SALT LAKE CITY – In Mark Pope’s first year as the BYU men’s basketball head coach, the Cougars finished 248th out of 351 NCAA teams in total rebounds.

Oh, how things have changed.

This year’s BYU team is a rebounding juggernaut.

The No. 18 Cougars (6-0) outrebounded rival Utah 45-28 on Saturday in front of 11,443 fans at the Huntsman Center – 18-6 on the offensive boards for a 17-7 second-chance points advantage – and shot 56 percent from the field in a big second half that led to a 75-64 victory.

“They (Utah) are the sixth-ranked rebounding team, percentage wise, in the country,” Pope said. “We knew that was coming. It’s been the first thing on our board every single game legitimately for us because we’ve faced great rebounding team after great rebounding team. In six games we’ve been successful against everybody on the glass and it’s saving us because there are some other things we’re not doing great right now.”

Neither team shot consistently in a closely contested first half. BYU was just 12 of 34 (35 percent) from the field and 1 of 9 (11 percent) from the 3-point line and Utah was 12 of 31 (38 percent) from the field and 4 of 13 (30.8 percent) from distance. The Cougars earned some extra chances with nine offensive rebounds but trailed the whole first half except for ties at 23-all and 25-all.

Utah jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and had an 18-11 advantage when Both Gach made the fourth 3-pointer for the Utes. BYU scored six straight to close to 18-17 and tied the game at 23 on a Caleb Lohner layup with 7:09 to play in the half. A basket by Branden Carlson and a steal and a dunk from Lazar Stefanovic pushed Utah’s lead to 29-25 as the half wound down. Te’Jon Lucas converted a layup for the Cougars and the Utes lead was two, 29-27, at the break.

BYU finally took it’s first lead, 31-29, on a pair of Alex Barcello free throws early in the second half, The two teams traded baskets until the 13:24 mark when the Cougars went on a 9-0 run. Lohner scored three points and picked up a steal that he passed ahead to Gavin Baxter for a dunk and a 48-40 BYU advantage with 11:06 to play.

“We were a little bit quicker in our decisions,” Lohner said. “I think we just kept at it. I think our physicality started to beat them down a little and we had some good shots. We had the kind of pace we didn’t have in the first half.”

The defense fueled what would eventually be an 18-6 run. Lucas fed Fousseyni Traore for a dunk and then hit back-to-back jumpers – one a 3-pointer – to push the Cougar lead to 57-46 with seven minutes remaining.

Utah battled back and cut the deficit to six points with four minute to go. BYU forced a bad shot and Barcello made a pair of free throws for 70-62 advantage with 1:33 to play. Offensive rebounds by Lohner and Gideon George kept the ball on the offensive end and allowed the Cougars to put the game away at the foul line.

“I think we just stuck with what we do,” Lohner said. “We defended better in the second half and kept rebounding, and things started going our way. I think offensively in the second half we kind of had more pace and were a little bit quicker on offense. In the first half we kind of didn’t recognize our offense, so we were just kind of running around. I think guys kind of got their second wind. I’m proud of this team. It was a hell of a win.”

Lucas had his second straight 18 points effort, despite foul trouble that kept him minutes down. Barcello scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half and added five assists. Lohner ended up with a double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Baxter finished with 14 points, many of them dunks as the Utes focused on stopping Barcello on the perimeter.

“These game are great,” Pope said. “They’re super emotional. They’re always tough, You throw the rankings and the stats and everything else out the window. We’re just super grateful that we came in here and the guys fought and came up with a good rebound mark.”

Carlson led Utah (5-1) with 17 points and Rollie Worster added 13.

The Cougars have a pair of road games next week, playing at Utah Valley on Wednesday and at Missouri State on Saturday.

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