Ezra Ausar scored 26 points and host Utah held on for a thrilling 73-72 overtime win against rival BYU on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Former BYU guard Hunter Erickson hit three of four free throws in the final minute of overtime, including the go-ahead foul shot with 13 seconds remaining, to boost the Utes (11-6, 3-3 Big 12).
It was Utah’s third straight win after it endured a four-game skid.
Richie Saunders and Fousseyni Traore each scored 16 points for the Cougars (11-6, 2-4), who have lost four of their last five games.
BYU had three chances in the final eight seconds to tie the game or go ahead, starting when Dawson Baker’s leaner was off. Then Trevin Knell missed the front-end of a one-and-one free-throw situation with six seconds left. Finally, Egor Demin, who only hit 4 of 12 shots, couldn’t connect on a game-winning jumper at the buzzer.
Lawson Lovering scored 13 points with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks for Utah.
BYU overcame a five-point deficit in the second half to force overtime, and Mawot Mag hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a one-point BYU lead with 51 seconds left in regulation.
The lead didn’t last long. Ausar then made a go-ahead dunk with 30 seconds remaining and split a pair of free throws to put Utah up by two.
The Cougars forced the overtime when Traore cleaned up a Saunders miss with a putback layup.
BYU used a couple of 8-0 runs in the first half to take the lead and go into the break ahead 30-27.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, with Utah shooting 33.3 percent and BYU 32.4 percent.
Utah ended up shooting 44.6 percent, while the Cougars struggled at 38.5 percent.
–Field Level Media
