Qua Grant scored 22 points and dished out four assists to lead Sam Houston to a 65-55 victory over Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.
Grant scored four of the Bearkats’ final six baskets, along with a trio of free throws in the final 67 seconds, to stave off a Utah comeback. Sam Houston (4-0) beat a Power 5 opponent on the road for the second time in four games after edging Oklahoma 52-51 in its season opener Nov. 7.
Rollie Worster had 14 points, seven rebounds, and five assists to lead the Utes. Lazar Stefanovic added 12 points for Utah. Leading scorer Branden Carlson was held to nine points.
The Utes (3-1) suffered their first loss after struggling on the glass and at the free-throw line. Sam Houston outrebounded Utah 41-31 and had 14-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Utes went 8 of 16 from the free-throw line.
Utah trailed through the second half, but made it a one-possession game several times. The Utes cut the deficit to 53-51 on a jumper from Stefanovic with 4:27 to play. Grant made three straight baskets to fuel a 7-0 run that boosted Sam Houston’s lead to 60-51 with 2:08 left.
Sam Houston opened up a 21-8 lead late in the first half behind a 12-2 run. Jaden Ray and Cameron Huefner each hit a 3-pointer to fuel the spurt.
Utah struggled to find a rhythm on offense for much of the half. The Utes missed 13 of their first 16 shots from the field and went 6 1/2 minutes without making a basket. Worster finally ended the drought with back-to-back layups with five minutes left in the half.
Marco Anthony and Gabe Madsen made back-to-back baskets in the final minute before halftime to cut the deficit to 27-23. Utah missed only one shot in the final five minutes of the first half — going 7 of 8 from the field.
–Field Level Media