3 keys in the Utah Utes’ 73-66 loss to the Stanford Cardinal

The Utah Utes couldn’t extend their winning streak to four games on Saturday night, as they fell to the Stanford Cardinal 73-66 on the road.

Here are three keys from the game.

• The Utes jumped out to a 14-4 lead early, but then almost completely disappeared the last 13 minutes of the first half as the Cardinal outscored them 30-8 until intermission to take a 34-22 lead into the locker room. That included a decisive 23-4 run, and Utah never recovered.
• Stanford shot 48 percent from the field in the first half, while the Utes hit just 31 percent of their shots. For the night, the Cardinal finished at 54 percent while Utah was at just 43 percent. Ian Martinez was the only bench player to score for the Utes, and he finished with just six points.
• Stanford was winning the rebounding battle 23-14 at halftime and wound up outrebounding Utah 34-30. The Cardinal had a 10-3 advantage in assists at intermission and finished with a 19-9 edge. Stanford also finished with eight steals to five for the Utes.