- Utah's Runnin' Utes defeated Holy Cross 87-69, moving to a 3-0 record.
- Terrance Brown led Utah with 21 points; Obomate Abbey impressed with 10 points.
- Coach Alex Jensen praised improved rebounding; Utes outrebounded Holy Cross 40-28.
SALT LAKE CITY — No overtime was needed Monday night.
Just two days after Utah managed a near buzzer-beating 3-pointer to force overtime to get past Weber State, the Runnin' Utes had a little more in the tank on Monday — though the game still wasn't a decisive result for much of the night, even when not really in doubt.
Utah controlled a 15-point lead with 3:07 left in the first half but couldn't get much beyond that in the second half to pull away from Holy Cross at the Huntsman Center in a 87-69 win.
But having a game just two days earlier, head coach Alex Jensen said he was pleased with his team's effort, especially on rebounding front after a poor showing on Saturday. The Utes outrebounded the Crusaders 40-28 to help limit another close game against a sub-300 opponent.
"I'm pleased with the rebounding; that was a point of emphasis the last two games — and we came in at halftime (against Weber) pretty down in that category," Jensen said. "We did a good job tonight outrebounding them both halves."
"I feel like it was a big emphasis this week," added Josh Hayes. "We knew we didn't rebound too well against Weber State. We knew it was a quick turnaround, coach just emphasized that we have to rebound, hit early, be more physical. We wanted more, to be honest."
The Utes (3-0), who were led again in scoring by Terrance Brown, maintained a double-digit lead for much of the game, but gave the Crusaders much of what they wanted most of the night on the defensive end — though it was better than Saturday.
Holy Cross (0-3) shot 44% from the field and had 26 points in the paint — 24 of which were in the first half — with junior wing Joe Nugent leading the team with 19 points and four rebounds before fouling out.
Nugent spotted up along the 3-point line most of the night and made Utah pay multiple times, hitting five of the team's nine 3-pointers.
But like his career-high on Saturday, Brown was even better and took control of the game for the Utes to ensure the home team maintained a lead against a team that was rated 343 in KenPom coming into the week night game.
Brown finished with a game-high 21 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Keanu Dawes added 14 points and nine rebounds in the win. Don McHenry also supplied 12 points, while Seydou Traore, who had been in a bit of a shooting slump, and added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Jensen, though, was impressed by freshman Obomate Abbey, who played his most minutes of the season (25), and contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three assists while splitting duties to lead the offense with Brown.
"Defensively, he's very aggressive and I think our other guys, his teammates, feed off of that," Jensen said. "And I think he changed the game."
Abbey certainly had a big role in the game, finishing with a team high +26 in plus/minus and adding two 3-pointers to help maintain a double-digit lead. His three assists was a team-high, though every player on the roster that entered the game recorded at least one assist.
Holy Cross took some chances and saw it pay off at times, keeping Utah on its toes, but struggled from the free-throw line, where the team shot just 48% on 21 attempts. Conversely, Utah had an improved 79% night from the charity stripe on 19 attempts.
