The Runnin’ Utes (16-14, 8-11 Big 12) hosted their last home game of the season on Tuesday night against the West Virginia Mountaineers. It was a close fought battle all game long, with 10 lead changes and six ties before the Utes ultimately fell short, falling 71-69.

Here are the takeaways to the game:

Utah couldn’t hold two sizable leads

Despite being up by as many as 12 points nearly halfway through the first half, the Utes let West Virginia back in the game. West Virginia went on a 13-10 run to close out the first half. Utah again built an early lead out of halftime, going up 44-36 with just over 14 minutes to play. The Mountaineers tied the game on a free-throw with 4:17 remaining in the game and never looked back. Utah had the lead for just under 29 minutes of action, but once again, the lack of in-game adjustments hurt the Utes.

All-Senior Starting Five

Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert honored the seniors on Tuesday with a classy move, starting all five of the scholarship players.

Gabe Madsen led the way with 23 points and Lawson Lovering had eight. Mason Madsen and Hunter Erickson had four and three, respectively, while Caleb Lohner only played four minutes.

Brandon Haddock was honored before the game but didn’t see minutes due to it being a close game throughout.

Sharavjamts and Ausar provide solid minutes

Along with the seniors, Mike Sharavjamts also had a nice game with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Ezra Ausar chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds, with all but two of those coming from the free-throw line.

Both players could be key pieces to the puzzle for the 2025-26 season and they stated their cases against the Mountaineers.

Up next

Utah will close the 2024-25 regular season on March 8th, as they travel to Provo for the rivalry game against BYU. Until then, all anticipation turns to the coaching search, as Utah is deep in discussions with former Ute-great and Dallas Mavericks assistant, Alex Jensen.