3 takeaways from Utah’s win over Kansas State

Utah looked a bit like a team that was working on a short break between games Monday night, as the Runnin’ Utes were coming off their best performance of the season Saturday in a 74-67 win over then-No. 17 Kansas.

Those tired legs didn’t impact another winning effort, though, as Utah swept the Kansas schools by beating Kansas State 74-69 at the Huntsman Center in a rare Monday night contest.

3 takeaways

Free-throw shooting was a rare strength for Utah, with 3-point shooting off. Oftentimes this season, free-throw shooting has been the Achilles heel for the Utes while their 3-point shooting is generally on point, but Utah flipped that against the Wildcats.

The Utes ended up making 23 of 30 from the free-throw line, including 13 of 15 in the first half. Lawson Lovering, the team’s worst free-throw shooter, made 5 of 6 in the first half and 7 of 12 overall as part of his 15-point, 10-rebound night.

But Utah was just 3 of 19 from 3-point range while shooting 38.1% from the floor, though Gabe Madsen’s 3 with 2:01 to play was critical.

Kansas State, meanwhile, hit 11 3-pointers — led by five from Brendan Hausen — while going 6 of 10 from the free-throw line.

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Utah dominated the boards again. One game after outrebounding Kansas by 10, the Utes matched that effort in the first half against Kansas State, outrebounding them by 10 in the opening 20 minutes.

The Utes then grabbed the first nine rebounds in the second half, including four on the offensive glass, in building a nine-point lead.

Utah ended up with a 14-7 edge in second-chance points, while outrebounding Kansas State 51-28 overall and 21-6 on the offensive end.

The Utes again made winning plays down the stretch. A back-and-forth game went down to the wire and was tied at 57-57 after Kansas State scored seven straight.

Utah, though, never trailed down the stretch, as Madsen’s timely 3-pointer with two minutes left and Ezra Ausar’s and-1 that gave Utah a 67-61 lead were big-time plays.

Ausar had 21 points to lead the Utes, while adding eight rebounds and two assists.

The Utes still had to endure a long 3 from Hauser, then beat the Kansas State press for a Mike Sharvajamts dunk that pushed the lead to 71-67.

Hausen then had a chance to tie the game with another 3 with under 10 seconds to play, but he missed. Ausar made two free throws to seal the win.

Up next

Utah (15-11, 7-8 Big 12) will have nearly a week without a game before playing next at UCF next Sunday (2 p.m. MST, ESPN+).

The Knights (13-12, 4-10 Big 12) have lost a conference-high six straight games and will play at Oklahoma State on Wednesday before hosting the Utes.