Utah had its chances to earn a road win in Big 12 play Sunday, but the Runnin’ Utes were too mistake-prone.
More specifically, turnover-prone.
The Utes couldn’t maintain an early lead and fell behind by double digits in the second half before rallying to tie the game late, but they were out-executed in the final seconds as UCF beat them 76-72 at Addition Financial Arena in Orlando.
3 takeaways
Turnovers were the biggest downfall for Utah. The Utes have had their share of turnover issues in conference play, and that was the case Sunday.
Utah turned the ball over 12 times in the first half and 19 times overall, while UCF gave it up only eight times. The Knights turned that into a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Utah’s final turnover of the game was the dagger.
Moments after Darius Johnson made a driving layup to give UCF a 74-72 lead with 2.5 seconds to play, Ezra Ausar rushed trying to inbound the ball to Gabe Madsen, and it resulted in a turnover.
A brutal end to the game was set up by a UCF run. Utah got off to a strong start in Orlando, getting out to a 12-2 lead behind a solid day from Mike Sharavjamts, who had 15 points, six assists and four rebounds, including two early 3s to help build that lead.
It was how Utah finished, though, that stung.
Following a back-and-forth first half, the Utes actually led 43-38 in the second half, but UCF rallied. Utah’s final lead of the day came on a Sharavjamts dunk with 11:02 to play, but over the next six minutes, the Knights went on a 16-3 run to build an 11-point lead.
The Utes weren’t finished, as their own 12-3 run made it a one-possession game.
Utah was never able to retake the lead, though, and even after Madsen’s 3-pointer gave him 23 points and tied the game at 72-72 with 11.1 seconds to play, the Utes gave up the winner to Johnson on the ensuing possession.
Good shooting was not enough. The shooting statistics looked good on paper for Utah, as the visitors shot 50.9% from the field, 33.3% from 3 and 80% from the free-throw line.
The Utes, though, had 10 fewer field goal attempts than UCF, a result of the Knights forcing turnovers and their 12-9 edge on the offensive glass.
The Knights also got to the free-throw line more than Utah, going 12 of 16 to the Utes’ 8 of 10.
In a tight game, it was the little details that added up to another road loss for the Utes.
What’s next
The Utes (15-12, 7-9 Big 12) will stay on the road, though much closer to home, as they head west to face No. 19 Arizona on Wednesday (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+) at the McKale Center.
The Wildcats were upset 96-95 by BYU on Saturday in Tucson.