Utah starts strong but can't hang on against No. 6 Houston in 76-66 loss

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Everything was going right early for the Runnin' Utes in its semifinal game of the Charleston Classic Friday afternoon.

Utah started out the aggressor against No. 6 Houston and built up an 8-point lead against a Cougars team that leads the country in defense, according to KenPom.

But in a defensive, tight battle against a ranked team, Utah was the first to blink.

The Utes committed a pair of turnovers, amid eight in the first half, and the Cougars immediately went on a 14-2 run to erase all the good Utah had done leading up to that point in the game.

Houston built up a 9-point first-half lead, and held serve the remainder of the game. The defense held Utah to 36% shooting en route to a 76-66 win to advance to the championship game against a Dayton team that beat St. John's earlier in the day.

Utah (3-1) will play in the consolation game Sunday (3:30 p.m. MST) against St. John's.

Consider Friday afternoon's meeting with Houston (5-0) an introduction to life in the Big 12 for Utah next season.

Utah matched Houston in several statistical categories for much of the day, including an even rebounding margin at the halftime break, but turnovers and a lack of consistency in the second half ultimately led to Utah's demise.

The Utes finished the game with 15 turnovers, which led to 19 points on the other end for the Cougars, and a 43% shooting effort in the second half. Most poignant was a six-minute stretch midway through the game where Utah was held without a field goal.

Gabe Madsen eventually hit a 3-pointer to end the scoring drought to make it a three-possession game after Houston built up a game-high 14-point lead. The 3-pointer started off a 13-2 run for Utah, which was capped off by Madsen's third 3-pointer to cut Houston's lead to 1 point.

In that stretch, Madsen made 11 of the team's 13 points to keep the Utes in the game and eventually tied it up 56-all before Houston answered back with a quick run of its own to build up a 10-point lead going into the final media timeout of the game.

Even then, Madsen pulled Utah back in with another 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game in a fight to the end.

Madsen finished the game with 29 points, including eight made 3-pointers, and six rebounds, while Branden Carlson added 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss. The Utes were also without Keba Keita, who played Thursday, with an undisclosed injury.

Houston got it done with a fairly balanced scoring effort from its roster, and was led by Emanuel Sharp's 15 points and six rebounds. Jamal Shead and LJ Cryer each added 14 points, and J'Wan Roberts finished with 13 points.

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