Utah is hoping for a less dramatic finish this time around when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
The Utes (4-0) nearly squandered a 20-point second-half lead in an 85-79 home victory over Sam Houston on Saturday.
Utah did not make a basket over the final eight minutes, opening the door for the Bearkats to trim the deficit to 79-77 with 1:09 left. Terrence Brown, who finished with 26 points, made six free throws in the final minute to keep the Utes undefeated.
“It was a great lesson to learn,” Utah coach Alex Jensen after the game, per the Deseret News. “We got up by 20, and we kind of let up a little bit and started to think about scoring and things of that nature. Now we get to talk about playing with the lead, so hopefully this was another growth opportunity for all of us.”
Brown continues to be a bright spot for the Utes early in the season. He eclipsed 1,000 career points against the Bearkats and leads Utah in scoring at 23.8 points per game.
Keanu Dawes, another bright spot, had a career-high-tying 15 rebounds against Sam Houston and is averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 11.8 rebounds per game.
Purdue Fort Wayne will need to find a way to contain both players to give itself a chance at a rare upset over a power conference opponent.
The Mastodons (2-3) are winless against Division I teams this season, losing those three contests by an average of 19 points. In those games, Purdue Fort Wayne struggled from the perimeter, shooting between 23% and 27% from 3-point range each time.
Their best hope to surprise Utah may hinge on Corey Hadnot II and DeAndre Craig Jr. having big games. Hadnot is the Mastodons’ top scorer at 19.4 points per game, including a 32-point outing against Western Michigan. Craig averages 16.0 points per contest.
–Field Level Media
