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SALT LAKE CITY — The game seemed to go in slow motion as Utah and Colorado battled it out in a matinee showing at the Huntsman Center to open up a pivotal three-game home stretch for the Utes.
Neither team led by more than 5 points for much of the day in a low-scoring, even affair. But the Runnin' Utes slowly pulled away midway through the second half to eventually control a 13-point lead off a Gabe Madsen steal that led to a Hunter Erickson corner 3-pointer.
It was (K)enough.
Colorado attempted a comeback late in the game and cut Utah's lead down to 3 with just under a minute left to play after employing a full-court press on the Utes. The press forced Utah into occasional mistakes, but the Utes found a way at the end to pull away for a 73-68 win behind a strong Madsen effort, and finishing well at the free-throw line by the team.
"Well, that's a great bounce back win for us," Utah head coach Craig Smith said. "Colorado's a very good team. I thought they were playing the best basketball of their season coming into tonight, winning four of the last five.
"I'm really proud of how we did some things tonight," he added. "It wasn't a thing of beauty in a lot of people's minds, I'm sure, but a thing of beauty is all about perspective. I thought we did some things very well, and I thought we did some things not so well, but it's hard to win. I don't care what sport you're in, what level you're in, winning is difficult. "
Madsen finished with a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and Deivon Smith recorded another near triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in the win.
Branden Carlson was limited to only 5 points on 2-of-10 shooting, but recorded two blocks to put him one block away from tying the all-time Utah (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12) record of 219 career blocks. But Carlson didn't need to be the focal point, especially with others stepping up and Lawson Lovering back in the lineup after missing several games due to injury.
The former starting center came off the bench and played 22 minutes against his former team, finishing with 9 points and eight rebounds. But it was his defensive effort that really showed up for the Utes Saturday.
"It's great to have Lawson Lovering back," Smith said. "I thought he was outstanding. (He) played 22 minutes — guy hasn't done hardly anything for three weeks. He just does a lot of things that don't show up in a stat sheet. The way he guards — and you could see it tonight, if you were paying any attention — some of the things that he can do out there just really helps us on that end of the floor."
Deivon Smith said having Lovering back Saturday was "super big" for the team, especially in how well he was able to do in the post to combat Eddie Lampkin, who finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
"When he puts his hands up, he gets a lot of deflections and things like that," Deivon Smith said. "He moves very well, and he competes, so just getting him back in as an extra body to help the bigs out was very, very key."
Utah's defensive effort Saturday afternoon was big in the team keeping Colorado from doing much of what it wanted for much of the game, as the Utes held the Buffaloes to 38% shooting on the day.
Colorado (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12), however, made up for it a bit on the offensive glass, outrebounding the Utes 15-4 on that side of the ball, while outrebounding the Utes in all rebounds 43-34.
KJ Simpson, whose late-game heroics almost erased all of Utah's lead, led Colorado with 25 points on 10-of-22 shooting and nine rebounds. J'Vonne Hadley added 15 points and five rebounds in the loss.
Utah had Simpson mostly locked up for the day, limiting him to 15 points, until the final two minutes of the game. Simpson scored 10 points over a two-minute period and nearly overcome a double-digit lead by the Utes after several players were "gassed," Smith said.
But in the end, Utah stayed strong and didn't let Simpson's offensive explosion ruin an undefeated effort at the Huntsman Center this season, especially as the team attempts to keep the streak alive next week against the Arizona schools.
"It's super important: Madsen said, speaking about the importance of getting a win over Colorado to help Utah's effort next week. "We haven't lost at home all year and it's kind of the mentality — just protect the house; it's kind of corny. But to be here for three games, two weeks total, going into next week it builds a lot of confidence."
