Hunter Erickson gave Utah a much-needed boost off the bench, particularly in the second half, during the Runnin’ Utes’ 79-66 win over Hawaii on Thursday at the Delta Center.
The point guard who is playing in his third college program in as many years scored a career-best 15 points at the Division I level in helping Utah pull away from the Rainbow Warriors.
“He has it in him, he just has to go out and perform. Sometimes, you’ve just got to go through it, you find out a lot about yourself.” — Utah coach Craig Smith said of Hunter Erickson’s big night
Erickson hit 6 of 9 field goals, including a 3-pointer in each half as Utah got 31 points from its bench players, led by Erickson and big man Keba Keita (14).
He also had two assists, a pair of rebounds and a steal while playing 23 minutes, including 15 in the second half.
“Hunter was great tonight. He gave us a really good boost off the bench,” said fellow Utah guard Cole Bajema, who scored 10 points in the victory that improved Utah’s record to 5-2. “... He was just knocking down shots, making ball screen reads. It was huge for him, it was big for us in the win.”
Just moments into the second half, the Runnin’ Utes’ top-scoring guard, Gabe Madsen, was hit in the eye and left for the locker room before returning to the game. Madsen, who had seven points in the first half, didn’t score in the second half.
Erickson scored a team-high 12 points after the break — in addition to a pull-up 3 that extended Utah’s lead to 16 with 10:30 to play, the most impressive stretch began with six minutes remaining when he had a hand in nine straight points (and 11 of Utah’s final 13).
He first scored on a drive to the basket after a Keita steal, then again made a layup just 30 seconds later.
Erickson added a turnaround jumper less than a minute after that, then sucked in three defenders on another drive to the hoop and dished the ball over his shoulder to Keita, who scored on a layup.
He later added a free throw and had another nifty pass to Keita down low for an easy layup in the final minute.
There were struggles, too, for Erickson. Chief among them were a team-high four turnovers, including three in the first half.
Erickson also picked up three first-half fouls — a major factor in him being limited to five first-half minutes.
He also was just 1 of 3 from the free-throw line, including missing the front end of a 1-and-1 late in the game.
To his credit, though, Erickson had just one turnover and wasn’t whistled for a foul after halftime.
“Hunter is such a tough guy. He gets out and has some foul calls against him that really messes with his mind but he stuck with it,” Utah fifth-year center Branden Carlson said. “He’s had a great mental toughness and keeps grinding it out, so we’re real proud of him and what he’s been able to do for us.”
Utah coach Craig Smith talked about the adjustment phase Erickson has faced — the Provo native played two seasons at BYU and one at Salt Lake Community College last year before landing with Smith’s program.
In addition to playing sparingly at BYU, he served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before that.
In essence, he didn’t get a lot of playing time — and a chance to build a rhythm — over a four-year period before starting nearly every game for SLCC at the junior college level last year.
“You practice every day against it, that’s one thing. Now you’ve got to be able to go out and perform when the lights are on and you have another opponent,” Smith said of that adjustment period.
“We’ve seen it — he had a great summer, played well in Spain (during Utah’s overseas trip). Obviously those teams we played in Spain weren’t as good defensively, but he had a really good showing there.”
The Utes’ hope is that Erickson can build off Thursday’s performance, especially considering another backup guard, Wilguens Jr. Exacte, has yet to play this season due to a pair of injuries he’s suffered.
“He has it in him, he just has to go out and perform. Sometimes, you’ve just got to go through it, you find out a lot about yourself,” Smith said of Erickson’s big night. “So for him to do that tonight was great for him, certainly it helped our team because he’s a playmaker — he can make a lot of plays out there.
“I believe in that guy, his teammates believe in him, the coaching staff believes in him. And you, you’ve just got to go do it.”
