Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — For all intents and purposes, Utah men's basketball went through the motions Tuesday night — maybe not intentionally, but it wasn't a Utah team firing on all cylinders.
With rival BYU on the docket Saturday in a highly-anticipated matchup at the Huntsman Center, a Tuesday night meeting against a Southern Utah team ranked No. 268 in KenPom ratings was of little concern.
Even with veteran center Branden Carlson sideline for the day with a minor injury, the Thunderbirds didn't expect to pose much of a challenge.
Utah quickly built up an 11-3 lead in the opening minutes and looked ready to pull away from Southern Utah early. That early intensity and drive became a sort of jumbled mess as Utah built up a 15-point lead that eventually evaporated into a 4-point lead with 47 seconds left in the first half.
The Runnin' Utes simply didn't have a rhythm and allowed the Thunderbirds to challenge for the duration of the night.
Nobody told Keba Keita, though.
The sophomore center made the most of his minutes and scored a team-high 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting and eight rebounds to eventually lead the Utes to an 88-86 win on their home court against Southern Utah.
"Southern Utah played great," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "I thought they played the best game of the year of their young season. Give them credit, man; they were throwing a lot of haymakers. They got down early in the game and they kept competing and fighting back."
Utah (6-2) pushed the lead back up to 17 in the second half, but, once again, the Thunderbirds fought back and cut Utah's lead down to 3 with 7:14 left in the game. It was the closest Southern Utah (2-6, 0-2 WAC) could get — until a last-second heave from 35 feet out at the final buzzer by Dominique Ford to give Utah only a 2-point win.
It was enough for an early-season scare for Utah in an otherwise good start to Smith's third season as the head coach.
Utah's lead never felt in doubt as the team shot 54% from the field, including a 56-30 advantage in the post, and collected 22 assists on 34 made baskets, but it was a disjointed affair that left the Utes trying to manufacture points against a Thunderbirds team ready for a fight.
Coming off the bench, Hunter Erickson hit a corner 3-pointer to give Utah enough of a cushion (and to stop the bleeding) after Southern Utah made a push late to bring the game within one possession. And then the team finished the night mostly at the free-throw line after a combined 42 fouls were called.
"Part of it to me is just readiness — being in the right position and a readiness to compete," Smith said of the high number of fouls. "So if you're not in the right position, you're already a half a step behind. I don't know that we had the urgency that we needed to — consistently by everybody. Some guys definitely did, but the other guys not so much. And as players, you have to adapt to the game."
"It definitely affects the game when there's a lot of fouls — slows it down," Utah guard Gabe Madsen said. "The rhythm of the game is just broken up. No excuses, obviously, about that, but you can definitely feel that."
Madsen finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists; and Ben Carlson, who started in place of Branden Carlson, added 15 points and 10 rebounds in Utah's win. But Smith called for a more disciplined effort from his team, especially with BYU up next.
"We've gotta guard better, it's got to be more disciplined, got to be tougher, got to be able to guard consistently," Smith said. "That's how you win at a high, high level."
Three players scored in double figures for the Thunderbirds, with Braden Housley finishing with a team-high 23 points, including four made 3-pointers, and five assists in the loss. Ford also added 23 points, including his fifth 3-pointer at the final buzzer to make it a 2-point loss.
Utah now turns its attention to BYU Saturday, but the team may be without Branden Carlson. Smith said Carlson injury, which was not disclosed, is something that is "just too early to tell" and that the team will have a better understanding later in the week.
"I know it matters to him, and I guarantee he's gonna do everything he can to play, but I just don't know," Smith said. "We've got to think the big picture on this thing, too."
