SALT LAKE CITY — Terrence Brown continues to impress as a member of the Runnin' Utes.
The junior guard from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been a leader on the court in how he helps the team, but continues to find new ways to impact the offense with his scoring.
On Tuesday night, Brown started the game against Purdue Fort Worth making three quick 3-pointers, and followed it up with a pair in the opening minute of the second half to help pace the Utes over the Mastodons in a 85-77 win at the Huntsman Center.
Coming into Utah's fifth game of the season, Brown had only made one 3-pointer on the season, but found a rhythm behind the arc Tuesday to hit five of the team's 12 3-pointers — one of the best deep shooting of the season.
Brown finished with a team-high 27 points, including going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, while adding a pair of rebounds and assists.
Don McHenry finished with 18 points — including a late driving layup that drew an and-one foul and a step-back 3-pointer to keep the Mastodons at bay — six assists and three rebounds; and Seydou Traore added 17 points, including four made 3-pointers, and a pair of rebounds and assists.
Utah (5-0) shot 52% from the floor Tuesday night, but struggled to pull away from Purdue Fort Wayne (2-4).
The Utes built up a 16-point lead 45 seconds into the second half behind Brown's back-to-back 3-pointers, but the Mastodons then went on an 8-0 run to keep the game within reach — and mostly within single digits.
Utah then went on a five-minute scoring drought to allow Purdue Fort Wayne to make it a two-possession game in the final few minutes of regulation. Keanu Dawes, who finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, eventually broke the drought with a driving layup.
But Purdue Fort Wayne refused to concede, breaking a porous Utah defense that allowed 42 points in the paint and then hitting timely 3-pointers to keep an upset within reach.
As the clock neared zeroes, though, the Mastodons had little left in the tank and were forced to send the Utes to the free-throw line. But Utah held serve to pull away with another narrow victory.
Corey Hadnot II led Purdue Fort Wayne with 20 points, while DeAndre Craig and Mikale Stevenson each supplied an additional 15 points in the loss.
