What led to the Runnin’ Utes looking more like themselves in blowout, even down 2 starters

For about 13 minutes, Oregon State hung in with the hometown Utah basketball squad at the Huntsman Center on Thursday night.

After that, though, the Runnin’ Utes asserted their dominance, even without two starters — guard Rollie Worster and center Lawson Lovering — who were out due to injury.

The result was a 74-47 victory for Utah (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12), keeping the Utes unbeaten at home in conference play.

“It’s been a little bit of a, I don’t know what the right word is, maybe a little bit of a turbulent week,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.

“We’ve had to do a lot of different things this week, with the injuries to Worster and Lawson Lovering. I’m really proud of our effort. I thought we really, really competed hard. I love how we defended.”

Oregon State took a 19-15 lead with 10:49 remaining in the first half, and after a Cole Bajema 3-pointer a little over a minute later, both teams went quiet offensively.

Utah soon responded, though, while the Beavers stayed silent.

What resulted was an 18-0 run for the Utes that broke the game open, as Utah built a 33-22 halftime lead, with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer being OSU’s only points in the final 10 minutes before intermission.

The Utes only built on that late first-half dominance the rest of the way, outscoring the overmatched Beavers 23-6 in the first 9:15 minutes of the second half en route to the 27-point win.

“I’m really proud not only how we played today, I thought we played how we practiced. Love how we executed our stuff on both ends of the floor but specifically on the defensive end,” Smith said.

Utah’s two newcomers to the starting lineup both had strong nights.

Keba Keita made his first career start with Lovering still out after getting hurt just under four minutes into the Utes’ previous game.

Keita had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds and added three blocks while bringing his usual disruptive energy to both ends of the floor.

He also avoided getting into early foul trouble, a problem that’s impacted both Keita and Lovering in recent weeks.

“First start, I was little nervous, but I feel like, that’s also normal,” Keita said. “I couldn’t get into foul trouble early, but I think my mindset today was to play hard without fouling.”

Deivon Smith, meanwhile, started for the second straight game in relief of Worster, who was wearing a boot on his left foot, and had 14 points and eight rebounds.

“He’s definitely getting comfortable out there,” Keita said of Deivon Smith. “He’s getting back to — he’s finding his old self.”

Fifth-year senior Branden Carlson, who got off to a slow start that was a microcosm of Utah’s sluggish beginning to the contest, also ended up with 17 points, 10 rebounds, an assist and a block.

“I thought he really settled in tonight and was a great leader for us, a stabilizing force and a pillar and a rock for our team that we need every night to just for that steadying influence,” Craig Smith said of Carlson.

Keita and Carlson, in particular, sparked the Utes on both ends of the floor in helping Utah shake off some of the early-game rust.

Key takeaways

Top performers: Keba Keita, making his first career start, ended with 18 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Branden Carlson, after a slow start, had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Deivon Smith added 14 points and eight assists.

Key stretch: Utah took control of the contest with an 18-0 run that lasted more than 10 minutes in the first half.

Keita (6), Smith (5) Carlson (4) and Cole Bajema (3) each scored during the run, as Utah made 6 of 12 field goals to end the half.

Oregon State, meanwhile, went 0 for 12 before hitting a 3 right before the buzzer to end the run.

Rebounding/second-chance points: The Utes owned a 52-31 rebounding edge, including 17-9 on the offensive glass, which led to Utah also having a 17-3 advantage in second-chance points.

Points in the paint: Utah outscored the Beavers 34-12 in the paint.

Utah dominated inside in blowing past Oregon State, finishing with a 34-12 edge in points in the paint.

The Utes also held a 52-31 rebounding edge, which included a 17-9 advantage on the offensive glass and resulted in Utah outscoring the Beavers 17-3 in second-chance points.

Utah’s defense, as Craig Smith mentioned, was solid throughout the night, even though two of the team’s best defenders, Worster and Lovering, were not available.

The coach called it the best defensive effort this season from Bajema, as Utah held Beavers guard Jordan Pope to 7 points, the only game this he’s been held to single-digits this season.

Oregon State ended up shooting 29.1% for the game, compared to 44.3% for the Utes.

“It’s just got to be a mindset every time and it’s got to be our identity,” Carlson said of the defensive effort. “I think we have great games and we have responses.

“I feel like when we come in from a loss, I think we respond really well. We’ve just got to have that for every single game, of being dominant on the defensive end and get stops.”

There were some things to nitpick — Utah didn’t get a lot of production outside of its starting five, as regular rotation guys like Ben Carlson and Hunter Erickson both had relatively silent nights.

Utah also struggled at the free-throw line, making 11 of 21 and only 6 of 15 in the second half.

After losing three of its past four games, though, with all of the losses coming on the road, the Utes will take the blowout win against the last-place Beavers (9-8, 1-5 Pac-12).

It’s their second lopsided win at the Huntsman after a 90-44 win last week over UCLA.

The effort also affirmed to Branden Carlson that the depth Utah has built will help fill the void when teammates go down with injuries.

“This team was built for this. We have the depth and we have the players to live without Rollie and Lawson,” Carlson said.

“I feel like last year when we had some injuries with Gabe (Madsen) and Rollie, that kind of hurt us, not having the depth that we needed, and this year, I feel like we have that.”

What’s next

The Runnin’ Utes (13-5, 4-3 Pac-12) will stay at home to take on Oregon at the Huntsman Center on Sunday (1 p.m. MST, ESPN).

The Ducks lost at Colorado late Thursday night, Oregon’s first loss in Pac-12 play.

Following Sunday’s game, Utah will hit the road again for games at Washington State and Washington next week.