No. 23 BYU pulls past rival Utah for 8th straight win

PROVO — Had it not been for a foot injury just four games into his first season with the BYU men's basketball team, Dawson Baker might have been celebrating his own senior night Saturday against the Cougars' in-state rival Utah.

The redshirt junior found another way to celebrate instead.

The former UC Irvine transfer scored 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including a team-high three 3-pointers, to help No. 23 BYU pull past the Runnin' Utes 85-74 in front of a capacity crowd of 17,978 fans at the Marriott Center.

Egor Demin added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists for BYU (23-8, 14-6 Big 12), which got 12 points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal from Utah transfer Keba Keita as the Cougars stretched their winning streak to eight consecutive games to wrap up the regular season.

Richie Saunders had 14 points and four rebounds for BYU.

But on Saturday night, Baker took over for the Cougars' leading scorer who was limited to 24 minutes due to foul trouble, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from the 3-point line with four free throws for his highest scoring output since he had 16 points Dec. 3 in an 83-64 loss to Providence.

"With how my game is designed, that's kind of a need that I feel," Baker said. "Every game, I just look to do that: get the offense going, create shots, make shots. No matter the need or the situation, that's just kind of what I do."

Ezra Ausar scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half to go with 12 rebounds to lead Utah (16-15, 8-12 Big 12), and Miro Little added a season-high 21 points.

But the Cougars outscored the school up north 40-22 in the paint and cashed in 17 turnovers for 21 points to reverse course from a 1-point overtime loss earlier in the season in Salt Lake City.

"We felt like we owed them one for what happened at their place," BYU coach Kevin Young said. "I'm just happy for our guys, and for sending them out of this business — which is incredible every night — on a winning night."

Less than two months (and some would say, an eternity) since that loss on the Hill, and in the first conference matchup in Provo since 2011 of a series BYU led 134-131, winning this one mattered. Not just as another game, another step toward the Big 12 tournament and beyond, or another block to keep stacking.

That was important, Trey Stewart said. But also ... this was Utah.

"I have a lot of friends at Utah — shout out Hunter Erickson, Caleb Lohner, Jake Wahlin. They're some of my best friends," Stewart said. "But I hate Utah with a burning passion so much, man. Just to get that win; we came in motivated. They got us ... and it couldn't have been better."

Joking aside — or was he? — Stewart played as much of a role as any of the Cougars' unique 10-man rotation in Saturday's win. One of four seniors honored prior to the game, the American Fork product had an assist, a steal and a key block down the stretch to keep the Utes at bay.

On the defensive end, nine players recorded a steal, three had a block, and the Cougars turned the ball over just 10 times.

BYU missed its first 13 3-pointers before Baker and Mihailo Boskovic canned consecutive triples to lift the Cougars to a 27-26 edge with 2:26 left in the first half.

Then Hall hit the biggest of all, a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer that put the Cougars up 34-30 at the break — despite shooting just 37.1% from the field and 16.7% from the perimeter.

Ausar had a game-high 10 points with seven rebounds in the first half as the Utes outrebounded the Cougars 25-18 before the break.

Boskovic had 7 points, two rebounds and two assists off the bench in the first half to spark BYU, which scored 9 points off 10 turnovers in the first half and converted three more takeaways into 4 points in the first four minutes after the break.

That helped spark a 17-11 start to the second half to stretch the Cougars' lead as high as 13 points. And yet didn't go away.

You didn't expect them to, did you?

Madsen and Little guided an 8-0 spurt to pull within 5 points with 11:52 to go, but BYU responded with a 9-0 run, including a deep 3-pointer by Knell, to pull back in front by 14.

Utah scarcely threatened again, even with a late flurry from former BYU commit Wahlin, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds for the Utes.

Both BYU and Utah turn their attention to next week's Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City.

Related topics