Utah hands No. 14 BYU first loss of season

Field Level Media|published: Sat 9th December, 21:36 2023

Dec 9, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Spencer Johnson (20) drives against Utah Utes guard Hunter Erickson (0) during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. credits: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Gabe Madsen made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and Utah handed No. 14 BYU its first loss of the season, beating its fierce rivals 73-69 on Saturday at Salt Lake City.

Branden Carlson added 15 points and eight rebounds as Utah (7-2) won its fourth consecutive game. Keba Keita added 10 points as the Utes halted their three-game game slide in matchups with the Cougars.

Jaxson Robinson scored 17 points and Richie Saunders added 13 for the Cougars (8-1), who had a 13-game nonconference winning streak halted. Dallin Hall had 11 points, Spencer Johnson contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Trevin Knell also had 10 points for BYU.

The Cougars connected on just 36.6 percent of their attempts from the field. They were a shaky 7 of 30 from long range as their school record of eight straight games with at least 10 treys came to an end.

Utah shot 49.1 percent from the field, including 8 of 26 from 3-point range. Rollie Worster had eight assists.

Madsen knocked down a 3-pointer to give Utah a 71-64 lead with 1:01 remaining. But Aly Khalifa made two of three free throws with 50.8 seconds left and Saunders drained a 3-pointer nine seconds later as BYU moved within two.

The Cougars later had a chance to tie it or go ahead but turned the ball over. Worster was fouled and made two free throws with 1.8 seconds left to close it out.

BYU trailed by 16 early in the second half before using a 9-2 run to move within 51-42 on Knell's layup with 16:03 left in the game.

Worster's layup gave Utah a 58-48 lead with 12:54 remaining before the Utes missed their next eight field-goal attempts. Utah went 6:31 without a point until Lawson Lovering split two free throws with 6:23 left and the field-goal drought ended at 7:59 on Worster's basket with 4:55 left.

After Worster's basket, BYU cut its deficit to 61-59 on Robinson's 3-pointer with 4:38 to play.

A putback by Keita gave Utah a 66-61 lead with 3:32 remaining.

Carlson had 13 points and six rebounds in the first half as the Utes led 45-31 at the break.

Utah used an early 15-2 run to open up a 12-point lead on Keita's layup with 13:46 remaining in the half.

Utah later closed with a 9-2 burst to own the 14-point halftime lead.

—Field Level Media

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