Another close loss: Utes make plays in OT to beat BYU, 73-72
- BYU’s Richie Saunders is defended by Utah’s Mike Sharavjamts in a Big 12 men’s college basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
- BYU’s Dawson Baker (25) drives past Utah’s Gabe Madsen in a Big 12 men’s basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
- Utah’s Keanu Dawes (right) grabs BYU’s Kanon Catchings on a drive during a Big 12 men’s basketball game at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
- BYU’s Richie Saunders watches a 3-point attempt in a Big 12 men’s basketball game against Utah at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
- A shot of a sellout crowd at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City for a BYU-Utah men’s basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025.
On a night where BYU playing Utah resembled more of a rock fight than a college basketball game, both teams had numerous opportunities to win if they could only get out of their own way.
Former Cougar Hunter Erickson seized the moment, scoring the final six points for his team in the Utes 73-72 overtime victory in front of a sellout crowd at the Huntsman Center on Saturday.
The two teams combined to miss half their free throws (21 of 42) and 39 3-pointers (14 of 53) while playing through nine ties and eight lead changes.
Entertaining but sloppy, the 265th meeting between the two school was certainly competitive but it wasn’t great basketball by any stretch of the imagination.
BYU took a 70-67 lead with 2:26 remaining in overtime when Fousseyni Traore fed Egor Demin for a dunk, but Erickson made a long 3-pointer to tie the game at 70. Richie Saunders gave the Cougars a 72-70 lead on a driving layup with 57 seconds to play and Erickson made one of two from the line to bring the Utes back to within one.
Saunders turned the ball over on BYU’s next offensive possession and Dawson Baker fouled Erickson on a drive on the other end. Erickson, who earlier shot an air ball from the foul line, made both for a 73-72 Utah advantage with 13 seconds to play.
After a time out, Baker missed a shot in the key but the Cougars retained possession with six seconds left when Utah knocked the rebound out of bounds. On the inbounds play, Jake Wahlin ran over Trevin Knell, who was setting a screen, sending Knell to the foul line for a one-and-one to tie or take the lead.
Knell sent his first shot off the back of the rim, forcing BYU to foul. Keanu Dawes missed both free throws and Demin grabbed the rebound with five seconds left. The freshman raced down the floor and tried to find a good shot but missed badly on a contested 3-pointer to end the game.
The Cougars are now 0-4 in true road games this season, losing the past two by a total of five points.
“We’ve got to learn how to win close games,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “We’re right there. All of these games we’ve had a chance to win. You win and lose games on the margins. In the close games, we’ve come up short too many times. And that’s disappointing. I thought tonight we had a lot of resolve with our backs against the wall. We made a lot of necessary plays that we weren’t making in our other games. I thought our offensive execution was actually really good down the stretch. So there were good moments there, but we’ve got to string together more good things.”
Saunders led BYU with 16 points but was just 6 of 16 from the field and scored only four points after halftime. Traore contributed 16 points off the bench on 8 of 13 shooting.
The Cougars had a dreadful shooting night, guarded or unguarded. BYU made just 39% from the field (30 of 78), 27% from the 3-point line (8 of 30) and 40% from the foul line (4 of 10), including an 0-of-4 performance from the line after halftime that included missing two front ends of one-and-one opportunities.
Ezra Ausar, a 6-foot-8 junior forward averaging 10.2 points per game, tormented BYU with 26 points, including 21 in the second half, on 11 of 15 from the field. Utah (11-6 overall, 3-3 Big 12) outrebounded the Cougars 47 to 44 and also got 13 points and seven rebounds from Lawson Lovering.
The first half was dominated by defense and cold shooting, with both teams going through long stretches of no field goals and/or points. Utah led 7-3 early on a 3-pointer from Gabe Madsen and 11-8 on a dunk from Dawes with 13:33 to play in the half. BYU put together an 8-0 run, with two baskets from Baker, for a 16-11 advantage at the 9:47 mark.
A 10-3 Cougar spurt, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Demin and Saunders, pushed the visitors lead to 26-18 with 4:12 to go in the half. A Mike Sharavjamts 3-pointer brought Utah to within one, 28-27, but Baker snuck inside for a late basket and BYU took a 30-27 lead into the break.
BYU earned a 35-27 lead early in the second half on a basket from Saunders and a 3-pointer from Knell but the next eight baskets by Utah were all at the rim, including six takes from Ausar on the low block that the Cougar defense was helpless to stop.
That section of the game turned the momentum clearly to the home team, which led by as many as five points in the second half.
BYU grabbed a 62-61 lead on a corner 3-pointer from Mawot Mag with 50 seconds to play but immediately surrendered a dunk to Ausar on the other end to trail by one, 63-62, with 31 seconds remaining.
Keba Keita missed a jump hook in the paint on the other end and the Cougars were forced to foul. Ausar made one of two from the line for a 64-62 Utah lead with 17 seconds to go.
Saunders missed on a drive but Traore got the tip-in to tie the game at 64 with nine seconds to play. Ausar missed a shot on the other end and the two teams went to the overtime session.
BYU (11-6, 2-4) travels to Colorado for a late game (9 p.m. MT tip) in Boulder on Tuesday. The Buffaloes fell to 9-8 overall and 0-6 in Big 12 play with an 83-73 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday.