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SALT LAKE CITY — Defense traveled to Corvallis.
Utah opened up its late-night road contest against Oregon State on Thursday on a 10-0 run and held the Beavers to only 16 points in the first half in what was total dominance in the first of a two-game trip to Oregon. To make matters worse for the home team, Utah had doubled up Oregon State's points and led 32-16 at the halftime break.
It was a telling point to the game, where Utah controls a 14-0 record when leading at the break.
Make it 15-0.
Utah had no players score in double figures in the first half to build up a 16-point lead, but added to the misery for Oregon State in the second half to pull away for a 63-44 win. It's the first time in the Pac-12 era that Utah has swept Oregon State in a season.
Oregon State's 44 points is just 1 point higher than the lowest opponent point total against Utah (15-7, 8-3 Pac-12) this season, who leads the Pac-12 in several defensive statistics at the midway point in conference play. Utah now sits just a half game behind conference leader UCLA in the standings — the Bruins suffered a loss to in-state rival USC earlier Thursday.
It took Oregon State (8-13, 2-8 Pac-12) until there was 2:56 left in the second half for a player to score in double figures. Oregon State's Jordan Pope got the ball off an offensive rebound and took it to the rim for a layup to give him 11 points before being subbed out of the game. No other player finished in double figures for the Beavers in the blowout loss.
Utah spread the ball around in a balanced offensive night against Oregon State and had 16 assists on 22 made field goals on 42% shooting from the field. Gabe Madsen led the team in scoring with 13 points, three rebounds and two assists in a night where he struggled to find his range from behind the 3-point line.
Branden Carlson and Rollie Worster added 12 points apiece before being pulled late in the game as Craig Smith emptied his bench when Utah built up a 31-point lead. Carlson and Worster also had six rebounds apiece, while Worster added seven assists and Carlson added two blocks to the stat sheet.
