Runnin' Utes Pull Away Late Against Feisty Eastern Washington Squad

Saturday, November 30

Salt Lake City, UT

3:00 PM

University of Utah

6-1,0-0Big 12

Eastern Washington

1-7,0-0Big Sky

Eastern Wash.

Utah

Runnin' Utes Pull Away Late Against Feisty Eastern Washington Squad

11/30/2024 6:43 PM | Men's Basketball

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Utah men’s basketball closed out the Mountain to Sea Showcase with an 88-80 victory over Eastern Washington.

SALT LAKE CITY – Backed by 20-plus points from Gabe Madsen and Ezra Ausar, the Utah men's basketball team pulled away late to defeat a cagey Eastern Washington team 88-80 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday.

Utah came out of the gates a little slower than usual and held just an 11-8 lead at the first media break (14:53) before a quick 7-0 run put the Utes on top 21-14 thanks to some extracurriculars from Eastern Washington. However, three-consecutive 3-pointers from the Eagles tied things back up (23-23) with 7:18 left in the opening half.

The Utes (6-1) and Eagles went back-and-forth the rest of the way with Utah not being able to string together defensive stops to fend off an eager EWU team and headed into the locker with a narrow 43-41 lead after 20 minutes of action. Utah struggled from beyond the arc, knocking down just three triples to EWU's six.

With the Utes trailing 48-47 in the opening 4:10 minutes of the second half, they finally woke up and reeled off a 19-5 run to take the 66-53 with 9:34 left to play. A stretch that was led by Lawson Lovering – who scored four of Utah's six field-goals during that stretch.

However, the Eagles would not go down without a fight and answered with a 12-0 run of their own to bring it within 72-65 of Utah – which forced the Utes to call a timeout with 6:02 on the clock. The Eagles (1-7) continued to chip away at the Utah lead, bringing it down to 77-73 with 3:43 to go when Utah called its second timeout of the half.

Utah was poised the rest of the way, going 5-for-5 from the line and 3-for-3 from the floor to pull away for the 88-80 victory.

Madsen led the way once again with a game-high 28 points on 7-of-14 shooting and went 11-for-12 from the line to go with 4 assists. Ausar finished with a season-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting with 5 boards. Lovering did all his damage in the second-half, scoring 15 of his 16 points while pulling down 8 boards – all of which came on the offensive glass – with 3 blocks as well. Miro Little also had a great floor game, scoring 7 points with 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

Mountain to Sea Showcase
All-Tournament Team
Gabe Madsen, Utah (MVP)
Lawson Lovering, Utah
Miro Little, Utah
Emmett Marquardt, Eastern Washington
Andrew Cook, Eastern Washington

POSTGAME NOTES

With the win, Utah completed the month of November 6-0 at home for just the second time in program history (2013-14)
With 3 triples on Saturday, Gabe Madsen ties Branden Taylor (244; 2012-16) for third on the all-time career 3-pointers list
The 6-1 start for Utah is the best since 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons when it opened both campaigns 6-1
The Utes are now 23-2 at home in non-conference play in the Craig Smith Era- including 15-straight home non-conference victories (excluding NIT home games)
With the win, Utah extends its home win-streak to 11 and ties Pitt and BYU for 17th in the country through games on Nov. 30
Utah's 45 free-throw attempts on Saturday are fourth-most in a single-game
The last time Utah had two players with 20-plus points came on Dec. 1, 2021, against #20/18 USC with Both Gach scoring 28 and David Jenkins Jr. scoring 21
Ironically, the last time Utah made 25-plus free throws in a game was against Eastern Washington last season (26)
Utah dominated the paint, outscoring EWU 46-28 – which accounted for 52.3-percent of its points
Gabe Madsen's 11 made free-throws was the most since Timmy Allen hit 10 against Stanford on Jan. 14, 2021

UP NEXT
The homestand for Utah men's basketball continues as they welcome in St. Mary's on Saturday, Dec. 7, for a 5 p.m. (MST) match-up inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Pete Sousa and Scott Williams will guide fans through the action on ESPN+ as the Runnin' Utes look to remain undefeated at home.

For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram. Fans can also stay connected on their mobile devices or tablets with the Utah 360, the official app of Utah Athletics, through the Apple Store or Google Play.

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