Branden Carlson Takes Charge in Runnin' Utes Win Over Wake Forest

The Utah Utes came out on top against Wake Forest in what was a statement performance for Branden Carlson.

The Runnin' Utes faced off against Wake Forest during the opening day of the Charleston Classic held at the TD Arena in Charleston, North Carolina, and they came to play.

Senior center Branden Carlson was the driving force behind the Ute's 77-70 triumph over the Demon Deacons. The Utah native bagged a cool 31 points in 31 minutes with 1 assist going 12-20 from the field with a 60% field goal percentage accompanied by a 57.1% clip from beyond the arc going 4-7. Carlson also made good on his trips to the line going 3-4 while also contributing on defense grabbing 4 rebounds, a steal, and 5 blocks.

This performance is hopefully a sign of things to come as the program has been on the downturn for the past few years. It wasn't just Carlson that turned up the play, the team as a whole upped their game, especially in the second half. After allowing Wake Forest to shoot at a 53.3% clip in the first, the Utes held them to a much lower 40% clip in the second while also holding the Deacon's top scorer, Cameron Hildreth without a single point in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Carlson commented on the tale of two halves saying, " We came out timid, we just weren’t ready to go on a physicality level. They definitely out-toughed us." He continued by saying, “Second half, we had all the faith in each other as a team that we could come back and win this — just trusting in each other and keeping the ball moving and picking up our physicality and playing with an aggressive mindset.”

Going into the second half with an aggressive mindset made all the difference, especially when it came to turnovers as Utah had 9 in the first half and only 2 in the second. 

The Runnin' Utes will look to continue to bring that physical mindset into the semifinals of the Charleston Classic where they'll be tested against one of the best teams in the nation, No. 6 Houston. While coming out on top in that matchup seems pretty unlikely, if Carlson can continue to take charge and the team as a whole can continue to trust each other, an upset may be in the cards.