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  Saturday, Feb. 12 9:05pm ET
Utah 77, Byu 62
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ Alex Jensen scored eight of his 16 points in a key second-half run as No. 21 Utah beat Brigham Young 77-62 on Saturday night, extending the Utes' home winning streak to 50.

Nathan Cooper brought BYU (15-6, 4-4 Mountain West) within 56-52 with 8:49 remaining on his third 3-pointer of the half. But Jensen, who had only four points at the time, scored eight points and Jeremy Killion added a driving layup in a 10-3 spurt to give Utah a 66-55 cushion with 6:05 to play.

Utah's Tony Harvey made a 3-pointer, and BYU's Mekeli Wesley, who had a technical foul earlier in the second half, was whistled for an intentional foul for an elbow to Phil Cullen's chin. Cullen made both free throws and Utah led 71-56 with 5:01 remaining.

The Utes (19-4, 8-1 MWC), who played without injured leading scorer Hanno Mottola, have won 17 of their last 19 games and have not lost at the Huntsman Center since Dec. 31, 1996, against Wake Forest.

Killion led Utah with 18 points, Nate Althoff had 15 and Harvey added 14. Freshman Mike Puzey scored a season-high 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds before earning a standing ovation when he fouled out with 5:51 to play.

Wesley and Terrell Lyday each scored 14 points for BYU, but collectively shot 7-of-22. Cooper scored 11 for the Cougars, who have lost three of their last four games.

The win marks the first time the Utes have a winning series record with BYU, Utah's oldest rival. Utah leads 114-113 in the series that dates to 1908.

BYU took a 19-8 lead after eight points from Wesley and a jumper by Todd Christensen. But the Ute defense clamped down and the Cougars shot 2-of-13 as Utah made its move.

Sparked by the seldom-used Puzey, who had eight points and five rebounds in the first half, the Utes outscored BYU 18-3 over the next seven minutes.

Puzey, who had only scored nine total points in conference games, made a layup with 6:33 left in the half to put Utah up 26-22.

Mottola is listed as game-to-game with torn ligaments in his left elbow and right thumb. Team doctors ruled out season-ending surgery Thursday.

Utah hasn't lost a conference game at the Huntsman Center in more than four years.

 


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BYU Clubhouse

Utah Clubhouse