The Runnin’ Utes traveled to Provo on Saturday to take on No. 23 BYU. After a strong start by Utah that saw them lead by five just over 12 minutes into the matchup, BYU caught fire and never really looked back, evening the season series 1-1 and winning 85-74.
Here are the takeaways from the rivalry game:
Once the threes fell, it was over
BYU missed their first 13 threes to start the game with Dawson Baker drilling their first with 2:48 left in the first half. The dagger came at the first half buzzer when Dallin Hall sank a long three-pointer after a Caleb Lohner turnover.
Those final three minutes took the wind out of Utah’s sail. After leading for over 10 minutes of action in the first half, Utah would never lead again.
After starting 0-13, BYU finished the rest of the game shooting a scorching 8-15.
A career night for Little at the right time
This season has not gone how Miro Little planned, but he had the best game of his college career on Saturday night, scoring a game-high 21 points. Little is connected to former Ute-great Hanno Mottola, and with Mottola’s close friend and former teammate Alex Jensen being named Utah’s next head coach a few days before the game, this could be the beginning of a fresh start that Little has needed. The sophomore from Finland connected on his first six three-point attempts, before missing his last two as time was running out for the Utes.
Along with Little, two other Utes scored in double-figures. Ezra Ausar had a double-double with 12 points, and Jake Wahlin had 10 points and six boards. Ausar’s strong first half is what kept Utah initially in the game. Gabe Madsen just missed double-figures, but had an inefficient stat line of 3-14 from the field, all being from long-distance.
Let’s acknowledge the difficult situation
Imagine playing your hearts out all season, having your coach fired, finding his replacement before the end of the season, and still having to play games. This hasn’t been easy for anyone in the process for players, coaches, and admin included.
As for the fans, they acknowledge this difficulty, but it’s also hard not to blame them for looking ahead already to the 2025-26 season and the start of the offseason for the Alex Jensen era.
Despite winning the first game of the season’s BYU series, everything seemed stacked against this Utah squad going into the game. BYU was on a seven game winning streak with three of those games against Top 25 teams. The Cougars are currently viewed as one of the hottest teams in college basketball at the right time of the year.
This Utah team deserves a lot of respect and credit. It’s easy to feel forgotten about during a situation like this, but they’re still battling their hearts out with everything in the moment stacked against them.
Up next
Utah will be the No. 11 seed in the Big 12 tournament, taking on No. 14 UCF on Monday. The winner will face No. 6 Kansas. Then there’s the possibility of facing No. 3 Arizona. No one is expecting Utah to win the tournament, but two wins isn’t out of the question.
