” Smith said. “But it was not pretty there that first 10 minutes of the second half specifically.”
After watching rival BYU struggle to put away Idaho State on Nov. 7 in Provo before grinding out a 60-56 win, the Utes figured ISU would put up a better fight that Long Island and Bakersfield did last week. And they were right.
If not for the heroics of Branden Carlson, this one might have gone to the wire, too.
Carlson had a career-high 26 points to go with nine rebounds and four blocks. But more importantly, he took over after Austin Smellie’s triple cut the lead to 53-52 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Carlson made four free throws, a driving dunk and then a three-point play on a dunk and free throw with 3:38 left to pretty much seal it.
“I just think my teammates put me in a position to be able to do that.” Carlson said. “I think we had some play calls for me. A lot of it is I (was) in the right position and it was a little dump-off for a dunk. Just unselfish plays by my teammates.”
Carlson said it felt like the Utes were disjointed offensively in the first half, although they led 38-31 at the break.
“In the second half, they got back into it. They wouldn’t quit. They are a good team. They are a tough team,” Carlson said. “They are going to play hard the whole time. You gotta give it to them. We have to keep working and doing our thing.”
He made sure the Utes did just that.
On a night when probable starter Marco Anthony missed his third-straight game with a lower leg injury and freshman Keba Keita also showed up in street clothes, Carlson carried the load inside himself.
“He just stuck with it,” Smith said of Carlson. “It wasn’t pretty for him at times. He kinda made a couple plays that he normally doesn’t make. But he stayed the course, stayed mentally locked in and definitely finished strong for us.”
Freshman guard Luka Tarlac made his season debut, and was as good as advertised. He finished with eight points on 4 of 4 shooting, and also had four rebounds in 18 minutes.
“Luka has been really good for us. His arms are twice as long as mine. He’s got a lot of good qualities. He’s got a bright upside, and is a really good guy,” Madsen said.
Smith liked what he got from seldom-used reserve Eli Ballstaedt as well. The Wasatch High product had five points and a rebound in 10 minutes.
“That dude always makes something happen,” Smith said. “Whether it is really good or not so good. That dude comes in and plays with force.”
Former BYU center Kolby Lee, who took a year away from basketball and was selling cars for a living at this time last year, led Idaho State with 15 points and four rebounds. At times, Lee went against another former BYU center, Utah’s Gavin Baxter, who is still on a minutes restriction but had two points and two rebounds in nine minutes.
“I’ve played (against) Kolby a lot of times before,” Carlson said. “We have always had some good competition, me and Kolby. Obviously with his (retirement) and coming back to play, it was great to see him out there again. It is always fun to play against him because we always have good battles out there.”
Another interesting visitor was former Ute Johnnie Bryant, now an associate head coach with the New York Knicks. Bryant and Smith shared a hug after the game and talked a bit as Smith headed for the tunnel after the game.
“Well, solid win of the Utes. Obviously it was a bit of a grinder type of game,” Smith said. “I thought there were some fluid moments and then some real grinding moments. And those can be agonizing and frustrating, but that’s basketball and every night it is a little bit different.”
But the Utes are 3-0, and that’s a lot better than getting upset in a “buy game,” as a lot of Power Five programs have experienced nine days into the season. For instance, No. 15 TCU — which plays Utah next month at Vivint Smart Home Arena in SLC — was upset 64-63 by Northwestern State on Monday night in Fort Worth.