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SALT LAKE CITY -- The Runnin' Utes battled back late in the second half to force the Sooners into overtime, but Oklahoma was too much for Utah in the extra period, taking the game 78-73 Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.
With the loss the Utes fall to 5-5 on the season and break their two game winning streak. The win gives the Sooners their fifth win in a row and betters their road record to 2-4.
After the game Coach Jim Boylen hung his head and repeated, "A disappointing loss," over and over again.
The Utes started the game sluggish and found themselves down by 11 points early, but a 13-2 run evened the game up at 16 points apiece with 12 minutes to play in the first half. Freshman guard Marshall Henderson continued to find success in the first half from behind the arch by hitting both of the shots he took from the three-point range. Carlon Brown, who finished the game with a Ute high 16 points, was 2-2 from behind the arch in the first half as well. Junior forward Jay Watkins was a spark plug off of the bench of the Utes scoring seven of his 13 points in the in the opening half. The Utes took a six point lead into halftime.
The second half started just like the first with the Runnin' Utes coming out flat. It also didn't help that Utah's 7'3" Sophomore center David Foster picked up his fourth personal foul at the 18:44 mark of the second half. From the time Foster went to the bench until he came back with 6:30 to go, Oklahoma's super sophomore guard Willie Warren took advantage to the giant void in the middle and scored 13 of his game high 27 points.
Down six with just under three minutes to go, the Utes were able to somehow fight back to tie the game up despite shooting 44% from the field and missing seven of their 12 free throws in the second half. Carlon Brown sent the game into overtime by driving to the hoop and throwing up an amazing reverse lay-up with six seconds remaining.
In the extra period Warren sunk a deep 3-point shot to put the Sooners up three and they didn't look back. Freshman guard Tommy Mason-Griffin hit three big free throws and stole the ball from Carlon Brown to seal the Sooner victory. Mason-Griffin finished the game with a career high 18 points. Fellow Freshmen Tiny Gallon scored nine points and pulled down three rebounds for Oklahoma.
"We battled, I like my team and we are getting better," said Coach Boylen after the game.
"We battled, I like my team and we are getting better," said Coach Boylen after the game.
Despite the loss there were a few bright spots for the Utes in the post. David Foster finished the game with seven points, seven rebounds and 6 blocks in only 23 minutes of play. Fellow big man, Sophomore Jason Washburn had an efficient nine points, three rebounds and 4 blocks playing only 15 minutes off the bench for Coach Boylen.
The Runnin' Utes are back in action next Saturday against Illinois State as part of the Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge.
