USU, Utah Utes basketball: Utes find a way to comeback, beat rival Aggies

Despite getting outshot from the field and the free-throw line, getting outrebounded by 11 by its much-smaller opponent and having no answer for Jared Quayle and his 27 points, the Utah basketball team found a way to scratch out a 68-67 victory over Utah State Wednesday night at the Huntsman Center.

Carlon Brown, bounced backed from a poor-opening game performance against Idaho to lead the Utes with 22 points, including several key baskets during his 14-point second-half, while senior Luka Drca added 11 points and six assists.

"It was a heck of a game and I thought we fought back and grew up a lot since Friday," said Ute coach Jim Boylen. "In the second half we trusted offensively and trusted defensively and came out with a big win."

The difference in the game came in two areas, 3-point shooting and turnovers. The Utes made three more 3-pointers on the night and had seven fewer turnovers than the Aggies.

The Utes came alive midway through the second half when it looked like the game was getting away from them. Utah State expanded its three-point halftime lead to 47-40 when the Utah defense suddenly took over.

Over a five-minute stretch, the Utes ran off 11 straight points, while the Aggies committed five turnovers, three on Utah steals. First Jordan Cyphers stole the ball from Trevor Medlin, followed by a pair of steals by Drca on Quayle. On the second one, he was intentionally fouled by Matt Formisano and sank two free throws to put the Utes up 49-47 with 9:09 left.

When asked about the Utes' sudden penchant for steals (seven in the game), Boylen didn't have an answer.

"I don't know — we've never been a high-turnover-forcing team, but we'll take it," he said.

The Aggies came back to retake the lead briefly at 54-53 with 5:34 left, but Brown came up with a huge basket as he knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock was winding down

"I didn't hesitate," said Brown, who sank three 3-pointers on the night after making just six all last season on 34 attempts. "I knew the clock was going down and he started backing up so I just shot it."

After the Aggies tied it, Brown scored on a fadeaway next time down and then Kim Tillie tipped in a miss by Drca to push the lead to four.

After Jason Washburn scored on a nice pass from Drca with 52 seconds left, the Utes led 64-60 at which point the officials took over with several foul calls.