Utah showed more fight and physicality against No. 3 Iowa State, but it still resulted in a blowout loss

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Iowa State guard Curtis Jones (5) drives past Utah guard Miro Little (1) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Ames, Iowa. | Charlie Neibergall

Utah showed more fight in its matchup with No. 3 Iowa State on Tuesday night at the Hilton Coliseum than it had in its first two Big 12 contests.

That didn’t translate to a victory though. The deeper and more well-rounded Cyclones were simply too much for the Runnin’ Utes as they wore them down in an 82-59 result.

That keeps Utah winless in Big 12 action, as it fell to 0-3 in league play and 8-6 overall with its fourth straight defeat.

Unlike those first two Big 12 Conference games, though, Utah’s more sustained physicality and fight — and a get-right night for Gabe Madsen — left some positive impressions after two straight league games that netted little to build on.

“Obviously we’ve been struggling a little bit coming into tonight, but I thought we took a step forward with some things, and we’re not light on losing, but I thought we took a step forward for our team to where we’re trying to go,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.

Foul trouble and a swarming Iowa State defense that led to a season-high number of turnovers were the Utes’ ultimate undoing in their visit to Ames, Iowa.

The Cyclones had 18 takeaways in the game, and that led to 25 points off turnovers. Twelve of those Utah turnovers came in the first half and led to 20 Iowa State points.

That accounted for 53% of the Cyclones’ first-half points.

“When you play a quality team, it’s just hard when your offense is their best offense. When you give up 25 points off the turnovers like that’s really, really difficult to overcome,” Smith said.

Iowa State also had a decided edge from the free-throw line, making 22 of 29 while Utah was 8 of 13. Three Utes — Mike Sharavjamts, Lawson Lovering and Zach Keller — all finished with four fouls.

“When you get in foul trouble, and especially on the road, and then every…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/utah-showed-more-fight-physicality-045158475.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2025-01-08 04:51:00

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