Utah’s return to a national postseason tournament was a successful one, as the Runnin’ Utes held off UC Irvine 84-75 in the first round of the NIT late Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center.
3 takeaways
Top performers: Four Utah players scored in double-figures against UC Irvine. Branden Carlson led the way with 21 points and added 11 rebounds and five blocks.
Gabe Madsen (16 points, seven rebounds, five assists), Deivon Smith (13 points, 10 assists, six rebounds) and Hunter Erickson (13 points, 3 of 3 from 3-point range) also paced the Utes offensively.
UC Irvine had three players in double-figures, with Derin Saran (16 points, five rebounds) leading the way.
Key stretch: Utah looked like it would head into halftime trailing at home after falling behind by four with two minutes until the break, but the Utes closed the half out with a 12-2 run.
All of Utah’s points came from 3-pointers — long-range shots from Ben Carlson and Hunter Erickson sandwiched a UC Irvine bucket to make it a tie game heading into the half’s final minute.
Madsen then hit a straightaway fading 3 to put Utah back up three. After a UC Irvine missed layup, Madsen raced upcourt, used a nifty behind-the-back dribble to juke a defender at midcourt, then pulled up for a long 3-pointer at the buzzer.
The buzzer-beater gave Madsen 11 points in the first half and put the Utes up 46-40 at intermission.
Key stats: Utah hit a flurry of 3-pointers at the end of the first half — five in the final three and a half minutes — to finish 8 of 14 in the first 20 minutes. Utah made 9 of 18 3-pointers on the night.
The Utes also had 23 assists on 32 made field goals. That helped overcome their 11 turnovers that led to 16 Anteaters points.
Both teams piled up points in the paint, with Utah owning a 38-36 edge.
What’s next?
The Runnin’ Utes (20-14) will face No. 3 seed Iowa, a 91-82 winner over Kansas State on Tuesday, in the second round on either Saturday or Sunday at the Huntsman Center.