Utah forward Ezra Ausar scored a career-high 26 and guard Hunter Erickson scored six points in overtime to lead the Utes to a 73-72 victory over rival BYU on Saturday night.
The Utes improved to 11-6 and 3-3 in Big 12 Conference play. The Cougars dropped to 11-6, 2-4.
“These rivalry games, you just throw everting out the door,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “Fortunately for us we were able to make one more play at the end of the day.”
BYU had two chances to shock a sellout crowd at the Huntsman Center in the final seconds.
Cougar wing Trevin Knell drew a foul on Utah’s Jake Wahlin with 6.2 seconds left in overtime. But Knell missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Then, after Ute Keanu Dawes missed a pair of free throws on the other end, BYU freshman Egor Demin launched a 3-pointer at the buzzer but could only hit glass.
“Hard fought game. They made plays down the stretch. We came up short,” BYU coach Kevin Young said. “I thought our defense in the middle part of the second half let us down a little bit.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars guard Egor Demin (3) shoots over Utah Utes forward Jake Wahlin (10), in Big 12 basketball action between the Utah Utes and the Brigham Young Cougars, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, on Saturday, Jan 18, 2025.
Ausar was a dominant force for the Utes in the second half. After scoring just two points in the first, the East Carolina transfer set up shop in the paint and scored 21 points in the second half. He would go on to add three more in overtime.
“Ausar was a beast in there. We had a hard time with him,” Young said.
Erickson, the former Cougar, hit a triple and went three of four from the free throw line in OT to help seal the victory for the Utes.
Utah’s Lawson Lovering had 13 points and seven rebounds.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things,” Erickson said. “If you look at the box scores from different games, we have a lot of different guys stepping up. And we have confidence in every one of them.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah guard Mike Sharavjamts (25) and Utah guard Hunter Erickson (0) celebrate the Utes overtime win over BYU, in Big 12 basketball action between the Utah Utes and the Brigham Young Cougars, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center, on Saturday, Jan 18, 2025.
