Runnin' Utes lose closely contested battle to Colorado

Despite leading for a vast majority of the game, the Runnin' Utes went ice cold down the stretch and lost 81-76 in a heartbreaker to Colorado.

The Runnin’ Utes dropped yet another conference matchup after a closely contested and heartbreaking loss to the Colorado Buffaloes in Boulder. Despite a monster first half by Branden Carlson and some impressive performances by Gabe Madsen and Marco Anthony in the second, Utah went cold down the stretch and lost to the Buffaloes 81-76.

Branden Carlson was in another dimension during the first half as he started 8-9 from the floor with 18 points in just the first 11 minutes. While he primarily went to work in the paint, bullying his way to the basket, Carlson also hit two deep balls to help the Utes build a 36-33 lead over Colorado at the half.

Make that BACK-TO-BACK 👌 for @ballerbranden35. Timeout Colorado.

📺 https://t.co/sKQ5JcnOcn#GoUtes | #Pac12MBB pic.twitter.com/ETJAtqV65W

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 13, 2022

Despite Carlson cooling off into the second, several other players picked up the slack and Utah maintained a strong lead. Madsen was an absolute flamethrower off the bench as he recorded 14 points on 4-11 from deep. Additionally, Anthony had an underrated performance as he finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

.@GabeMadsen53 hits his 2nd-straight from 3⃣👀👀

📺 https://t.co/sKQ5JcnOcn#GoUtes | #Pac12MBB pic.twitter.com/hVi7IZGCjx

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 13, 2022

However, over nearly a six minute period and with less than five minutes to go, Colorado orchestrated a 19-8 run to take their first lead of the contest and they did not look back.

Down the stretch, Utah could not contain Jabari Walker as he fueled the Buffaloes comeback and finished with a team-high 22 points and 13 rebounds.

At the 1:48 mark, Walker converted an unbelievable and-one-play off his back leg as he simply threw it at the basket and it dropped for two. Upon converting the free throw, Colorado led 73-67 with just 90 seconds to go.

“He’s [Jabari Walker] a good player and I just think he was getting hot for them at the end,” Carlson said. “He was making some tough plays, some tough finishes around the rim. So, I mean, we’ve just got to do a better job of playing individual defense and team defense.”

While Colorado did miss a few late free throws, they still hit shots when it mattered and Utah struggled to compete as they were heavily outshot from the charity stripe. For the game, Colorado outscored Utah 24-10 from the free throw line as they consistently drew fouls.

“I don’t think there’s specifically one thing. I think each game there’s a different aspect that hurts us in the end,” Carlson said.

With the loss, Utah drops to an abysmal 9-16 with a 2-13 Pac-12 Conference record. The Runnin’ Utes will now continue their road trip as they travel to Stanford on Thursday, Feb. 17. Tip off is set for 9 p.m. MT and will be broadcast on ESPNU.