The Utah Runnin’ Utes gave up more than 100 points for the first time this season as they fell to the Baylor Bears 101-75 at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas, on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
This one turned into a blowout early, as the Utes fell behind by double-digits just 5:40 into the game and the Bears took advantage of Utah’s turnover issues to make it an uncompetitive game in the second half.
Here are three takeaways from a loss that dropped the Utes to 10-21 overall and 2-16 in Big 12 play.
The effort wasn’t there
Utah coach Alex Jensen has challenged his team to play with more pride and intensity, particularly on the defensive end, over the past couple of weeks as the team wraps up a difficult season.
That effort, though, was severely lacking against Baylor, and it started early.
The Bears made 21 of their first 25 shots before ending the first half shooting 67.7% from the floor.
It could have been more than a 53-33 Bears lead at halftime, but Baylor missed its final six field goals of the half.
The Bears shot 61.5% for the game, made eight 3-pointers and led by as many as 30 points in a contest they dominated nearly every statistical category.
Baylor finished with only three turnovers and tallied 22 assists on their 40 made field goals.
Tounde Yessoufou led the Bears’ charge, finishing with 26 points, five rebounds, four assists and six steals.
Cameron Carr added 21 points and four assists for Baylor while shooting 9 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 5 from 3.
Turnovers bite Utah again
The Utes were lackadaisical on offense again in terms of turnover issues, and it was costly.
Utah turned the ball over 16 times, many of them unforced, and Baylor converted those giveaways into 31 points.
The Utes also lost the rebounding battle 26-19 and were outdone in second-chance points (15-10), bench points (30-14) and points in the paint (58-42).
While Utah played Baylor a bit more evenly in the second half when the contest’s result was already decided, the Utes never got closer than 17 in the final 20 minutes.
Don McHenry led the Utes with 20 points, four rebounds and two assists.
What’s up next
The Utes are guaranteed at least one more game, with the Big 12 tournament next week.
Utah will be the No. 16 seed at the tournament and face No. 9 seed Cincinnati in Tuesday’s first round (1 p.m. MDT, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Kansas City.
The Bearcats beat the Utes in their lone regular-season meeting, which was played in Cincinnati.
Utah played well that day and had a chance to win, especially after taking a 65-60 lead with just under two minutes to play, but the Bearcats scored the game’s final nine points to win.