Utah keeps Holy Cross close, pulls away late on efficient night

Terrence Brown led Utah's efficiency on offense with 21 points as five players scored in double figures in an 87-69 victory over Holy Cross at Salt Lake City on Monday night.

The Utes (3-0) had only six turnovers and shot 53.3 percent from the field against the Crusaders (0-3).

Keanu Dawes finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, and Don McHenry had 12 points.

Seydou Traore had all of his 10 points in the second half and recorded eight rebounds in the game. Obomate Abbey finished with 10 points.

Holy Cross was led by Joe Nugent, who had 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, 5 of 9 from 3-point range. He fouled out with 67 seconds left.

Aiden Disu had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Aidan Richards finished with 13 points. DeAndre Williams contributed 11 points.

A 12-2 run by Utah gave the Utes a 29-17 lead with 9:14 remaining in the first half.

McHenry, who had 10 points by halftime, scored five in that run.

Utah led by as many as 15 points in the first half before leading 48-34 at halftime.

Brown had 11 points at that point to lead Utah, which shot 58.8 percent from the field in the first half.

Disu, a freshman, scored the game's first seven points in the second half to cut Utah's lead to 48-41 with 18:27 left.

Utah went on a 10-2 run to increase its lead to 60-46 with 13:24 remaining.

Nugent made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to cut the lead to 68-59 with 9:35 left.

Utah answered with seven unanswered points to pull away.

Utah had a shooting drought of eight consecutive missed shots from the field early in the second half before making six straight and 12 of 19 in the last 16:41 of the game.

The Utes' balance on offense was exemplified by reserve Obomate Abbey leading the team with three assists and five others with two assists each.

Utah outrebounded Holy Cross 40-28 and outscored the Crusaders 44-26 in the paint.

--Field Level Media