Late Push Not Enough in Road Loss to Oklahoma State for Men's Hoops

Saturday, February 1

Stillwater, OK / Gallagher-Iba Arena

1:00 PM

University of Utah

12-9,4-6Big 12

Oklahoma State

11-10,3-7Big 12

Team	1	2	F
Utah	33	39	72
Oklahoma St.	41	40	81

Late Push Not Enough in Road Loss to Oklahoma State for Men's Hoops

2/1/2025 4:35 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Presser Highlights

Four players reached double-figures in Saturday afternoon’s Big 12 battle at Oklahoma State.

STILLWATER, Okla. – The Utah men's basketball team battled hard down to the very end, but couldn't get past Oklahoma State Saturday afternoon inside Gallagher-Iba Arena, 81-72.

The home team jumped out early on the Utes and led 12-3 before a 3-pointer from Jake Wahlin cut it to 19-10 with 11:52 to go in the half. Four-straight baskets from Utah (12-9, 4-6 Big 12) capped by back-to-back scores in the paint from Caleb Lohner cut the Oklahoma State lead down to 21-19 with 8:54 remaining in the half.

However, it was turnovers that once again plagued Utah in the first half – which led to 11 OSU points. In addition, the Cowboys (11-10, 3-7 Big 12) also went 14-of-16 at the line in the opening frame to Utah's 7-of-9. The bright spot for Utah was Mike Sharavjampts hitting 6-of-6 at the line – four of which came in the final 51 seconds to get the Utes within 41-33 of OSU at the break.

Scoring in the second-half was at a premium for the Utes, managing to hit just 3-of-13 from the field in an 8:42 minute span. But, despite its lengthy scoring droughts, the Runnin' Utes still kept within striking distance after Sharavjamts drained a deep ball from the far wing to bring Utah within 62-52 out of the 7:29 media break.

From there, it was all Ezra Ausar for Utah with the junior scoring seven-straight points to bring the Utes within 67-59 heading into the final media timeout (3:53). Utah would then go on to hit 7-of-11 from the field to as close as 77-70 and then again at 79-70 before falling 72-81.

Ausar finished with a team-high 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting while Gabe Madsen chipped in with 15 points. Sharavajamts also added 11 points behind a perfect 8-for-8 night at the line to go with 5 boards and 5 assists. Keanu Dawes rounded out the double-digit scoring list for Utah with 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting.

POSTGAME NOTES

Bright spot for Utah was that it went 21-for-30 from the line
Utah self-corrected itself in the second-half, committing just 3 turnovers
Utah finished with a 30-22 edge in points in the paint
Utah also had a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points behind 13 offensive rebounds
Ezra Ausar has now reached double-figures in five of the last seven games

UP NEXT
Utah returns home to face a familiar foe in Colorado on Wednesday, Feb. 5, inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as the two former Pac-12 foes tip things off as Big 12 Conference opponents for the first time starting at 7 p.m. (MST). Mark Neely and former Arizona Wildcat Corey Williams will be on the call for fans on ESPN+.

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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