- The Runnin' Utes secured an 84-75 win over San Jose State.
- Seydou Traore led Utah with 23 points including five 3-pointers and four steals.
- Coach Alex Jensen praised the team's resilience in his first game as head coach.
SALT LAKE CITY — The product on the court wasn't perfect — it was the first game of the season after all — but the Alex Jensen era of college basketball started off on a positive note.
After controlling an 11-point lead with 2:31 left in the first half, San Jose State slowly made its move. With 9:14 left in the game, Spartans forward Yaphet Moundi hit two free throws to give the visiting team its first lead since the opening minutes of the game.
Utah forward Seydou Traore refused to give up, though; and after a quick reset in a timeout, he came out of the break with a steal that he later converted into a go-ahead corner 3-pointer to change the tide. On the next possession, he drove to the rim for a layup to reclaim a 4-point lead for the Utes.
A few minutes later, he hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game to give the Runnin' Utes a 9-point lead with just over four minutes left to play.
The only thing stopping the junior was a quick visit to the locker room to get checked out after he got hit in the face.
Traore eventually rejoined the team; but by then, Utah got rolling and got contributions from other players to pull away for a 84-75 season-opening win — the first win of the Jensen era.
"So grateful for the support and excited," Jensen said. "After four or five months, to finally play a game that counts and to get a win. A lot to work on, but I'm happy for our guys tonight."
The junior forward finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range, while adding four steals, three assists and two blocks in the win. More than anything, though, he led with his competitiveness after a lull from the team.
"He's a competitive guy, and I think when he hit that 3 that put us up, we got the lead back, and then from there, I don't think we relinquished it. ... He's not just about scoring, like he just wants to win, so that plays out in the rebounds and the steals and just like the little plays like that," Jensen said. "And he's not afraid to take the shot."
Don McHenry, who had 12 first-half points and six rebounds, finished with 16 points and nine rebounds; while Keanu Dawes and Terrance Brown each contributed 12 points. Dawes fouled out with about a minute left in the game.
The Spartans had three players finish in double figures, with guard Colby Garland leading the team with 21 points, four assists and three rebounds in the loss. JaVaughn Hannah and Jermaine Washington each added 12 points apiece.
San Jose State started the game off trading baskets with Utah, hitting a few 3-pointers to keep the game within a possession for the first 10 minutes of action. But Utah's Jacob Patrick hit a 3-pointer that was followed by back-to-back layups by Brown to give Utah a 7-point lead the team eventually built up to 11 ahead of the break.
Utah maintained control, but lost contain at times on its interior defense to give San Jose State some room to make a comeback, of which the team slowly did to start the second half. Jensen said his team mostly struggled with guarding the team on the drive and it was "just not being prepared for when the guy had the ball."
But Jensen said he was impressed with his team for always fighting back. He said he hopes the team identity will be of toughness and that "we keep coming."
"I would say that's what I want our team to be known as — like the next play, like, we keep coming. We get knocked down, we keep coming. We get a bad call, we keep coming. We are doing well, we keep coming, which is not always an easy thing to do."
