Terrence Brown scored 27 points and Don McHenry added 21 to lead Utah to a 91-85 victory over California Baptist on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Keanu Dawes chipped in 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists to help the Utes (7-3) earn just their second win in five games. Utah prevailed despite being outrebounded 47-30 and being outscored 31-13 in second-chance points.
Dominique Daniels Jr. paced the Lancers with 31 points and 11 rebounds. Thomas Ndong added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Martel Williams chipped in with 14 points.
Cal Baptist (7-3) suffered its third consecutive loss against a Big 12 opponent after dropping games against Colorado and BYU earlier in the week.
The Lancers kept it close throughout the second half. Cal Baptist cut a 10-point deficit to one, 62-61, after consecutive baskets from Jonathan Griman and Ndong.
Brown made a fastbreak layup and McHenry followed with a pair of free throws to extend Utah’s lead to 66-61. The Utes built up a five-point lead several times but could not pull away from the Lancers until the final minute.
Cal Baptist pulled within three points when Ndong made one of two free throws with 56 seconds left. Utah’s Jacob Patrick answered with a jumper and Brown drained a pair of free throws after Daniels turned over the ball, giving Utah an 89-82 lead with 23 seconds left.
Daniels carried Cal Baptist on both ends of the court in the first half, scoring 20 points on 50% shooting from the field (9 of 18) and collecting nine rebounds. He helped the Lancers stay within striking distance of Utah even while they struggled with their 3-point shooting (2 of 9).
Daniels made five layups over a 3-minute stretch to help Cal Baptist erase a nine-point deficit. The Lancers tied it at 38-38 with 34 seconds before halftime.
Cal Baptist dominated on the glass in the first half. The Lancers had a 25-13 advantage on rebounds and a 10-3 edge on offensive boards. They converted those offensive rebounds into 14 second-chance points.
McHenry’s 3-pointer just before halftime put Utah back in front. He and Dawes followed with back-to-back jumpers to extend the Utes’ lead to 45-38 a minute into the second half.
Obomate Abbey converted a three-point play to put Utah up 59-49 with 14:41 remaining in regulation for its largest lead of the game.
–Field Level Media
