What led to Utah staying winless on the road in Pac-12 play after falling at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. — The road hasn’t been kind to Utah men’s basketball in Pac-12 play thus far.

Those struggles continued Sunday, when the Runnin’ Utes lost 79-73 to Stanford at Maples Pavilion.

There were a variety of factors that went against Utah: The Utes were missing two starters for a majority of the game, they were abysmal from the free-throw line and they couldn’t come up with enough stops even after rallying from down 12.

That all led to one thing: Utah falling to 0-3 on the road in Pac-12 play, three weeks into league action.

“We just couldn’t string together enough stops over the course of the game to climb over the top,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.

It spoiled a rare triple-double for Utah, the fourth for the program since the 1996-97 season, as Deivon Smith, making his first start as a Ute, ended up with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

The point guard, playing his eighth game for the Utes, saw a good effort that ultimately came up short, and a bit too late offensively to grab a road win.

“The game was very physical. Some shots didn’t go our way and we didn’t play as tough as we wanted to,” Deivon Smith said. “We picked it up later down in the second half, but by the time we did that, it was a little too late.”

He was in the starting lineup to replace starting point guard Rollie Worster, who missed the game with a lower leg injury — Worster was wearing a boot on his left leg during the contest.

Just under four minutes into the game, the Utes lost another starter when Lawson Lovering limped off. He briefly left the court and wore ice on his left foot for a short time before eventually putting his shoe back on, but it was clear his day was done.

That left Utah giving minutes to guys like guards Jayden Teat and Luka Tarlac earlier in the game than they’ve normally seen, though the bulk of minutes went to four players.

In addition to Deivon Smith’s 32 minutes, Branden Carlson (32), Gabe Madsen (36) and Cole Bajema (31) all played 30-plus minutes.

“Injuries happen, and it’s always got to be a next-man-up mentality,” Craig Smith said.

Utah’s coach said it was too early to know the severity of Lovering’s injury, while saying Worster is day to day and doesn’t know his status for Utah’s next game, at home Thursday against Oregon State.

“I’m not going to know until the day of or maybe the day before,” Craig Smith said.

In most regards, it was a relatively balanced game from both squads, from the guard line to the post. Utah shot 44% from the field, while Stanford was at 41%.

Both teams committed few turnovers — Utah six and Stanford five — and were near-even in points in the paint, with the Cardinal holding a 26-24 edge.

Stanford was even missing its own key player — starting point guard Jared Bynum was also hurt and never played.

The most glaring detail from the stat sheet that heavily favored Stanford was free-throw shooting. Utah made only 4 of 12 from the free-throw line, while the Cardinal were 19 of 26.

In a six-point game, that was simply too much of a disparity to ignore.

“It’s hard to overcome the foul shooting. We go 4 for 12, and that’s obviously not good enough, along with a couple missed front ends in there, and they go 19 of 26,” Craig Smith said.

“That’s not an indictment on officiating — I thought it was a well-officiated game, but we’ve got to play hard without fouling, and then when we get fouled, we’ve got to capitalize. It’s a borderline miracle we were in the game, to have a chance to win that game.”

Key takeaways

Top performers: Maxime Raynaud had 20 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Cardinal.

Deivon Smith, making his first start for Utah, had a triple-double with 16 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

Key stretch: Utah had turned a once 12-point deficit into a two-point game and had Branden Carlson at the line after a timeout with a chance to tie with 3:51 to play. Carlson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, though, and Stanford hit 3-pointers on its next two possessions to push the lead back out.

Free-throw shooting woes: The Utes were just 4 of 12 from the free-throw line in the game, while Stanford finished 19 of 26.

0-3: Utah is still winless in three road games thus far in Pac-12 play.

Injury updates: Rollie Worster missed the game with a lower leg injury and was replaced in the starting lineup by Smith.

Lawson Lovering left about four minutes into the game and didn’t return. He was limping and wore ice on his left foot for a short time.

Points came at a premium until late in the contest.

The Runnin’ Utes led for nearly the entire first half, but Stanford made a late run before intermission, then the home team never trailed in the final 20 minutes.

The Cardinal eventually built a 12-point lead with 10:50 to play, but Utah fought back.

Eight times over the game’s final six minutes, Utah pulled within one possession. The Utes, though, could never tie it up or retake the lead.

“We finished the game scoring 11 of our last 13 possessions to give ourselves an opportunity. We just couldn’t get enough stops down the stretch and credit to them,” Craig Smith said.

The Utes had a chance to tie the contest with 3:51 to play when they trailed 62-60, as Carlson was fouled by Kanaan Carlyle, who picked up his fifth foul on the play.

After the media timeout, though, Carlson missed the front end of a 1-and-1, and Stanford responded by hitting 3-pointers on its next two possessions.

Utah never trailed by more than six down the stretch, but the Utes could do no better than trading points back and forth with the Cardinal.

Michael Jones’ layup near the end of the shot clock with 38 seconds remaining gave Stanford a 74-69 lead, a microcosm of the second half in which Utah was just one step behind.

While the Utes struggled at the free-throw line, Stanford made 7 of 8 from the stripe over the game’s final minute and a half to wrap up the win.

In addition to Deivon Smith’s triple-double, the Utes got 16 points, six rebounds, one block and a steal from Carlson, while Madsen added 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal, all while hitting a team-high four 3-pointers.

Stanford countered with four players who scored in double-figures.

Big man Maxime Raynaud scored a game-high 20 points while adding 11 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists. Jones put up 15 points and four assists, while Brandon Angel had 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists and Carlyle added 12 points.

Even in the loss, Utah’s coach credited his team’s ability to fight back when they could have folded after going down double-digits.

“I was really proud of our resiliency. We had a very good look to ourselves, a no-die mentality or attitude,” Craig Smith said.

What’s next?

Utah (12-5, 3-3 Pac-12) will return home next week to host both Oregon State (Thursday) and Oregon (Sunday).

The Beavers (9-7, 1-4 Pac-12) are tied for last place in the conference standings, while the Ducks (13-3, 5-0 Pac-12) are the lone unbeaten team remaining in league play and have a game at Colorado before visiting Utah.