The Sports Xchange
Dec 9, 2017
Justin Bibbins and Tyler Rawson scored 16 points apiece and Bibbins dished out seven assists to lead Utah to a 77-67 win against Utah State on Saturday.
David Collette added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Utes. Utah (7-2) led from wire-to-wire despite going without a field goal for more than five minutes at the end of each half.
DeAngelo Isby scored 24 points and Quinn Taylor added a career-high 22 points to lead the Aggies. Utah State (5-6) got 57 of its 67 points from the bench.
Utah State whittled away the bulk of a double-digit deficit after Klay Stall and Isby each made a pair of layups to fuel a 15-4 run. The Aggies pulled within 58-54 after Alex Dargenton made a pair of free throws to cap the run.
Utah didn't let Utah State get closer than that. Sedrick Barefield and Bibbins each hit a 3-pointer to push the Utes' lead to 66-54. Utah held on despite not scoring a field goal over the final 5:37 of the second half.
Utah wasted no time seizing control. The Utes opened the first half with a 19-2 run. Rawson got things going with a 3 and finished off the spurt with a jumper. Utah led by as many as 21 points during the first half after hitting 16 of their first 21 shots from the field.
Taylor finally sparked Utah State's offense with back-to-back 3s to end Utah's initial spurt. He made four outside shots over the course of the half and finished with 20 points by halftime. The Aggies did not make a serious dent in Utah's lead until late in the half.
Taylor scored three straight baskets to fuel a 12-0 run. It cut Utah's lead to 45-36 with eight seconds left before halftime. Utah did not make a field goal over the final 5:08 of the first half.
This marked the first meeting between the two in-state rivals since the 2010-11 season.