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It's flattering that Utah fans consider last night's 58-57 triumph over Stanford the team's biggest win of the year. Considering they only have SIX to choose from, I suppose it's true. Here's a look at three good and three bad things from the loss in Salt Lake City.
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SLC |
Stanford hadn't played at Utah since the 1973-74 season and Salt Lake City is rather beautiful. Hopefully the team had some time to do some sightseeing when it wasn't practicing layups and free throws. |
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Rest |
Josh Huestis and Dwight Powell both started the game, but played only 10 and 17 minutes, respectively. Assuming that neither plays extended minutes in the season finale against Cal -- start Jack Trotter, perhaps? -- they should be completely recharged for the Pac-12 Tournament. Brilliant. |
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Let's overlook the five turnovers, zero assists, and missed 3-pointer at the buzzer. Randle filled it up again with 19 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. |
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Mental Mindset |
"They wanted it more than we did," Randle said after the game. "We didn't bring that mental mind-set. That's why we came up short." Someone needs to be responsible for reminding the team to bring its mental mind-set to Staples Center next month. Johnny?
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3-Point Shooting |
Stanford players not named Randle were 1-for-11 from long range. Anthony Brown was 1-for-6. Aaron Bright missed all three of his 3-point attempts as part of his 1-for-8 night. |
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FT Shooting |
Obviously. The Cardinal wasn't terrible from the FT line -- 9-of-14 -- but Stefan Nastic and Josh Owens missed a couple of crucial shots in the final 2 minutes. If Stanford had only remembered its mental mind-set! Utah, which shot 1-for-9 from the line in its 68-65 loss at Stanford, was 17-for-21 last night. Sure, a missed free throw set up Randle's potential game-winner, but the Utes shot more than well enough to win. |