Alex Jensen has consistently preached to his team that they are good enough to win — they’ve just got to believe and play confidently, while leading with a spirited defensive effort.
That message rang through Wednesday night, and it resulted in a long-awaited win this time.
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The University of Utah built a double-digit lead in each half and held off a West Virginia rally as the Runnin’ Utes beat the Mountaineers 61-56 at Hope Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.
With the victory, the Utes:
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Snapped a seven-game losing streak dating back to mid-January.
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Ended a streak of 399 days since Utah’s last true road win, Jan. 15, 2025, at TCU. Utah had lost 15 straight road games.
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Mended a bit of the heartbreak from blowing a five-point lead with under two minutes to play in Sunday’s 69-65 loss at Cincinnati.
“I’m happy, because after the last game (when) we lost that lead, our guys kept their composure, and everybody made a little play at the end that I think put us over the edge. I’m happy for them,” Utah coach Alex Jensen said in his postgame interview on ESPN 700 AM.
Perhaps most importantly, Utah (10-16, 2-11 Big 12) showed it can win in crunch time late in the regular season.
West Virginia (16-10, 7-6 Big 12) seemingly had more to play for, as the Mountaineers were chasing a postseason bid as an NCAA tournament bubble hopeful.
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The Utes, though, probably burst that bubble, giving the Mountaineers a Quad 3 loss.
Utah can thank its defensive effort, led by junior Seydou Traore, for making the victory possible.
Traore had the primary task of defending West Virginia’s leading scorer, Honor Huff, and for the most part, Utah held him in check. While Huff scored 12 points, he was 4 of 15 from the field — oddly enough, every one of his makes was from 3-point range.
Utah held West Virginia to 42.3% shooting as a team, and just 30.4% in the first half when the Utes built a 31-21 halftime lead.
That set the tone early for Utah, which marched out to an 18-3 lead while hitting its first six shots of the game.
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The Utes ended up shooting a bit worse from the field, at 40.4%, but they made up for it by owning the glass and winning the free-throw battle.
Utah outrebounded the Mountaineers 38-28, including 12-7 on the offensive glass, and held a 9-4 edge in second-chance points.
The Utes also shot 14 of 21 from the free-throw line — while that wasn’t super impressive, it was much better than West Virginia’s 7 of 15.
Some of those free-throw shooting woes made the final minute more interesting than it needed to be.
After Utah built a 15-point lead early in the second half, West Virginia, which had rallied from 14 down in the second half of its last two wins, began the comeback and had the Utes’ lead down to 53-51 when Treysen Eaglestaff scored on a layup with 3:59 to play.
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Give Utah credit — after blowing that lead three days earlier against the Bearcats, the Utes, while it wasn’t perfect, were better in crunch time.
“I told them, it’s the little things. After losing as many as we have, especially some close ones, I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing, but you know what? You’re good enough to win this, you can do this. Do the little things. You’re fine, we’re good,” Jensen said when asked what his message was to his team down the stretch.
Terrence Brown scored on a reverse layup to make it 55-51 with 2:33 to play, then after Traore forced a turnover, Don McHenry drew a foul in transition and hit two free throws to push the lead to 57-51 with just over a minute remaining.
Huff answered with a step-back 3-pointer with 32.9 seconds to play, making it 57-54.
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Brown then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 situation, giving West Virginia the ball with a chance to tie.
In the loss to Cincinnati, Utah missed the front end of two 1-and-1 situations in the final two minutes.
Again, though, Traore came up big defensively, recovering to force Huff to take a contested 3. The shot was long and didn’t draw iron, and this time, Brown hit two free throws to make it a five-point game.
The heart-stopping moments weren’t over. A quick Amir Jenkins layup made the score 59-56, and with 3.5 seconds left, Traore missed two free throws, giving the Mountaineers one last chance.
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West Virginia threw the opportunity away, though, as Jasper Floyd’s pass flew out of bounds as the Mountaineers tried to push the ball upcourt.
Traore ended up leading the Utes’ charge with 17 points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks and two assists.
“I give Seydou credit. Tonight was the epitome of him just focusing on (defense) and letting the game come to him. He made a couple big plays down the stretch,” Jensen said.
Brown and McHenry each had 16 points, while Brown added eight rebounds and three assists.
“I thought he did a really good job controlling the game,” Jensen said of Brown.
Josh Hayes (seven rebounds, five on offense) and James Okonkwo (five rebounds, three on offense) also helped lead the Utes’ rebounding efforts.
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In addition to the 12 points from Huff, the Mountaineers had two others in double-figures. Chance Moore had 12 points, four rebounds and a steal, while Brenen Loriant added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.
For the first time in a month, though, the Utes tasted victory — and Jensen was happy for his squad, which is maturing together under the first-year head coach, even if that progress is harder to recognize tangible results in the Big 12.
“I am truly happy for our guys, because that game in Cincinnati was a was a tough one. I think a lot of them thought about the things they could have done to win, but give them credit for coming back after that game, on a long road trip, and playing like they did from the opening tip,” Jensen said.
