Analysis: The Runnin' Utes defeated Oregon State with a tougher-than-it-looked victory thanks to defence once more.
At the beginning of the second half on Thursday night, there were a few stressful minutes.
Instead of this year's defensive-minded group of Utah Runnin' Utes, it appeared as though the team from last year had rolled out of the locker room.
Visiting Oregon State hit three consecutive 3-pointers to cut the Utes' lead from 13 points in the first half to one.
But it's obvious that these aren't the Utes from a year ago, who only won four Pac-12 games and eleven overall.
On its next six possessions, Utah limited OSU to only two points.
"Man, give credit to our team. Defensively, we had a new attitude in that second half.
We restricted them to 31%. Obviously, they were shooting threes on their first three possessions.
With a career-high 27 points, Carlson added, "I thought overall we had a tremendous game.
After making eight of their first nine 3-point tries and shooting 50% in the first half, the Beavers (7-8, 1-3) significantly lost steam.