The Utah Runnin' Utes won a hard fought battle over the Eastern Washington Eagles on Saturday in the Jon M. Huntsman Center, 88-80. The game was close for the entire contest as every time the Utes extended their lead, EWU would make a few baskets to keep it interesting.

Here are some of the takeaways from the game:

Tough Night Shooting

The Utes went to the free throw line for 45 attempts on the night, well over double the 18 that Eastern Washington saw in the game. Unfortunately, Utah only made 28 of those attempts for a rough 62% from the stripe. In a game that was fairly close the whole time, a few more made free throws could have easily kept this game out of reach for the Utes.

Additionally, a normally high-scoring team from three-point range, Utah was only 4 for 19 (21.1%) to Eastern Washington's 11 for 30 (36.7%). If the Utes shot closer to their season average on threes and improved their free throw percentage, they would have easily eclipsed 100 points and probably limited some of EWU's transition points.

Gabe Madsen, however, was 11 for 12 on free throws and 3 for 8 from three-point range as he moved into 3rd on the all-time three-pointer made in school history.

Lovering Came Alive in the Second Half

Coming back from his injury, it was expected that Lawson Lovering might take a little bit of time to play back to his full potential. Standing at 7'1", Lovering towered over the Eagles front court, but had a very modest first half with just 1 point and 3 rebounds. Then, he woke up after half time to finish with 16 points and 8 rebounds, all of which were offensive rebounds. As Utah begins to get into the meat of their schedule, strong play from Lovering will be needed in what is expected to be a deep and loaded Big 12 conference.

Breakout Game From Ausar

The junior transfer from Eastern Carolina has had some solid showings this season, but this game felt like a true breakout kind of game from Ezra Ausar. The 6'8", 242-pound Ausar was a force that Eastern Washington couldn't contain in the first half in his way to 11 points. He would finish the game with 20 points, but it could've been more, as he only was 6 of 12 from the free throw line. If he can continue to grow in Craig Smith's system, he could become a real matchup problem, especially with Lovering back and Mikeh Saravjamts' versatility and size.

Up Next

The Runnin' Utes host 7-1 St. Mary's next Saturday, December 7th on ESPN+ at 5 PM Mountain Time.