SALT LAKE CITY – Senior Rosco Allen and sophomore Dorian Pickens each had 16 points for Stanford, but the Cardinal fell short in a 96-74 setback to Utah Saturday afternoon at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City.
Marcus Sheffield (13) and Marcus Allen (10) joined Pickens and Rosco Allen as double-figure scorers for the Cardinal. Pickens, who had 15 of his 16 points in the first half, and Rosco Allen also led Stanford with five rebounds apiece.
Utah (17-5, 6-3) shot 70.8 percent in the first half to take a 48-39 lead into the break. The Cardinal trailed by as many as 13 in the first half (45-32), before cutting away at the Ute's advantage over the final two minutes of the first period.
Stanford (11-9, 3-5) continued to chip away at Utah's lead in the early stages of the second half and got within eight points (62-54) with 10:54 remaining on a Pickens free throw.
The Utes, however, responded with 13 of the next 19 points to surge out to a 17-point advantage (75-58) with 6:50 to play and held on for the double-digit win.
Jakob Poeltl led four in double figures for Utah with 23 points and seven rebounds. He finished 13-of-15 from the free throw line.
Stanford returns to action next Saturday (Feb. 6) as the Cardinal travels across the Bay to Berkeley to face California at 1 p.m. PT.