Utah News

At the 1:37 mark of the first half in Saturday night’s BYU-Utah matchup at the Marriott Center, the Runnin’ Utes found themselves leading the No. 23 Cougars 29-27 thanks to Gabe Madsen’s first 3-pointer of the contest.

To that point, Utah had gutted through compounding turnover issues and poor shooting to stick with BYU and even lead for the majority of the first half.

The Utes also rebounded the ball well in the opening 20 minutes and took advantage of BYU’s poor first-half 3-point shooting. Utah outrebounded BYU 25-18 in the first half and the Cougars missed their first 13 3-point attempts.

Over the final minute of the first half, though, Utah watched BYU go on a 7-1 run to turn that two-point deficit into a four-point lead, punctuated by a 30-foot Dallin Hall 3-pointer at the buzzer.

That quick turn of momentum to end the first half ended up being a harbinger of things to come, as BYU ran away with an 85-74 victory over the Utes to end Utah’s two-game win streak in the series.

“A couple of things I think we mismanaged, especially at the end of the half, (were) not taking the last shot and then they really did a good job of taking advantage of us, really putting their head down and driving there late, which we had a hard time staying in front,” Utah interim coach Josh Eilert said.

A gutty effort from Utah over the opening 20 minutes didn’t translate over to the second half, as the Utes’ defense fell apart.

“Some of those transition buckets where they walked to the rim, it definitely was their emphasis coming out out halftime and they executed that. Credit to them,” said Eilert, whose team lost the fast break points battle 14-8.

BYU built off that late first-half swing and began to play more like itself in the second half, as the Cougars went up 54-41 with 13 minutes remaining, sparked in part by a pair of Dawson Baker 3-pointers.

Utah had a quick 8-0 answer, including two Madsen 3-pointers, that made the score 54-49. Then the Utes, in what’s been an issue this season, went on an extended scoring drought at an ill-timed point of the game.

The Cougars pushed the lead back into double-digits over the next five minutes as part of a 12-0 run, while Utah was mired in a shooting slump that saw the visitors miss nine straight field goals.

By the time the slump ended, BYU led 66-49 with 6:46 to play and the outcome had all but been decided in Provo.

“I think our main focus is being consistent, and coming out of halftime, it hurt us coming out and not getting those (stops), I think they go up eight points (early) or something like that,” Utah forward Ezra Ausar said. “I think we just lost consistency coming out in the second half.”

It leaves Utah entering the postseason on a two-game losing streak after falling by two to West Virginia in its home finale Tuesday. While the Utes (16-15, 8-12 Big 12), who have been playing under the cloud of a coaching change the past two weeks, have looked competitive in stretches this week against two NCAA tournament caliber teams, their flaws caught up with them again.

Against BYU, part of that was a propensity to turn the ball over. Utah ended up with 17 turnovers to 10 for BYU. The Cougars turned that into a 21-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

“They scored a lot off our turnovers,” said Utah guard Miro Little. “Our 17 turnovers was what cost that the game today and we’ve just got to take care of better care of the ball as a team.”

Eilert echoed those sentiments and said he challenged his guys at halftime to clean it up. In the first half, Utah turned the ball over 10 times and it led to nine points.

While the Utes turned it over fewer times in the second half with seven, those giveaways led to 12 Cougar points.

“I think that there’s no secret, our Achilles is the turnover situation, and they turned up the pressure,” Eilert said. “They turned up the pressure, especially on our point guard play.

“I really got after our guys in the locker room there at halftime that I’m searching for a point guard that can really run the show and get us into what we need to, get a good shot each and every time down the floor. It’s been something that just keeps on rearing its ugly head, the turnover situation, and it certainly did tonight.”

Both teams struggled shooting in the first half. BYU was 37.3% from the floor, while Utah was 33.3%. The Cougars, though, turned that around in the second half, shooting 61.5% after the half and 47.5% for the game.

Utah, meanwhile, shot 35.6% in the second half and 34.7% for the game.

The Utes had a few noteworthy individual efforts in the matchup. Little scored a career-high 21 points, including 18 in the second half, and made four 3-pointers in the final six minutes when the game was decided.

Ausar finished with a double-double at 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Jake Wahlin had 10 points and six rebounds against the team he once signed with before flipping to the Utes.

The Cougars, though, showed they were the better team, as they overcame their first-half inconsistency and followed it up with a second-half effort that included five made 3-pointers.

Utah did make more 3s — at 12 to eight — and held a 53-34 rebounding edge, but it didn’t matter against a hot Cougars squad.

What’s next for the Utes, who showed some fight but couldn’t overcome their flaws? The loss slots Utah into the No. 11 seed for next week’s Big 12 tournament.

The Utes will face No. 14 seed UCF in Tuesday’s first round at 7:30 p.m. MST at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

“It was a good defensive effort to start to the half on our part and thought we did a really good job on the glass and handling the environment,” Eilert said, “but you know, just sometimes the floodgates start to open up on you and (they) certainly did.”

PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) – The BYU basketball team is rolling into the postseason.

Dawson Baker scored 15 points and Richie Saunders added 14 to lead No. 23 BYU to an 85-74 victory over rival Utah on Saturday night.

Keba Keita had 12 points and Egor Demin scored 10 for the Cougars (23-8, 14-6 Big 12). Both players had seven rebounds. Demin finished with six assists.

Miro Little led Utah with 21 points. Ezra Ausar added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Utes (16-15, 8-12) have dropped four of their last five games.

BYU wins double-overtime thriller over #10 Iowa State

For a third consecutive game, BYU weathered a sluggish start on offense in the first half. The Cougars started 0 of 13 from 3-point range before Baker and Mihailo Boskovic ended the drought with back-to-back outside baskets.

Utah took advantage of BYU’s prolonged shooting struggles. Ausar scored four baskets over a five-minute stretch to put the Utes up 26-21.

The Cougars rallied and took a 34-30 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Dallin Hall.

Utah trailed the entire second half, but BYU didn’t pull away until Trevin Knell and Hall fueled a 12-0 run with back-to-back baskets that helped put the Cougars up 66-49 with 6:46 left. The Utes missed nine straight shots during a five-minute scoring drought.

Utah committed 17 turnovers, leading to 21 points for BYU, and shot just 35% from the field.

Baker had his highest-scoring game since totaling 16 points at Providence in December.

Baskets from Keita and Hall in the final 35 seconds of the first half put BYU ahead for good.

Utes hire Alex Jensen as head basketball coach

BYU outscored Utah 40-22 in the paint.

Utah faces UCF in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday in what could be the Utes final game before new head coach Alex Jensen takes over.

BYU has a double bye into Thursday’s quarterfinal round in Kansas City.

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PROVO, Utah (AP) — Dawson Baker scored 15 points and Richie Saunders added 14 to lead No. 23 BYU to an 85-74 victory over rival Utah on Saturday night.

Keba Keita had 12 points and Egor Demin scored 10 for the Cougars (23-8, 14-6 Big 12), who won their eighth straight game. Both players had seven rebounds. Demin finished with six assists.

Miro Little led Utah with 21 points. Ezra Ausar added 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Utes (16-15, 8-12) have dropped four of their last five games.

For a third consecutive game, BYU weathered a sluggish start on offense in the first half. The Cougars started 0 of 13 from 3-point range before Baker and Mihailo Boskovic ended the drought with back-to-back outside baskets.

Utah took advantage of BYU’s prolonged shooting struggles. Ausar scored four baskets over a five-minute stretch to put the Utes up 26-21.

The Cougars rallied and took a 34-30 halftime lead on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Dallin Hall.

Utah trailed the entire second half, but BYU didn’t pull away until Trevin Knell and Hall fueled a 12-0 run with back-to-back baskets that helped put the Cougars up 66-49 with 6:46 left. The Utes missed nine straight shots during a five-minute scoring drought.

Takeaways

Utah: Committed 17 turnovers, leading to 21 points for BYU, and shot just 35% from the field.

BYU: Baker had his highest-scoring game since totaling 16 points at Providence in December.

Key moment

Baskets from Keita and Hall in the final 35 seconds of the first half put BYU ahead for good.

Key stat

BYU outscored Utah 40-22 in the paint.

Up next

Utah faces UCF in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament on Tuesday. BYU has a double bye into Thursday’s quarterfinal round.

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Saturday’s game at Marriott Center has the No. 23 BYU Cougars (22-8, 14-6 Big 12) taking on the Utah Utes (16-14, 8-12 Big 12) at 10 p.m. ET. Our computer prediction is a one-sided 80-69 victory, as our model heavily favors BYU. According to our computer prediction, Utah should cover the point spread, which is listed at 11.5. The two sides are projected to fall short of the 154.5 total.

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BYU vs. Utah Odds

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BYU vs. Utah Prediction

• Prediction: BYU 80, Utah 69

BYU Betting Info

• The Cougars’ record against the spread in conference play is 13-6-0.
• The Cougars have played 19 Big 12 games this year, and 11 of them have hit the over.
• The Cougars have won 16, or 72.7%, of the 22 games they’ve played as moneyline favorites this season.
• BYU has been at least a -787 moneyline favorite seven times this season and won all of those games.
• In 11 of 29 games this season, the Cougars and their opponents have scored more than 154.5 points.
• The average total in BYU’s contests this year is 151.2, 3.3 fewer points than this game’s over/under.

BYU’s Top Players

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Utah Betting Info

• The Utes have beaten the spread eight times in 19 Big 12 games.
• Out of 19 Utes Big 12 games so far this season, five have gone over the total.
• The Utes have been victorious in three, or 20%, of the 15 contests they have been chosen as underdogs in this season.
• Utah has yet to win this season when listed as an underdog of +543 or worse on the moneyline this season.
• The Utes have played eight games this season that ended with a combined score above 154.5 points.
• Utah has had an average of 146.7 points scored in its games so far this season, 7.8 points fewer than this game’s over/under.

Utah’s Top Players

BYU vs. Utah Scoring Insights

• The Cougars score 9.9 more points than the Utes give up (71.3).
• When BYU scores more than 71.3, it is 17-6 against the spread and 21-3 overall.
• Utah is 14-11 against the spread and 16-9 overall when conceding less than 81.2 points.
• The Utes’ 75.4 points per game are 5.4 more than the Cougars concede.
• Utah has a 13-7 ATS record and 15-5 overall record when putting up more than 70.0 points.
• BYU’s record is 14-5 versus the spread and 17-3 overall when giving up less than 75.4 points.
• The Cougars have outscored opponents by 338 points this season (11.2 per game), and the Utes have scored 125 more than their opponents (4.1 per game).

BYU vs. Utah Rankings

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As Congress seeks to extend the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and identify revenue offsets, communities across the country are urging lawmakers to preserve a fundamental economic development tool: the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds. Maintaining this tax exemption is crucial for building essential infrastructure in Utah communities and driving economic growth while saving Utah taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

For over a century, tax-exempt municipal bonds have been the primary tool by which state and local governments, not-for-profits and economic developers finance large-scale public projects that underpin economic vitality and quality of life. These bonds allow for financing essential infrastructure that powers job creation and enables long-term economic prosperity. The tax exemption reduces borrowing costs, making it feasible for economic developers to undertake projects that benefit Utahns across the state.

Over the past 10 years alone in Utah, state and local governments have relied on tax-exempt bonds to finance $30 billion in projects such as schools, hospitals, housing, water treatment facilities and transportation systems. By keeping interest on these bonds tax-exempt, Utah taxpayers have saved an estimated $635 million. The projects financed are not just assets for local communities; they are catalysts for regional economic growth, attracting businesses, supporting a skilled workforce and enhancing the standard of living.

Eliminating or limiting the tax exemption on municipal bonds would raise borrowing costs, leading to significant fiscal challenges for Utah’s communities, especially the rural and smaller borrowers who account for 60% of projects financed. Higher costs for infrastructure projects would deter private investment, stifle job creation and ultimately increase the financial burden on businesses and taxpayers.

To answer our governor’s urgent call for Utah to build, we must preserve the financial tools that enable progress. The Economic Development Corporation of Utah and the Utah Alliance for Economic Development urge Congress to recognize the invaluable role that tax-exempt municipal bonds play in economic development. By maintaining this tax exemption, Congress can ensure that Utah’s communities have the right tools to address public infrastructure needs, sustain our quality of life and build without burdening taxpayers.

Lawmakers approved around $279 million in new funding requests for the next year late on Friday, the last night of Utah’s 2025 legislative session.

The Legislature signed off on 464 line items that represent spending priorities for legislative leadership in a tight budget year when lawmakers and state agencies competed over which of their bills and requests would get funded.

Budget chairs decided to give Utah Gov. Spencer Cox some of his big asks, while still ensuring that there was funding for bills that passed both chambers. There was also money for some proposals that failed, but lawmakers decided to bring about change with their spending decisions instead of by passing legislation.

Here are five of the major expenditures and surprises included in Utah lawmakers’ list of spending priorities.

Nuclear energy future

Cox received $8.25 million for his Operation Gigawatt initiative to double energy production over the next decade by investing in nuclear power.

While the dollar amount is far less than the $20 million Cox requested in his fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations to prepare nuclear reactor sites, it is much larger than the $1.75 million lawmakers tentatively set aside last week.

House Majority Leader Jefferson Moss, R-Saratoga Springs, said the state is looking for any way it can to speed up the development of nuclear reactors in Utah, whether its through agreements with neighboring states or by supporting research programs at the University of Utah.

“I just think this will help us to move the ball down the field,” Moss said.

Emergency funding for English language learners

The Legislature passed HB42 unanimously which would make an annual sum of $500,000 for “at-risk” students available to split between school districts with a significant increase in English language learner enrollment.

The bill defines a student learning English as a student who receives the very lowest score on an English language proficiency test that is given in the first 30 days of school to all students whose parents indicate that English is not their primary language.

But bill sponsor House Education Chair Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, made a separate request for $5 million in one-time funds to serve as a “shot in the arm” for school districts struggling to keep up with the need for English instruction and larger class sizes because of increased immigration.

Budget committee members fully granted Pierucci’s request of $5 million to help train teachers, reduce class sizes, hire classroom aides and obtain other resources for English language learners, if a school district can show that one of their schools had a 75% increase in students learning English compared to the previous three-year average, and that the school lacks the funds to support the increase.

Debate commission shifts to UVU, the U

Late in the session, Rep. Nelson Abbott, R-Orem, introduced a bill that would have created a university-run election debate committee that would likely replace the nonprofit Utah Debate Commission.

The bill, which would have established the Utah Debate Committee at Utah Valley University to host primary and general election debates, failed in committee a week before the end of the legislative session. But senior appropriators ensured that the plan to shift responsibility for debates to public universities would still move forward.

The final-night “bill of bills” allocated $300,000 to Utah Valley University’s Gary R. Herbert Institute for Public Policy, and $300,000 to the University of Utah’s Hinckley Institute of Politics with the intent for the institutions to “collaborate on a proposal to host nonpartisan candidate debates” and to establish “a statewide, nonpartisan debate organization.”

“The universities are going to figure it out,” said Senate Budget Vice Chair Scott Sandall, R-Tremonton. “They’ll figure out where they’re going to house it, where they’re going to do it.”

Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, both communicated that they think universities will be better suited to handle the logistics and organization of nonpartisan political debates.

School and big tech

Hands-on high school: Lawmakers approved $145,000 in funding for athlete and ambulance grants for high school rodeo, which would support trips from high school school rodeo clubs and the presence of EMTs at events.

Social media shakedown: The Legislature also appropriated money for the enforcement of two groundbreaking pieces of social media legislation: $51,500 to enforce the App Store Accountability Act, which would require app stores to obtain parental consent for minors downloading apps, and $195,000 to implement Data Sharing Amendments, which would give social media users with the right to manage their own data.