Branden Carlson drops career-high 31 points to lift Runnin' Utes to win over Wake Forest

CHARLESTON, S.C. — For a stretch in the first half, Utah and Wake Forest combined for 15 straight made baskets in a high-tempo affair.

When one team went on a quick run, the other answered back with a run of their own. And that's to say nothing of Wake Forest starting the game making seven of its first eight 3-point attempts to pace the Demon Deacons to a 10-point lead at halftime.

Blink and Wake Forest had made another couple 3-pointers.

Utah finished the first half shooting 54% from the field, narrowly beating out Wake Forest, which shot 53%, but the biggest decider in the first half, specifically, was that the Utes committed nine turnovers, which led to 14 points on the other end for the Demon Deacons. That and the fact Wake Forest shot 64% from behind the perimeter.

"We came out kind of timid, I guess it's the way to say it," Utah's Branden Carlson said. "We just weren't ready to go on a physicality level — they definitely out-toughed us."

Wake Forest built up a 12-point lead to start the second half before Utah went on a run to make it a one-possession game. The two teams traded baskets down the stretch before Utah pulled away late for a 77-70 win.

"Once we kind of tied it up, I think we just felt like we're gonna win this," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "We were gonna find a way to win this game.

"That's an excellent win for us. When we saw the draw in the middle of the summer, we knew this was going to be the type of game it ended up being. I was just really proud of our guys, just the way the game was played, the way it kind of played out. There just wasn't a lot going right for us in that first half — got to give them a lot of credit, man, they were throwing haymakers at us."

Utah (3-0) used an 11-0 run behind a key stretch from Carlson, who hit a top-of-the-key 3-pointer for the go-ahead score, and then slammed it home on the next possession to take a 5-point lead — the largest at the time for the Utes.

The shot of the night, though, was a made Carlson 3-pointer with the shot clock nearing zero with under a minute left to play to take a 5-point lead that highlighted the senior's performance.

Carlson finished the night with a career-high 31 points, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, five blocks and four rebounds in a dominant performance for the big.

"What a game, what a performance. ... He was the one guy — him and probably Worster — just very steadfast the whole night, but, of course, BC just had a great look to him," Smith said.

Carlson, who scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half, took over the game, but Smith also credited Utah throwing the "kitchen sink" at Wake Forest (1-2) on defense to help turn the tide in the second half. The Utes used different combinations of zone and man looks to keep the Demon Deacons guessing and to throw off their "high-octane" rhythm.

Even then, Wake Forest kept the game close.

Utah outscored Wake Forest 46-29 in the second half while holding the Demon Deacons to 40% shooting from the field, and more importantly 20% from 3-point range.

"We scored 46 in the second half," Smith said. "I mean, there were a games over the last two years it was hard to get 46 for the game."

Wake Forest's Hunter Sallis was equally impressive on the night and finished with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Cameron Hildreth added 14 points — all of which came in the first half — and five rebounds, while Andrew Carr supplied an additional 13 points and three rebounds in the loss.

Utah now advances to take on No. 6 Houston in a semifinal matchup of the Charleston Classic Friday (2:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2).

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