The University of Utah’s men’s basketball team lost its eighth-straight Pac-12 game on Saturday night, falling 79-67 to No. 16-ranked USC at the Huntsman Center.
Here are 3 keys to the Trojans’ win, after having defeated Utah 93-73 in Los Angeles on December 1.
• Drew Peterson went 5 for 5 from 3-point range and scored 23 points, and the Trojans used a considerable height advantage to outscore the Branden Carlson-less Utes 40-20 in the paint in a mountain road trip sweep, having edged Colorado on Thursday.
• Gabe Madsen scored 11 of his career-high 20 points on some difficult shooting in the first half and the Utes closed the half well to trail by just 35-30 at the break. Marco Anthony’s free throws cut USC’s lead to three early in the second half, but a 21-6 USC run dashed Utah’s upset hopes.
• Utah took care of the ball reasonably well — just five turnovers through the first 30 minutes — and got another nice lift from its bench, but USC’s size proved to be too much. The Trojans won the rebounding battle, 42-31.