Runnin’ Utes scrap their way past Hawaii by owning the paint

Utah trailed only briefly and used its superior size and athleticism to put away Hawaii 79-66 at the Delta Center on Thursday night.

The biggest factor

Utah, the second-tallest team in the country, had a decided edge inside, both in scoring and on the boards.

The Runnin’ Utes finished with a 44-24 edge in points in the paint — that included 12 points in the paint in the game’s first six minutes as Utah pushed out to an 18-6 lead before a 14-3 Hawaii run gave the Rainbow Warriors a brief lead.

“I thought we were very good early, not so good in the back half of the first half … and then I thought we had a really great mindset in the second half,” Utah head coach Craig Smith said of Utah’s efforts in attacking the paint against the Rainbow Warriors.

“Good things usually happen for us when the ball touches the post, whether it’s a score or a kick-out.” 

Utah also had also a 38-29 rebounding advantage — it was a 21-11 edge in the first half before visiting Hawaii, which suffered its first loss of the season, evened it out on the boards in the second half.

Both teams finished with 10 offensive rebounds and Utah had a 16-13 advantage in second-chance points.

Other key takeaways

Stars of the night: After Branden Carlson scored seven points in the Utes’ win over Saint Mary’s on Monday, the fifth-year senior matched that point total in the game’s first 3:19. He ended the first half with 11 points and had 17 points, six rebounds, one blocked shot and an assist for the game.

Hunter Erickson was the surprise star of the night, scoring in double figures for the first time as a Ute, finishing with 15 points on 6 of 9 shooting while adding two assists and one steal.

The former BYU and Salt Lake Community College guard hit two 3-pointers — the first time he’s made multiple 3s in a game for Utah — and during one stretch in the second half, he made buckets on three straight possessions, then fed Keba Keita for a dunk on the next one.

“You see some things he can really do. He can get it going, he’s got great feel and moxey,” Smith said. “He’s a high-level passer — obviously he made some shots tonight — but he guarded really well as well.”

Hawaii was paced by Noel Coleman, who had 14 points and four assists.

An uptick in bench points: Utah got 31 points from its bench players, led by Erickson’s offensive outburst and 14 from Keita, who shot 6 of 6 from the field.

That is the highest bench production for Utah since its season opener, when the Utes had 36 bench points against Eastern Washington.

The 31 bench points is also only eight points shy of the team’s bench points over the past four games combined.

“We need our bench to keep producing for us. I feel strongly about that,” Smith said.

Assists a bit low on the night: Utah entered the game averaging 17.1 assists per game — the Utes ended up with 11 on 30 made baskets. Rollie Worster led Utah with three assists.

Strong shooting inside the arc: Utah made 25 of 43 shots from 2-point range, for 58.1%.

3-point shooting: After Utah took that early 12-point lead, Hawaii made three 3-pointers out of four attempts from long range over a three-minute stretch to get the Rainbow Warriors back in the game.

In the second half, though, Utah held Hawaii to 4 of 16 shooting from 3-point range as the Rainbow Warriors made 9 of 30 overall.

The Utes didn’t shoot a lot of outside, but they made 5 of 14, including 2 of 5 in the second half.

Highlights

What’s next?

After five straight games away from the Huntsman Center, Utah (5-2) will return to its home arena for a matchup against Southern Utah next Tuesday (7 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Network).

That is the first of six straight games for the Runnin’ Utes at the Huntsman Center.

Southern Utah is off to a 2-4 start to the season, including a 93-84 loss at Utah State. The T’Birds play at Seattle on Saturday before facing Utah.