Utah Doubles Up On Sunflower State With 74-69 Win Over Kansas State

SALT LAKE CITY—Utah doubled up on the Sunflower State as the Runnin’ Utes battled their way to a 74-69 win over the Kansas State Wildcats.

Ezra Ausar led the way for Utah with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and an impressive 7-of-7 shooting from the free throw line.

Lawson Lovering finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while converting 7-of-12 from the line.

Starters for Utah against Kansas State

Craig Smith stuck with the same starting five, which were as follows:

Mike Sharavjamts, Gabe Madsen, Jake Wahlin, Ezra Ausar, and Lawson Lovering.

First Half, Runnin’ Utes Vs. Wildcats

After a defensive stop to start the game, Ezra Ausar knocked down a baseline jumper for the game’s first points. Then Kansas State ripped off seven straight points, while Utah turned over twice and missed a couple of open looks. That gave the Wildcats a 7-2 lead after four minutes of action.

15:57 – AFter the timeout, Utah worked to get Gabe Madsen going. He worked a pick-and-roll with Ausar, which ended with him weaving his way through the defense and getting fouled at the rim. He went to the line and made both free throws.

Great ball movement leads to the @WahlinJake triple to put the Utes up early‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/1RWaFH6BwU

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

Utah cranked up the defensive pressure during this stretch. They allowed just two buckets over the four minutes of action. Meanwhile, they created some good scoring opportunities that included a Madsen layup and a Wahlin 3-pointer. Utah took a 12-11 lead into the next media timeout.

11:30 – Miro Little made a really positive impact in his first few minutes. He scored a layup and, more impressively, dished out four assists- two of which he genuinely created out of pick-and-roll action. Utah had built a seven-point cushion before Kansas State cut it down to 25-21 by the third media break.

What a dish to the big man to let him do BIG MAN things‼️🔨@MiroLittle23 🤝 @lawson_lovering #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/fND8RtCJyR

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

6:56 – Unfortunately, Utah went cold and Kansas State was able to retake the lead. The Utes turned it over three times and went scoreless for 4:15 of game time. That allowed the Wildcats to take a 26-25 lead into the final media break.

3:41 – Utah’s free throw shooting was a big positive over the final minutes of the half. Lovering went 4-for-4, Madsen 2-for-2, and Keanu Dawes made 1-of-2 from the line during this stretch. Unfortunately, Kansas State was able to keep pace on the other end. The two teams went into the locker room tied, 32-32.

Second Half – Utah 32, Kansas State 32

Offensive rebounding has been the difference for Utah in their last sixty minutes of action, and it was the difference in the opening two minutes of the half. Ausar hauled in 3 offensive rebounds, which led to 4 second-chance points, giving Utah a 38-32 lead and forcing Jerome Tang to burn an early timeout.

Getting us started in the second half, @mongolshark with the mid-range bucket‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/uYfuObavXf

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

Over the next few minutes, Lovering went to the line and split a pair. Then he made a nice entry pass into Ausar for an easy one. That gave Utah a 41-35 edge at the first media break of the half.

15:53 – Lovering went to the line and split another pair of free throws. After a defensive stop, Lovering got out in transition and was rewarded with a dish from Wahlin for a dunk.

With 15 points so far, @lawson_lovering is all over the floor tonight‼️🔨

cc: @WahlinJake #GoUtes pic.twitter.com/ipmW1yGPfC

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

On the next possession, Lovering made a great entry pass to Ausar for an easy one. That gave Utah a 46-37 lead, but the Wildcats would claw back and trim Utah’s lead to 46-43. Finally, Caleb Lohner ended a brief scoring drought by finishing an alley-oop lob from Hunter Erickson. That bucket gave Utah a 48-43 edge by the second official break of the half.

Pretty coordination between @MiroLittle23 and @hunterericksonn ends up with a pretty @caleblohner lob‼️#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/V8LD1AKp3x

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

11:37 – After the break, Kansas State’s Brendan Hausen knocked down a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer to get it to 48-46. Miro Little ended another brief scoring drought for Utah, getting a finger roll to fall. On the Utes ensuing possession, Wahlin knocked down a jumper from the left corner with his toe on the line. Still, that gave Utah a 52-48.

7:45 – After a multiple-opportunity possession in which Utah hustled for a pair of offensive rebounds, Ausar finally ended it with a two-handed dunk. Later, Madsen would finally knock down a 3-pointer to give Utah a 57-50 cushion.

Defense ➡️ Offense‼️@lawson_lovering making the defensive stop with his first double-double as a Ute, leading to the transition @GabeMadsen53 triple to extend the lead🎯#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/3fs7EiYls6

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

However, Hausen would promptly respond with a 3-pointer of his own on their next possession. Utah would suffer through a couple of empty possessions, while the Wildcats continued to chip away. They tied the game up 57-57 with a Coleman Hawkins layup.

Ausar was fouled pretty hard at the 3:04 mark, which took the game to its final media timeout.

3:01 – During the break, the refs reviewed the foul and it was upgraded to a flagrant one. Ausar went to the line and sunk both free throws. Unfortunately, Utah had an opportunity to extend that lead with the possession but turned it over, and the Wildcats promptly scored on the other end.

After the turnover, Miro weaved his way through the paint and got a floater to fall. That gave Utah a two point cushion. Utah then got a defensive stop, which led to a Madsen 3-pointer on the right wing off a great action to free him up. That gave Utah a 64-59 lead and Jerome Tang called a timeout.

BIG triple for the All-Time 3FGM leader at Utah, @GabeMadsen53 ‼️🎯

Utes up 64-59 with 1:52 to play#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/8HRtUfiHEZ

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 18, 2025

After the timeout, David N’Guessan got a layup to go. On Utah’s possession, Ausar hauled in a Madsen miss, got the putback to go and was fouled. He then went to the line and made his free throw to give Utah a 67-61 lead.

Then Coleman Hawkins was left open, and he knocked down a 3-pointer. After a timeout, Hunter Erickson was fouled on the inbound, he then went to the line and converted both free throws.

Ausar came up big in the final moments to secure Utah’s second-straight victory, a 74-69 win over the Wildcats.

UP NEXT – Utah vs UCF 

Utah will now get to enjoy some time off. They will head to Orlando this weekend for a Sunday afternoon tilt. The Runnin’ Utes will try to get a road win inside Addition Financial Arena. Drew Fellios will have the action alongside former UCF Knight BJ Taylor on ESPN+ starting at 2 p.m. (MST).

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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