3 takeaways from Utah’s loss to West Virginia

Utah wrapped up the home portion of its schedule with a 71-69 loss to West Virginia Tuesday night at the Huntsman Center.

The Runnin’ Utes ran out to an early double-digit lead, but the visiting Mountaineers rallied to make it a tight game before pulling ahead late and fending off Utah.

3 takeaways

Javon Small outdueled Gabe Madsen … just barely. Two of the Big 12′s best scorers faced off at the Huntsman Center, and it was Javon Small who ended up with the better night than Gabe Madsen.

Small scored 18 points and added seven assists and four rebounds to pace West Virginia, and his 3-pointer with 3:42 to play gave the Mountaineers the lead for good at 61-58.

Small then hit a leaner that gave West Virginia a 68-64 lead with 37 seconds to play when a stop could have given Utah a chance to tie or take the lead.

Madsen, meanwhile, scored 11 of his points early in the first half and had 15 at the break while also hitting a late 3 to keep Utah within striking distance and hitting a pair of free throws later to make it a two-point game in the final minute.

He ended up with a game-high 23 points, five rebounds and two assists for the Utes.

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The Utes had a sizable advantage in free throws attempted but missed a lot. It’s no secret the Utes have struggled with free-throw shooting this year, but against the Mountaineers, it really cost them.

The Utes ended up going 22 of 32 from the free-throw line, while West Virginia was 11 of 16.

That double-digit number of misses ended up biting Utah in a two-point game, as the Mountaineers outshot the Utes 45.6% to 38% from the field.

The Utes lost the turnover battle. In a close game like this, every possession mattered, but Utah came up short in that regard.

The Utes had 16 turnovers, which helped lead to the Mountaineers having seven more shot attempts. West Virginia, meanwhile, finished with 12 turnovers but only four in the second half.

What’s next

The Utes (16-14, 8-11 Big12) will make the short trip south to face BYU Saturday (8 p.m. MST, ESPN2) in the regular-season finale.