Gabe Madsen had 17 points and Keanu Dawes scored 16 to help visiting Utah defeat TCU 73-65 on Wednesday night in a Big 12 contest in Fort Worth, Texas.
Lawson Lovering added 11 points and Jake Wahlin pulled down 11 rebounds as the Utes (10-6, 2-3 Big 12) never trailed in winning their second straight conference game after three blowout losses in their new league.
Utah has a showdown on Saturday against rival BYU in Salt Lake City.
Vasean Allette totaled 19 points on 9-of-24 shooting to go with nine rebounds and four assists, but the Horned Frogs (9-7, 2-3) only hit 37.5 percent of their shots.
It was TCU’s first home loss in 10 outings this season. Noah Reynolds and Brendan Wenzel each added 12 points.
Mike Sharavjamts added 10 points for the Utes, who shot 49 percent overall despite going 6-for-21 beyond the arc.
Dawes had the defensive play of the night for the Utes, blocking Allette’s layup attempt with 53 seconds left to foil TCU’s comeback bid.
After trailing by as many as 14, the Horned Frogs chipped away at the lead with a 7-1 run in the second half.
TCU pulled within six on eight occasions in the final 7:15. Utah answered every time, however, and made just enough shots and defensive plays to maintain that cushion.
TCU got off to a slow start, scoring only two points in the first 4 1/2 minutes.
The Utes didn’t scorch the nets early on but still maintained the lead from the get-go, going into the locker room ahead 30-26.
Utah scored the first eight points of the second half, including layups by Lovering and Ezra Ausar land a Sharavjamts 3-pointer.
TCU trailed by 12 before it finally scored three minutes after the break ended.
–Field Level Media
