Utah has opened the season with back-to-back wins built on defense and rebounding, and the Utes will try to keep that roll going Tuesday night when they host in-state rival Weber State in Salt Lake City.
The Utes are 2-0 after a 66-63 win over Long Beach State on Nov. 2 and a 67-57 victory over Towson on Thursday. In both games, Utah made life difficult for the opposition.
Long Beach State shot 39.6% from the field, and Towson was held to 39.3% shooting overall and 30.0% from 3-point range. Utah also controlled the glass against Long Beach State, 40-27, and finished with a 35-30 rebounding edge against Towson.
Taison Chatman gave Utah a lift off the bench against Towson, scoring 15 points in 22 minutes and going 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. The Utes led 27-19 at halftime and stretched the margin to 15 points with 16:30 remaining.
"Being aggressive, being smarter and recognizing things," Chatman told the Deseret News when asked about the team's focus heading into Tuesday's game. "We want to gain momentum for (Big 12) conference play."
Utah also made its free throws count late, hitting 16 of 19 in the second half against Towson. Alex Jensen pointed to the work on the boards as a key reason the Utes were able to separate.
"We did a really good job on the boards, which has been a point of emphasis," Utes head coach Alex Jensen said. "We won by 10, but they got 12 more shots. (The margin) could have been a 15- or 20-point game."
Weber State comes in at 0-2 after a rough start to the year. The Wildcats dropped their opener 102-61 at Oregon State and then fell 101-93 at home to Utah Valley on Saturday. Mason Abittan led Weber State with 22 points against Utah Valley, knocking down 4 of 6 from 3-point range and adding five rebounds.
First-year head coach Kaleb Canales said he has seen progress despite the losses.
"A lot of growth from the first game," Canales told the Ogden Standard-Examiner. "That's why we're going to continue to schedule tough because this allows us to get where we want to get faster.
Nobody wants it more overnight than me. But it's a process.
We've got a young team, and that'll never be an excuse. It's a reality that we've got to go through these growing pains. ...
You can't skip steps."
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For Utah, the appeal goes beyond the buzz. Dampier leads the nation in quarterback wins and has piled up eye-catching passing and rushing numbers along the way, giving the Utes a dual-threat centerpiece that has held up against top competition. Prediction markets have already placed him among the contenders, and the bigger question now is whether he can keep turning a strong season into something that lasts all the way into the Heisman races final stretch. [Read more 🡒]