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- Ezra Ausar led the Runnin' Utes with 25 points in a 99-73 victory over Arizona State.
- Utah dominated the paint, outscoring the Sun Devils 48-20, and outrebounded them 40-29.
- Arizona State struggled with foul trouble and a nine-minute scoring drought, sealing their defeat.
SALT LAKE CITY — Neither team could get a clear advantage Saturday night.
That is until Hunter Erickson hit a contested 3-pointer with 9:49 left in the game to give the Utes a 10-point lead, which was the largest lead to that point in the game for either team.
On the other end, Keanu Dawes added to the momentum with a violent block against Arizona State's Joson Sanon, and Utah was in full control. It was enough that Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley threw up his hands in frustration.
But the real difference-maker of the game was Ezra Ausar, who went for a team-high 25 points en route to a 99-73 Utes win. Ausar relentlessly attacked the rim and drew fouls, and then went 11-of-14 from the charity stripe to help the Runnin' Utes pull away.
"I'm just continuing to challenge myself every day to continuously work on my free throws," Ausar said. "I think my confidence is just getting higher. I stopped listening to people trying to change my free throw routine, so it's just me in the room."
Ausar's physicality in the post — in addition to all the bigs — gave the Utes (16-13, 8-10 Big 12) an advantage in the post, where the Utes outscored the Sun Devils 48-20 in the paint. That advantage, alone, is one of the biggest reasons to Utah pulling away and dominating the game, Hurley said.
"We're smoke and mirrors right now," Hurley said. "We don't have the size to keep up with them. The game was 48-20 in the paint, so there you go. So that's the stat. They were bigger, stronger, more athletic. Our big guys were in foul trouble, so when both of them fouled out — the game appeared to be closer than the final score indicated, but they certainly took advantage of their size, their rebounding around the basket. We don't have players."
To add to that, Utah outrebounded Arizona State 40-29 and took care of the ball to only had six turnovers in the game.
"The fact that we were way more aggressive at the rim and playing with force, and finishing around the rim, it was really refreshing to me," Utah interim head coach Josh Eilert said.
Eilert added that Ausar was "a load" in the post and made it difficult for Arizona State (13-16, 4-14 Big 12) to contend his aggression.
"If I can keep him checked and play to his strengths, we're a really good basketball team, because he is a load to handle down there," Eilert said.
Utah built up a 16-point lead with 6:26 left in the game before the shorthanded Sun Devils attempted a comeback, but the visitors couldn't piece together enough offense down the stretch and went on a nine-minute scoring drought from the field to end all hope.
The hot hand of Sanon, who had 20 points in the first half behind four made 3-pointers, cooled down and Arizona State had few answers to help, especially when their two bigs fouled out of the game early.
Sanon finished with 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting as one of seven players in Hurley's shorthanded rotation before clearing the bench in the final minute of game time.
Basheer Jihad, who fouled out early, added 16 points, while Alston Mason rounded out the double-digit scoring with 13 points.
During Arizona State's long scoring drought, Utah grew its lead to 22 before Arizona State finally made a shot from the field. But it was too little, too late for a team that has struggled to win games this season.
Dawes finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Utes, while Mason Madsen added 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in 16 minutes of game time. Mike Sharavjamts hit three 3-pointers to finish with 14 points and six assists in the win.
