Alex Jensen is 1-0 as Utah’s head coach. How the Runnin’ Utes beat San Jose State in their season opener

Alex Jensen is 1-0 in the University of Utah record books as a head coach.

The former Runnin’ Ute star earned a win in his first regular-season game as coach in a hard-fought 84-75 victory over San Jose State Monday night at the Huntsman Center.

Advertisement

“It was great. My first game, most of the guys’ first game, all the coaches and players are new. So grateful for the support and excited,” Jensen said.

“It’s been after four or five months to finally play a game that counts and to get a win. So lots to work on, but I’m happy for our guys.”

How the game transpired

The first half went back and forth before Utah used an 11-3 run to build a 31-23 lead with 7:21 until halftime. The Utes went into the break with a 44-38 lead, and they extended that to 51-41 early in the second half on Seydou Traore 3.

Eventually San Jose State whittled it down to a 63-62 Utah lead before going ahead on two free throws on a questionable late whistle.

Advertisement

Traore played a major role in Utah going back out in front, though, and eventually earning the win. His fourth 3 of the night put the Utes back up for good, and he followed that with a layup in transition to push the lead to four.

The Utes were able to move the lead out as high as 12 points as they took over in the game’s final minutes.

Utah outshot the visiting Spartans 50% to 46.2% from the field and made 10 of 25 from 3-point range.

In a game wherein the statistics were close in most areas, the Utes held a noticeable advantage in points off turnovers (20-10), fast-break points (20-14) and assists (18-8).

Seydou Traore was putting on a show

Traore, the Iowa transfer, made key plays throughout the night when the Utes needed them.

Advertisement

Perhaps the most important moment came after Utah fell behind for the first time in the second half at 64-63. Traore scored Utah’s next five points to get the Utes back out in front.

Traore’s fifth 3 of the night then pushed the lead to 75-66 with just over four and a half minutes to play.

“One thing I’m trying to encourage all of our guys is to make mistakes and errors of aggression and, you know, and Seydou … I think just his competitiveness and his physicality and just kind of (his) leadership, and not a vocal way, but just the toughness,” Jensen said. “I think that tonight, it showed on the stat line, and also I think it helps the other guys on the team.

“I think he’s one of those guys that you know his teammates will listen to and follow so, yeah, great game by him tonight.”

Advertisement

Traore ended up scoring a career-high 23 points while shooting an efficient 9 of 14 from the floor and 5 of 8 from 3.

Traore missed the Utes’ second exhibition game against Oregon after getting hurt in the first half of the exhibition opener against Nevada. Monday night’s effort showed why it was so important to have Traore, a junior, on the floor.

“He’s a great player. He’s (plays) a big role in this team. We didn’t have him against Oregon, but he really showed out in this game,” Kendyl Sanders said. “He proved we need him on the court.”

Utah has a solid guard tandem

The Utes lost a lot across the board from last season, with 12 of the 15 players on this year’s roster new to the school this season.

Advertisement

At least in the starting lineup, the backcourt looks like it will be in good shape thanks to some transfer portal additions.

Don McHenry (from Western Kentucky) and Terrence Brown (Fairleigh Dickinson) were excellent complementary pieces Monday night, as the pair consistently sliced and diced their way through the San Jose State defense and finished strong at the rim.

McHenry scored 16 points and tied the team lead with nine rebounds while adding two assists. Brown had 12 points, a team-high eight assists and three rebounds.

Their command of the offense helped Utah finish with the aforementioned 18 assists, to 11 turnovers.

Advertisement

Brown played a team-high 33 minutes, while McHenry logged 31.

“Don and TB, they both come from teams last year where they needed to score 20 points a game. That’s what their particular teams needed. … What I’ve asked them to (do), you got to control the team, run the team, pass the ball, and I think they both did a great job with that,” Jensen said.

“That’s not an easy thing to do, and I think they’ve accepted that responsibility and role, and I think they’ll continue to get better at that, because there’s going to be times when we need them to score, but more importantly, we need them to get us organized and run the team.”

When Utah played its exhibition opener against Nevada on Oct. 17, the Utes struggled with turnovers and transition defense. In Monday’s win, those were both positives for Utah.

Advertisement

“When we’re going over scout every single day, they really emphasize the transition defense, so we emphasize that. We emphasize that this whole week in practice,” Brown said. “And then, the turnover part is on us, taking care of the ball. I feel like that’s just on us as players to take care of the ball.”

Other good notes, and things that need improvement

Jensen has said in the lead-up to the season he wants to see junior forward Keanu Dawes be more aggressive. Dawes finished last season averaging a double-double over the Utes’ final six games, and he comes into this year as one of the established leaders on the team.

Advertisement

His dunk to make it 39-31 with 3:21 left in the first half was a perfect example of that. Dawes collected the ball near the free-throw line, then decisively rolled to the hoop and punctuated the play with a one-handed slam.

Dawes ended up just shy of a double-double with 12 points, most of those on dunks, and nine rebounds.

Another player to note was Sanders, a true freshman who played last season at preparatory school IMG Academy. He had nine points and seven rebounds, and he scored five straight points late to help Utah extend their lead.

“Kendyl is one of the guys I think has made the biggest strides in the last few months,” Jensen said. “The opportunity was provided, and yeah, I think he could get a lot better, like the rest of our guys, but he just turned 20. For his first game, it was great to see. Happy for him.”

Advertisement

One of the Utes’ blemishes was free-throw shooting, though it was a struggle for both teams. Utah was 12 of 19 from the free-throw line, while the Spartans were 9 of 18.

Utah’s interior defense also had its struggles. San Jose State outscored Utah 44-42 in points in the paint, including 28-18 in the second half.

“I think fouling, just guarding the drive was difficult for us, keeping (them) out of the paint,” Jensen said. “… We’ve got to stick to our principles.

“But I think just the the talking as a unit and keeping them out of the places they want to go, especially the paint and the fouls, it was just not being prepared for when the guy had the ball. I think we’ve got to do a much better job at guarding the drive.”