SALT LAKE CITY — Forced to shoot over the Utah defense much of the game, the LSU Tigers couldn’t match the second half charge of Ute forward Andrew Bogut as the Tigers fell to Utah, 69-55 here Monday night at the Jon Huntsman Center.
The Tigers fell to 6-4 going to the Southeastern Conference opening contest Saturday night at 5 p.m. in Tuscaloosa against Alabama in Coleman Coliseum.
LSU tried to trade punches with Utah (11-3) in the first half, opening quickly with threes by Brandon Bass, Darrel Mitchell, Antonio Hudson and Tack Minor to stand tied at 12-12 six minutes into the game. Mitchell hit a jumper and Glen Davis two free throws to give LSU a 16-12 advantage at the 11:51 mark. Utah came back to take as much as a six point, 29-23 lead with 3:20 to go in the first half, but a Bass jumper, two free throws from Hudson and a steal and layup by Davis tied the game back at 29 with 1:31 to go in the half.
LSU again hit from outside as Xavier Whipple hit a three for a 32-29 advantage with one minute to go, but Marc Jackson’s trey tied it at 32. Minor hit a layup with 22 seconds left for a 34-32 advantage, but Tim Drisdom hit a trey at the halftime buzzer to give Utah a 35-34 lead they would not relinquish in a half that saw six ties and five lead changes.
In the second half, Utah made a conscious effort to look for Bogut, the 6-11 sophomore, down low and he responded by scoring the Utes’ first 11 of 12 points in the second half. But the Tigers were able to keep the game in check, again hitting three-pointers to trail just 47-44 with 13:31 to play.
But it was a 14-3 run from there when LSU made just one shot while Utah was dominating the boards on both ends that gave Utah a 61-47 advantage with 5:57 to play. Utah stretched the lead to 65-50 with 3:50 to go before a Bass jumper and a three by Hudson cut the game to 10, 65-55 with 2:41 to go. But LSU would not score the rest of the way as Utah got four more points for the final margin.
Bass, who made three treys, had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead LSU. Minor had 12 for the Tigers and Hudson 11. Bogut finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds to lead Utah with Marc Jackson adding 15 points and Bryant Markson 12.
LSU shot 38 percent for the game (19-of-15) and 35.5 from three-point range (11-of-31). The Tigers had 13 assists and turned the ball over just six times in the contest. Utah shot 25-of-48 for the game, including 63 percent in the second half (12-of-19). The Utes were 7-of-16 from three-point range and out rebounded the Tigers, 39-21, including 12-5 on the offensive glass.