National Basketball Association
Utah 81, San Diego St. 76
When: 9:30 PM ET, Monday, November 16, 2015
Where: Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials:
# David Hall, # Randy McCall, # Tony Padilla
Attendance:
13587
By The Sports Xchange
Forward Jordan Loveridge scored 21 points and Center Jakob Poeltl added 15 points and 12 rebounds to help no. 16 Utah escape with an 81-76 victory over San Diego State on Monday in Salt Lake City.
Forward Kyle Kuzma added 14 points and seven rebounds while guard Lorenzo Bonam chipped in 14 points for the Utes. Utah (2-0) snapped a six game losing streak to the Aztecs dating back to 2009.
Forward Winston Shepard scored 19 points and guards Trey Kell and Dakarai Allen added 15 points apiece for San Diego State. The Aztecs (1-1) shot 41.9 percent from the field and 8 of 17 from 3-point range.
Utah won despite shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 10 of 27 from outside.
San Diego State forced the Utes play at its preferred tempo for much of the first half. The Aztecs hustled to loose balls and cleaned up tons of offensive rebounds early to set up second chance baskets.
Utah rallied and tied it at 21 after Kuzma put back a missed 3-pointer from guard Dakarai Tucker. The Aztecs answered with quick back-to-back 3-pointers from Allen and forward Malik Pope. Another perimeter basket from Allen pushed San Diego State's lead to 30-24 with 3:56 left before halftime.
The Utes closed the half on a 14-2 run. Utah retook the lead after Loveridge converted a 3-point play and drained a 3-pointer less than a minute later. Guard Brandon Taylor drilled another 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the Ute lead to 38-32 going into halftime.
Utah pushed the lead to 43-34 on baskets from Taylor and Kuzma early in the second half. San Diego State once again rallied. The Aztecs ripped off a 12-0 run, capped by a pair of baskets from Shepard, and took a 46-43 lead with 13:38 remaining.
San Diego State continued to hang with Utah until the Utes heated up from the perimeter again. Bonam and Brekkott Chapman drained back-to-back 3-pointers to help Utah break a 56-56 tie, helping spark a 12-4 run that put the Utes up 68-60 with 3:38 left.
The Aztecs mounted a final rally and cut Utah's lead to 75-73 on a Shepard 3-pointer with 33.6 seconds left. Loveridge, Chapman and Bonam all made free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.
Top Game Performances
| San Diego St. |
|
Utah |
|
Winston Shepard 19 |
Scoring |
Jordan Loveridge 21 |
|
Trey Kell 2 |
Assists |
Lorenzo Bonam 3 |
|
Zylan Cheatham 7 |
Rebounds |
Jakob Poeltl 12 |
|
Winston Shepard 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Jordan Loveridge 7 |
|
Winston Shepard 2 |
Steals |
Lorenzo Bonam 3 |
|
Jeremy Hemsley 2 |
Blocks |
Brekkott Chapman 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| San Diego St.
|
76 |
42.6 |
8-17 |
16-21 |
6 |
34 |
7 |
2 |
11 |
| Utah
|
81 |
40.0 |
10-27 |
27-36 |
12 |
34 |
6 |
9 |
9 |
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