‘They felt defeated’: Why Utah’s loss at No. 13 BYU was different than previous setbacks

For the better part of 25 minutes, the University of Utah was sticking around against No. 13 BYU at the Marriott Center on Saturday afternoon.

Following Terrence Brown’s fourth 3 of the game, the Runnin’ Utes trailed 55-53 with 15:09 remaining and had found ways to counter every BYU attack.

But one of those unfortunate lulls that Utah is prone to came next, as the Cougars followed that 3 up with a decisive 14-3 run to finally create some separation against their rivals.

With fab freshman AJ Dybantsa playing at another level, BYU rolled to a 91-78 victory over Utah, the Cougars’ third straight win in the series and fifth in a row in Provo.

Dybantsa ended the night with a career-high 43 points, while also breaking a Cougar freshman single-game scoring record previously held by Danny Ainge.

“He’s a generational talent, and he showed what he’s capable of tonight,” Utah first-year coach Alex Jensen said of Dybantsa. “There’s no telling how good he could get.”

Conversely, Jensen admitted this was the first time he felt his team gave up down the stretch, when BYU pushed its lead as high as 21 points.

“It was the first time this year I thought our guys quit at the end,” he said. “They felt defeated, which is kind of disheartening, because I think we’ve always done a good job if we kept fighting and playing.

“For whatever reason, I think they kind of quit tonight.”

It spoiled a night in which Utah shot 13 of 21 from 3-point range, or 61.9%. Keanu Dawes, who scored a team-high 23 points and added six rebounds and an assist one game after an uncharacteristic scoreless night, hit four 3-pointers for the Utes.

So, too, did Brown. He ended up with 22 points, four assists and a rebound, while Don McHenry added 16 points, four assists, two steals and two rebounds.

“Since I got here in the summer, I’ve tried to encourage all of them to (have) the confidence to shoot. If you’re open, shoot the ball,“ Jensen said.

“That’s the hard part about that is, we shoot well, but you shoot 60% from 3 and we still get beat pretty good.”

It’s fair to wonder as well, if the Utes weren’t so unnaturally hot from outside, if the score may have reflected more of a lopsided contest — one that more closely matched the kind of effort Utah felt it gave against BYU.

“To be honest, it’s getting too late for moral victories. We just gotta win. The moral victories is getting a little old. We just gotta start winning,” a frustrated Brown said.

“We gotta come to practice. We gotta be attention to detail. We gotta know what we’re doing every single day. Coach preaches it to us every single day. We just gotta come in and we gotta do what we do, and we got to execute in the game. There’s no more moral victories, because we’re getting too late in the season.”

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Like the first time these two teams played just two weeks ago at the Huntsman Center, BYU and Utah were in a competitive back-and-forth contest for more than half the game.

The Cougars went into halftime in Salt Lake City up two points, and on Saturday, it was five points.

In the first contest, BYU (17-2, 5-1 Big 12) ended up with a five-point road win — and it was a bit easier to talk about moral victories after that matchup.

Even with Dybantsa scoring seven straight BYU points early in the second half Saturday, Utah had it down to a one-possession game through much of the opening five minutes of the half.

Twice, it was even a one-point game.

After Brown’s final 3 of the night that made it 55-53, though, that 14-3 run was the beginning of the end for hopes that the Utes (9-11, 1-6 Big 12) could spring the upset.

Utah’s defensive woes — and not playing together on that end of the court — continue to be the prevailing theme after losses that are stacking up as the midpoint of Big 12 play nears.

BYU ended up shooting 53.3% for the game and 60% in the second half, scoring 49 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Cougars also held a 40-24 rebounding edge, outscored Utah 19-2 in second-chance points and dominated points in the paint, 48-18.

“I think we took a big step back. Like I said, I think they quit,” Jensen said of his team. “And we had certain guys that were targeted on defense.

“They use their size. I don’t think that we fought back like we’ve had (previously) so that’s a that’s a hard thing to swallow, but credit to BYU. Like I said, they did a good job playing big and using their size against us.”

The loss leaves the Utes continuing to search for answers, especially on the defensive end, as they go into their first of two weeks during conference play with just one game.

Utah will be back in action next Saturday when it hosts Oklahoma State at the Huntsman Center.

Brown implored his team to find that energy to fight every game, minutes after the Utes’ seventh loss in eight games.

“I feel like every player in our locker room, if they’re getting on the floor, if they’re on the bench, we should all have the same positivity, same energy every single night,” he said.