Utah’s third Big 12 Conference game ended like its first two — with a loss.
The Runnin’ Utes showed brief, better stretches of competitiveness against No. 3 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum on Tuesday night, but it still resulted in a 82-59 defeat as the Cyclones wore Utah down.
It’s the fourth straight loss for the Utes overall.
3 takeaways
Iowa State simply wore out the Utes. Utah had a few stretches in which it kept pace with Iowa State — and the Utes even went on a 15-2 run to go up 22-17 in the first half — but the Cyclones wore out the visitors with their physicality.
Iowa State ended the first half on a 21-3 run to go into the break up 13, and then in the second half after Utah fought its way back into the game at 47-41, the Cyclones responded with a 9-0 run to create separation again.
That was the last real time the Utes challenged, as ISU slowly added to its lead in the game’s final minutes.
Curtis Jones led the Cyclones with 23 points on 10 of 17 shooting to go with six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Tamin Lipsey added 20 points as four Iowa State players scored in double-figures.
Utah had turnover issues and foul trouble. The Utes ended the game with a season-high 18 turnovers, which led to 25 points off takeaways for Iowa State.
Twelve of those Utah turnovers came in the first half and led to 20 Cyclone points.
While Utah was able to gain a physical edge early in the contest, Iowa State eventually took over in that department, and it left the Utes in foul trouble for much of the night.
While no Utes fouled out, Mike Sharavjamts, Lawson Lovering and Zach Keller each finished with four.
Iowa State ended up shooting 16 more free throws than Utah — the Cyclones finished 22 of 29, while the Utes were 8 of 13.
Gabe Madsen got going. But he needed some help. After a string of four straight games in which Madsen didn’t score in double-figures, including only scoring seven points in the Utes’ first two Big 12 games, Utah’s fifth-year star finally had a breakout offensive game.
Madsen scored 10 points during that 15-2 run that gave Utah an early five-point lead, and that helped set the tone as he was aggressive in getting his shooting touch back.
There were times when it was a bit too aggressive — Madsen finished the game shooting 7 of 19 from the field and 4 of 14 from 3 — but his 20 points and four 3-pointers were team highs for the Utes.
He also had four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Outside of Madsen, Utah didn’t have much going offensively, as it shot 36.1% from the field. Miro Little did end up with 13 points, scoring six of those in the final eight minutes after Iowa State went back up double digits.
What’s next
Utah (8-6, 0-3 Big 12) is headed back to Salt Lake City this weekend for a matchup with Oklahoma State on Saturday (5 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
The Cowboys (9-5, 1-2 Big 12) beat Kansas State 79-66 on Tuesday night for their first conference win.
Utah’s matchup with Oklahoma State will be the second part of a doubleheader at the Huntsman Center, following the Utah women’s game against Houston at 1:30 p.m.