What Utah can take away from the rivalry win over No. 14 BYU

When BYU trimmed a one-time 16-point deficit down to five heading into the final four minutes of its game at rival Utah on Saturday at the Huntsman Center, Runnin’ Utes coach Craig Smith sent a clear message to his team.

Don’t get caught up in the moment.

“This is what NCAA Tournament basketball is about. This is what conference championship basketball is about. This is what BYU and Utah rivalry games (are about),” Utah’s third-year coach said.

“We made our run, they responded. They made their run, we responded. You’ve just got to keep where your feet are — when you turn it over or miss a layup, you can’t worry about that. It’s done. Be where your feet are and make the next play.”

Yes, there were a few mistakes down the stretch against the No. 14 Cougars, but the Utes, to their credit, made more clutch plays in the game’s final minutes as they prevailed 73-69.

“I thought our guys did a really good job with that tonight,” Smith said of his team heeding the advice.

As such, the Utes collected another signature victory for their NCAA resume while improving to 7-2 on the season, all while beating a BYU team that entered the night undefeated and No. 1 in the NET rankings.

Utah, as a result, jumped 17 spots to No. 32 in the NET rankings. BYU dropped two spots, to No. 3.

The Utes now have home games against Utah Valley on Dec. 16 and Bellarmine on Dec. 20 before starting Pac-12 play, and thus far, Utah has shown it has the potential to improve upon the preseason expectations of finishing seventh in the league.

While discussing the win, Smith put into perspective what he’s seen from his Utes to this point in the season. 

He pointed toward Utah’s participation in the Charleston Classic four weeks ago — when it beat Wake Forest but lost to then-No. 6 Houston and St. John’s — as a growing experience, and then Utah’s next game — a 78-71 win at Saint Mary’s — as a turning point.

“When we played at Saint Mary’s, I thought we grew up between the St. John’s game to that game. We were battle tested,” Smith said. 

BYU, one of the nation’s most efficient offenses entering the matchup with Utah, gave the Utes a test, even though Utah led virtually the entire game.

The Utes built a 45-31 halftime lead behind a strong start (they led 17-5 six minutes in), shooting 56.7% from the field and holding BYU to 36.4% shooting in the first half. 

The Cougars battled their way back into the contest in the second half, outscoring Utah by 10 after halftime.

The Utes, though, never relinquished the lead and, particularly down the stretch, fed off a raucous sellout crowd to deliver in the game’s key moments.

“It shows what we are capable of. We were able to beat a top 25 team and we hung with a top 10 team as well. We showed we can compete,” said Utah fifth-year senior Branden Carlson, who had 15 points to go with eight rebounds, two assists and one steal.

“We have the players and the pieces and the mindset to do that. We just have to be able to come out and execute every game, every half.”

One of those key moments came courtesy of senior shooting guard Gabe Madsen, when his fifth 3-pointer of the night put Utah ahead 61-54 with 1:01 to play.

Madsen caught a long pass from fellow senior Rollie Worster a couple feet behind the 3-point line, slid past a collapsing defender, then stepped back and delivered his final points of the night. 

Sophomore center Keba Keita, who’s shown serious growth in his game early in the season, then delivered a winning defensive effort on BYU’s final possession, when the Cougars could have tied or taken the lead trailing 71-69.

On the play, BYU guard Dallin Hall brought the ball into the front court and passed to center Aly Khalifa, who returned a quick pass to the guard. 

Keita switched from defending Khalifa to taking on Hall and forced Hall into an error, as the BYU guard hit the ball off his leg as he neared the baseline and had to throw it back into the middle of the court, where Worster stole it.

Two Worster free throws then sealed the win.

“He’s just taken a big jump forward,” Smith said of Keita, “the way he carries himself, the way his body language is. His communication has been so good.”

Madsen sees a difference between this team and previous squads during his three seasons at Utah.

“Yeah, I’ve said before, just the experience on this team,” he said. “You’ve had guys who’ve played together a lot now and then you bring in some guys who, two starters for us who’ve played a lot of games in the conference. You can tell there’s a little bit of a difference in the experience of the team.”