The Runnin’ Utes kicked off what turned out to be a pretty good weekend for Utah Athletics on Friday night, as they knocked off a Big 10 opponent at home, defeating the Minnesota Golden Gophers 73-69. Though it wasn’t easy, and the Utes showed their youth at times, they fought through those mistakes and came away with the win.

Here are the takeaways from Friday night’s win.

Timmy Allen and Both Gach are the leaders of this team, and showed why

It’s no secret that this team is very young, with only three returning scholarship players from last season. With that being the case, it fell to the most experienced players on the team- a trio of sophomores- to be the leaders of the pack. While Riley Battin is doing a good job in those roles and deserve plenty of praise, Timmy Allen and Both Gach has established themselves as the go-to guys. Allen gives the Utes the type of scoring threat that can drive and make tough shots in the paint, while Gach brings scary athleticism and outside shooting ability to balance it out.

On Friday night, Allen and Gach tied for the lead in scoring, as both recorded 19 points. Allen also led the team in rebounding, with 10. Though Gach struggled with turnovers during a key stretch, he made up for it by draining a crucial pair of free throws down the stretch, which kept the Utes up by two scores. For the game, Gach went 7-7 from the stripe.

Rylan Jones is just a true freshman, but may be the most important player on the team

Allen and Gach are the stars of this team, but Rylan Jones is playing at a very high level for a true freshman. He runs the offense well, and brings the type of court vision and passing ability that the Utes were missing last year. Jones can slash to the hoop and little bit and his outside shooting ability isn’t bad, but the way he sees the game around him and facilitates the offense is invaluable to the team.

The dropoff in ball movement was noticeable when Jones was on the bench, so it will be interesting to see how the coaches scheme to counteract that in the future.

You have to admire this young team’s fight

There’s no doubt that there will be more struggles due to youth later this season- we got a taste of that against the Gophers. However, every time Minnesota made a run, the Utes withstood those body blows and found a way to punch back when things got shaky. Twice in the second half, the Gophers closed the gap to just one point, but the team responded, once with back-to-back-to-back three pointers from Rylan Jones and Jaxon Brenchley, and again when Riley Battin made a tough layup, followed by a Jones steal and a Gach three pointer.

The Utes never gave up, even when the going got tough, and that mentality will serve them well down the road as they face bigger challenges.