PALO ALTO, CA – The University of Utah came into their matchup with the Stanford Cardinal with a bitter taste in their mouth after losing in heartbreaking fashion to Cal in double-overtime on Thursday. Utah would come out and battle back and forth with no momentum swinging either way. Stanford would go to the locker room with a one point lead at halftime.
Utah would come out swinging first in the second half but Stanford wouldn’t back down. They would continue to score at will and the Utes didn’t have any answers defensively for Reid Travis who had his way on the low-block scoring 25 points on 11 of 15 shooting. With about 8 minutes to go in the game, David Collette was fighting Reid Travis for a rebound and caught Travis’ elbow to the head that kept Collette down for a few minutes before going to the locker room. That is when Stanford started to take over and separate themselves from the Utes. Reid would be guarded by Tyler Rawson who couldn’t match the physicality in the post. David would return to the game shortly after coming out of the locker room. Utah would continue to fight but just wasn’t able to get a win in the bay area as they fell to Stanford 81-75.
Tyler Rawson led the Utes in scoring with a career-high 20 points on five of seven shooting from the field including four of six from downtown. Kyle Kuzma added a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and David Collette would be the third and final Ute to score in double figures with 12 points. Utah finished shooting 44% from the field and 41% from three, while the Cardinal shot 54% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc.
First Half Highlights:
Second Half Highlights:
Utah Assistant Coach Andy Hill Postgame:
Utah Forward Tyler Rawson Postgame:
Up next, the Utes will look to bounce back at the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday when they take on the Washington State Cougars at 7 pm on ESPN 700.
