Seydou Traore scored 17 points and Terrence Brown and Don McHenry added 16 each as Utah ended a 15-game road losing streak with a 61-56 win over West Virginia on Wednesday in Morgantown, W.Va.
The Utes (10-16, 2-11 Big 12) had not won on the road since topping TCU 73-65 on Jan. 15, 2025. They also ended a seven-game overall skid.
The Mountaineers (16-10, 7-6) were down by 10 at halftime and by 15 with 14:35 left, but they were able to cut the deficit to 53-51 with 3:59 to go.
The Utes, however, outscored the Mountaineers 8-5 the rest of the way to hold on, starting with a layup from Brown.
Honor Huff and Chance Moore led West Virginia with 12 points each.
The loss was a huge hit to the Mountaineers’ NCAA Tournament hopes, as West Virginia extended a pattern of alternating wins and losses to eight games.
The Utes hit their first six shots to jump out to a 13-3 in the first four minutes.
West Virginia made just one of its first nine shots and was 1-for-7 from the 3-point arc. The Mountaineers also had four turnovers as the Utes extended their advantage to 18-3.
McHenry hit a 10-footer, Traore made a 14-footer turnaround jumper and Josh Hayes sank a free throw to give the Utes a 15-point lead with 13:02 left in the half.
Treysen Eaglestaff finally hit a free throw to end a nearly six-minute scoring drought for West Virginia.
The Mountaineers could not get any closer than eight for the rest of the first half as the Utes outrebounded them 23-12, including 7-2 on the offensive glass.
West Virginia shot just 30.4% from the field (7-for-23) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Mountaineers were 2-for-12 from 3-point range and missed five of the 10 free throws.
The hosts were able to go on an 8-3 run to cut the gap to eight. Eaglestaff had a layup in the run and Huff nailed a 3-pointer to make 24-16 with 3:25 left in the half.
The Utes outscored the Mountaineers 7-5 the rest of the way until the break to establish a 31-21 lead.
–Field Level Media
