As hard as the University of Utah tried at times to give away a game Wednesday night to Fresno State, it ultimately did not.
The Utes overcame their own rough shooting night, taking control late on their way to a 55-50 win over the Bulldogs at the Huntsman Center to close their nonconference schedule.
Three-pointers from Riley Battin and David Jenkins Jr. pushed the Utes to a 49-45 lead. The triple from Jenkins, his second of the night, came with a hand in his face and sent the game into the under-4 timeout with 3:41 to play.
Utah, as it did for much of the night, then clamped up on defense, forcing seven straight misses as part of a Bulldogs scoring drought that eclipsed four minutes.
Out of a Craig Smith timeout with the Utes (8-4) nursing that 49-45 lead, freshman guard Lazar Stefanovic putting Utah in the bonus. He knocked down both free throws to extend the lead to six with 1:06 left, and the Bulldogs didn’t get closer than four the rest of the way.
Utah’s primary objective in the early going was clear. Stop, or at least slow down, Fresno State standout center Orlando Robinson, an athletic, 7-foot third-year sophomore averaging 18.3 points and 8.1 rebounds over the Bulldogs’ 9-2 start to the season.
For the most part, Robinson was contained in the first half. The Utes started the game guarding him straight up, but shifted to a zone at times. In either case, Utah threw two defenders at Robinson any time he touched the ball. Specifically with the zone, Utah dropped a guard down in an effort to front Robinson, making receiving the ball on the block more difficult.
Utah’s defense was solid, but it didn’t generate enough offense to sustain any momentum. The Utes trailed by as many as six in the first half, shooting just 30.8% from the floor, including 2 for 12 from 3-point range.
Trailing for most of the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Utes took a momentary lead on a Stefanovic midrange jumper. Down the other end, Robinson finished an alley-oop in traffic, off a high pass from Leo Colimerio after he rolled beautifully to the rim off a pick-and-roll for a 23-22 Bulldogs lead with 1:22 before halftime.
Fresno State took that 1-point edge into the locker room after Jenkins took charges on consecutive Bulldogs possessions inside the final minute.
The Tribune will update this story.
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