SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team picked up their fifth-straight win to start the
Alex Jensen Era on Tuesday night, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne 85-77 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as part of its home game in the Acrisure Series.Â
Utah opened the game with an early 13-7 lead over the Mastodons, knocking down five-consecutive field-goals capped off by Kendyl Sander's lay-in at the 15:24 mark.
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Minutes later, Brown found his stride and fired off three-straight buckets – including back-to-back treys that gave the Utes a 21-11 lead with 12:43 left in the half.Â
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Utah (5-0) maintained its advantage as the half progressed behind sharp shooting from beyond the arc. As a team, the Utes connected on 40-percent of their threes in the first half – the most since Feb. 15 of last season when they hit eight triples against Kansas.Â
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Seydou Traore accounted for three of the team's shots from beyond the arc in the opening frame, connecting on back-to-back threes late in the half to give Utah a 40-26 lead with 3:05 left. The Utes would head into the locker room with a double-digit lead (42-32) with Traore and Brown both in double-figures. Â
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Utah opened the second half with another set of threes, this time from Brown, to take its largest lead of the game 48-32.Â
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The Utes kept the Mastodons (2-4) at bay throughout the ensuing minutes of action, maintaining their double-digit advantage behind effective defense from the likes of
James Okonkwo and
Keanu Dawes.
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Ahead 65-52 with 10:15 left in the contest, Utah went on a scoring drought and found themselves with only one field goal for the next 8:07 before Dawes connected on a jumper to make it 71-63 with 2:08 remaining to play.
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Despite the scoring drought, Utah connected on its last three field goals of the contest in crunch time, with a McHenry three icing the game to put the team up 77-68 with :52 left on the clock. The Utes sealed the victory from the free-throw line, prolonging their undefeated start to the season with an 85-77 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.Â
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Brown led Utah with his fourth straight game of 20-plus points, netting 27 on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three. Dawes made an impact on both sides of the court, contributing a double-double (his third of the season) with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists.Â
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McHenry and Traore rounded out Utah's group of double-figure scorers with 18 and 17 points respectively. Okonkwo held down the Utes' defense, finishing the contest with 10 rebounds — 8 of which came off the offensive glass.Â
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BY THE NUMBERS
- Terrence Brown became the fourth Ute this century to score at least 100 points in his first five games of the season joining Gabe Madsen (104 points, 2024-25), Timmy Allen (102 points, 2019-20), and Jakob Poeltl (104, 2015-16).
- Terrence Brown's 122 points are the most all-time for a Utah player through the first five games of the season
- Terrence Brown has scored in double figures in 37 straight games, tied with Oklahoma's Xzayvier Brown for the second-longest active streak in NCAA Division I – trailing UCLA's Donovan Dent (38)
- Terrence Brown is the first Utah player to score 20 or more points in four straight games since Jakob Poeltl in 2016 (Jan. 24 – Feb. 4)
- Terrence Brown's 122 points this season is the third most ever by a Big 12 player through his first five game of the season— behind only Michael Beasley (150, Kansas State) & Trae Young (141, Oklahoma)
- Terrence Brown's 8-for-8 effort from the foul line is tied for the most free-throws made without a miss for any Utah player in the last five seasonsÂ
- James Okonkwo's 8 offensive rebounds are the most by a Utes player off the bench since Luke Nevill in 2005 (8 against Rice, 12/3/05)
- Keanu Dawes is now the fourth Ute in the last 30 seasons to grab at least 50 boards in the team's first five games of the season
- Head coach Alex Jensen remains undefeated all-time inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center both as a player (59-0) and coach (5-0) after Tuesday night's win
- Teams are 8-0 all time when Don McHenry shoots 60-plus percent from the field; McHenry finished 7-of-10 from the fieldÂ
UP NEXT
The Utah men's basketball team puts a bow on its six-game homestand to start the 2025-26 campaign with Cal Poly on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. (MDT) inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Krista Blunk and former Runnin' Utes assistant coach Joe Cravens will be on the ESPN+ broadcast for fans.Â
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SEASON TICKETS & MINI PLANS
Fans still have time to purchase season tickets for the 2025-26 Utah men's basketball season under first-year head coach
Alex Jensen. In addition, fans can also choose between two mini plans; theÂ
Saturday ONLYÂ Plan starts at $125 while theÂ
Conference ONLYÂ plan starts at $150. Single-game tickets for non-conference games are also on-sale starting at just $10 per ticket.Â
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Fans interested in buy season tickets, mini plans or single-game tickets (non-conference) can do so by going online atÂ
UtahTickets.com or by phone at 801-581-UTIX (8849).
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For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online atÂ
www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB onÂ
Facebook,Â
XÂ andÂ
Instagram. Fans can also stay connected on their mobile devices or tablets with theÂ
Utah 360 app.Â
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