David Jenkins Jr. scored 15 points to help Utah coach Craig Smith earn his first victory with the school as the Utes defeated Abilene Christian 70-56 Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
It was the season opener for both teams.
Jenkins, one of seven new Utah players, hit four of the team’s seven 3-pointers. The senior, who previously played at UNLV (2020-21) and South Dakota State (2017-19), also had six rebounds.
Branden Carlson, a returner from a year ago, scored 14 points with nine rebounds, while Utah State transfer Rollie Worster added 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Illinois State transfer Dusan Mahorcic (11 points, eight rebounds) and USU transfer Marco Anthony (10 points, nine rebounds) also played well in their Utah debuts. Returner Riley Battin grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds with eight points.
Immanuel Allen was the only Abilene Christian scorer to reach double figures with 13 points. This was also the first game for the Wildcats’ new head coach and former assistant, Brette Tanner.
The game was close early the second half. The Wildcats were down 36-34 about three minutes into the half thanks to a pull-up jumper from Mahki Morris and a 3 from Allen.
But on a night when both teams shot just shy of 39 percent, baskets were hard to come by for a stretch in the final half.
Utah went 3 1/2 minutes without a point, but the Wildcats couldn’t take advantage and only made one hoop during that stretch. The Utes then slowly built up their lead, eventually taking their biggest lead to that point, 53-40, after layups from Carlson and Worster and free throws from Anthony.
That trend continued for the Pac-12 hosts, who used a 29-11 push to go up 65-45 with 4:44 left.
Worster gave Utah a 17-9 lead midway through the first half with a 3-pointer. Allen scored on a layup to cut the Utes’ lead to six before Jenkins and Worster stretched the lead to 23-11 with back-to-back 3s.
Abilene Christian trimmed that advantage to seven, 34-27, at halftime thanks to a late layup from Damien Daniels, who finished with eight points.
–Field Level Media
