It wasn’t always perfect, but the result was as Utah fends off Colorado to stay unbeaten at home

The Utah Runnin’ Utes needed a statement win after a poor road swing last week spoiled the end of the first half of conference play.

Fortunately for Utah, it was back in the friendly confines of the Huntsman Center on Saturday.

The Utes, unsurprisingly, looked more like the better version of themselves as a result, beating visiting Colorado 73-68.

“That’s a great bounce back win for us. Colorado is a very good team,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.

“I thought they were playing their best basketball of the season coming into tonight, winning four of their last five.”

It was the kind of effort that kept Utah perfect at home — the Utes are 12-0 at the Huntsman Center so far this season — and built up some much-needed momentum at the start of a critical three-game home stand.

“Now it wasn’t a thing of beauty in a lot of people’s minds I’m sure, but a thing of beauty is all about perspective.” — Utah coach Craig Smith

Next week, No. 11 Arizona and Arizona State will visit Salt Lake City in the longest conference home stretch for Utah.

“Now it wasn’t a thing of beauty in a lot of people’s minds I’m sure, but a thing of beauty is all about perspective,” Smith said.

One important detail about keeping that perspective: Utah made 14 of 20 free throws on Saturday, including 11 of 16 in the second half, to turn around a recent sore spot for the team.

After KJ Simpson willed Colorado back into the game practically by himself — he scored 12 points in the final two minutes — Utah made 7 of 10 free throws in the final minute to wrap up the victory.

“I think that’s a start to something great to finish off games. We work on our free throws a lot and guys can step up there and hit them, so they’re starting to going in and the work’s paying off,” Ute guard Deivon Smith said.

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The Utes also got a familiar face back on Saturday, as center Lawson Lovering returned to the court after missing nearly the entire previous five games with a foot injury.

The 7-foot-1 Lovering came off the bench and helped set the tone defensively, as Utah held the Buffaloes to 37.9% shooting.

Lovering, who had nine points and eight rebounds, scored a critical putback with 1:59 to play to make it a 9-point game. 

While he was fouled but missed the ensuing free throw, it was a clutch moment in the post on a night Utah was outrebounded 43-34 and outscored 16-4 in second-chance points.

Those effort plays paid dividends for the Utes (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12), who handed Colorado (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12) their second straight loss after a four-game winning streak. 

“It’s great to have Lawson Lovering back. I thought he was outstanding, played 22 minutes and had done hardly anything for three weeks,” Craig Smith said.

“He just does a lot of things that don’t show up in a stat sheet. The way he guards, and you could see it tonight if he was paying any attention. Some of the things that he can do out there just really helps us on that end of the floor.” 

The teams went into the half tied at 31-31 after the Buffaloes overcame an early five-point Utah lead and both squads kept things close.

The Utes, though, set the tone early in the second half to take control of the game.

Gabe Madsen played a huge role in that, scoring 15 of his 21 points in the second half, including a pair of 3-pointers that helped Utah go on a 17-7 run over the half’s first seven and a half minutes.

Madsen also had three steals and two rebounds while shooting 7 of 12 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

The Buffaloes made just two field goals during the first 10 minutes of the second half, and Utah stretched its lead to as many as 13 points while shooting 46.4% for the game, including 51.9% in the second half.

“I don’t know that it was one play. I just felt like it was a series of plays where we just kind of — the key for this is we’ve got to get defensive stops,” Craig Smith said.

“It’s hard to separate if you can’t guard, and that’s where we really honed in on the defensive end.”

Deivon Smith nearly had his second triple-double of the season, finishing the game with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. He also had seven turnovers.

“I just thought he played very in control with good pace,” Craig Smith said of Deivon Smith. “You know, you got to tighten up some of those turnovers — we’ve got to help them with that — but made some plays for us.” 

That helped counter the night from Simpson, who had a game-high 25 points for a Colorado team that was missing standout true freshman Cody Williams.

The win sets up Utah with some momentum heading into next week.

“We haven’t lost at home all year and it’s kind of the mentality, just protect the house,” Madsen said.

“It’s kind of corny but to be here for three games, two weeks total, going into next week, it builds a lot of confidence. It’s gonna be an exciting week for sure.”

What’s next

The Utes will stay at home next week for a pair of games against No. 11 Arizona (Thursday) and Arizona State (Saturday).

The Wildcats host Stanford on Sunday, while the Sun Devils lost to Cal on Saturday.

After that, Utah will head on the road for a pair of games at USC (Feb. 15) and UCLA (Feb. 18).