WACO, Texas — It was an inauspicious start to a new Big 12 era for the Utah men’s basketball team on Tuesday afternoon.
That could refer to the opening minutes, as the Runnin’ Utes fell behind 11-0 at Baylor.
It could also refer to the final score, as Utah lost to the No. 25 Bears 81-56 at a two-thirds full but still raucous Foster Pavilion on New Year’s Eve.
The game was only close enough to be considered competitive for a few minutes, when Utah went on a 12-4 run over a six-minute stretch and cut the Bears’ lead to 15-12 on Mason Madsen’s first 3-pointer of the game.
Outside of that, the hometown Bears were in control of the tempo and rhythm, except in the final minutes when the game’s outcome was already well in hand.
Baylor responded to that 12-4 Utah run with a 22-5 spurt to finish the first half, taking a 37-17 lead into the break, and for the first time this season, the Utes (8-4, 0-1 Big 12) lost a game by double-digits and didn’t have an opportunity to rally at the end.
“We did miss a lot of clean looks. I thought we defended hard, but not to the level you need to to win on the road against a team like this,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.
The biggest culprit for Utah’s woes in Waco revolved around a tough day shooting. The Utes made a season-low 31.8% of their shots and before Utah made five of its final seven shots during mop-up time, the Utes were shooting just 27.1%.
Utah missed its first six shots and trailed 11-0 six minutes into the game, as the Bears set the tone early.
“They did a great job defensively, getting us off our spots. I thought the press kind of got us, not tentative — we were ready for the press — but we just weren’t as aggressive with it as we typically are. Second half, we were way better attacking it,” Smith said.
“We missed a lot of shots. I thought we forced some, especially the first half, but I thought throughout the game, we just felt like we missed so many open shots. Part of that happens when the team speeds you up playing in a road environment.”
Outside of guard Hunter Erickson — who had a team-high 13 points and five rebounds — no other Utah player with five or more attempts shot 50% or higher. Erickson was 5 of 7, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range, as he scored 11 points after halftime.
“He’s always in control. Plays slow to fast, takes what the defense gives you, doesn’t worry about stat line,” Smith said of Erickson. “He’s worried about winning and he just makes the right play.”
Madsen, making his second straight start, also scored in double-digits with 10 points, but did so on 4 of 12 shooting.
The Utes’ leading scorer, Gabe Madsen, was held to 3 points on 1 of 7 shooting.
“Gabe and Mason are both outstanding players. If you give them any room at all, they’re gonna hurt you and make you pay,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “Our guys knew and we have a lot of respect for Utah, their coaches. ... We knew we had to really compete, really play well to have a chance to win today.”
While Utah was struggling, the Bears found ways to extend their lead.
That included hitting their final five shots of the first half to go into the break up by 20, then extending that advantage to 44-17 over the first two and a half minutes of the second half before back-to-back 3-pointers from brothers Gabe Madsen and Mason Madsen finally got Utah on the board in the second half.
At one point, Utah trailed by as many as 31 points before making the score a bit more respectable over the final 10 minutes.
Four Baylor players scored in double-figures, led by true freshman wing VJ Edgecombe, who had 19 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Miami transfer Norchad Omier added a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while also notching three blocks and two steals.
Jeremy Roach and Robert Wright III also scored 15 points each.
“Baylor played outstanding,” Smith said. “They have championship pedigree. Scott has been here a long time and (has) great culture. What a great environment in this arena tonight. He did a great job about building it, but they’re good. They’ve got a lot of weapons out there.”
The Utes have traditionally been sound with the ball this season, but against Baylor, Utah turned the ball over 17 times.
That’s not a huge surprise — the Bears entered the game having averaged 15.5 takeaways per game.
Baylor made Utah pay for the mistakes, though — the Bears owned a 22-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Five of those Utah turnovers came during Baylor’s 22-5 run late in the first half.
“We just had some senseless turnovers that really led to direct points,” Smith said.
Going into the matchup, Baylor and Utah were back-to-back nationally in points per game — the Bears were 13th in the country, averaging 86.9 points per contest, while the Utes were 14th at 86.7.
Baylor had to grind a bit more than it usually does to get near its point average, as the Bears shot 40.6% from the field.
The Bears, though, were solid from the free-throw line, making 16 of 18, while Utah — as it’s been prone to do — struggled at the charity stripe, making 7 of 13.
It all led to a situation where it might be as easy to turn the page on Tuesday’s performance, forget about it and focus on the road ahead, as compared to trying to learn what you can from a 25-point loss.
“You have 20 games now in 10 weeks. You gotta learn from it. You can’t feel sorry for yourself. You can’t have the loser’s limp, right? And I’m confident that we’ll come out and respond as we get ready for Texas Tech,” Smith said.