Utah Basketball Battled, Come Up Short In 78-73 Loss To Mississippi State

SALT LAKE CITY— Utah basketball hits the road for a neutral-site matchup against an SEC contender, Mississippi State Bulldogs. 

Unfortunately, the Utes lost to the Bulldogs in a tough, competitive contest, 78-73. Although the Utes had an 11-point advantage at the half, they could not fend off the Bulldogs.

Final from Southaven…
Utah 73#RV Mississippi State 78

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 17, 2024

Forward Ezra Ausar led the way for Utah with 15 points despite dealing with foul trouble for most of the game.

Mason Madsen had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, while Keanu Dawes added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Miro Little had 10 points, 6 assists, and 4 rebounds.

In a tight game like this, every little thing matters. What stands out most are Mississippi State’s 33 free throw attempts, compared to just 14 for Utah.

The Utes had to manage foul trouble for most of the game, which impacted the rotation. Three players—Ausar, Sharavjamts, and Dawes—fouled out, while four others had at least two more fouls.

Here’s a recap from the game.

Starting Lineup

Utah will start Miro Little, Gabe Madsen, Mike Sharavjamts, Jake Wahlin, and Ezra Ausar for the fourth time this season.

Starting center Lawson Lovering remains unavailable for Craig Smith, as do backups Zach Keller and Jayden Teat.

First Half

Utah scored the game’s first three points with an Ausar free throw and Sharavjamts jumper. Ausar had an emphatic rejection and was fouled at the rim in transition on the ensuing possession. They went 0-of-4 and scoreless over a nearly three-minute stretch. Mississippi State scored the next five to take a 5-3 lead at the first media timeout.

15:34

The first substitutions included Keanu Dawes and Mason Madsen in for Ausar and Little. On the first possession after the break, Sharavjamts knocked down another jumper. Mason Madsen knocked down the first three of the game on the ensuing possession to give Utah an 8-5 advantage.

After nearly turning it over, Little corraled a loose ball and fired it to Dawes underneath for an easy dunk. After a defensive stop, Utah got out on the run, leading to a Hunter Erickson dish to Mason for another three. Later, Ausar scored an easy one at the rim off a pick-n-roll with Little.

That gave Utah a 15-11 advantage at the second media timeout.

11:31

Little had turnovers on consecutive possessions, which allowed the Bulldogs to go on a little run. The Bulldogs took a 17-15 lead before Ausar got a bucket off another pick-n-roll dish from Little to tie it up. Ausar was then fouled on the next possession, where he knocked down both free throws to make it 19-19.

Utah’s defense forced consecutive turnovers that netted them three points. Dawes knocked down a free throw after getting fouled at the rim, and then Madsen had a layup in transition that was blocked but called for goaltending.

Off of a Madsen missed jumper, Dawes had a big putback dunk to give Utah a 24-21 lead.

7:12

After the third media break, Ausar’s layup at the rim rolled off, but Dawes was there to clean it up. On the ensuing possession, Utah was able to push the ball ahead to Erickson, who knocked down another three in transition.

Ausar scored a layup off of an impressive drive from the perimeter; he exploded by his defender with his first step. On the next possession, Dawes with a great catch and reverse finish at the rim off a pick-n-roll dish from Little. 33-25

3:47

Utah went cold from the field after the fourth media break. They missed a couple of shots, and Ausar missed two free throws, which allowed Mississippi State to cut Utah’s lead down to 33-28.

Though they went cold offensively, the defense stepped up and disrupted Mississippi State’s offense. The Utes’ size and length impacted a number of Bulldogs’ attempts around the rim.

Little knocked down a big three after nearly two minutes without a score to end the brief scoring drought. He followed that up with another 3-point make on the next possession to extend Utah’s lead to 39-28, which is how the half ended.

Second Half

Mississippi State started the second frame with a bang. Within the first minute of action, they immediately cut Utah’s lead to six. That was the beginning of a 10-2 run.

Wahlin knocked down a three, but the Bulldogs continued to chip away. Josh Hubbard scored seven of Mississippi State’s 15-point outburst.

Utah’s lead was trimmed down to 44-43 before coach Smith finally called a timeout.

16:25

Utah’s scoreless drought continued for over four minutes, which allowed the Bulldogs to not only take the lead but build it to 50-44.

Finally, Dawes ended the drought with a fastbreak layup to make it 50-46.

Utah had to battle a tough whistle during this stretch. Both teams had been attacking the rim, but the Bulldogs had shot 18 free throws to this point, while Utah had just 8 free throw attempts.

11:54

Utah got a defensive stop and pushed the ball the other way. That led to a M. Madsen three from the top in transition, which cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 51-49.

Then, on the next possession, Little took advantage of a defender’s poor defensive position and got a layup to tie it up. After two Ausar free throw makes and a G. Madsen turnaround jumper, Utah had retaken a 55-51 lead.

The Bulldogs responded with a quick 5-point burst to regain control at 57-55. However, M. Madsen scored 5 on back to back possessions off a back cut for a layup, as well as a second-chance 3-point make.

It was all knotted up at 60-60 at the third media break.

6:49

Before the break, Ausar drew a foul going in for a layup. He knocked down both free throws to give Utah a 62-60 advantage out of the timeout.

A possession later, Ausar converted another layup to make it 64-63. Unfortunately, this is when Mississippi State began an 8-0 run to build a 71-64 lead.

Utah just went cold from the field, while the Bulldogs got some easy ones. Fortunately, Dawes was able to get a second chance dunk to end that run.

On the next possessions, G. Madsen knocked down his first three of the game to cut the lead to 71-69.

2:50

Sharavjamts knocked down a pull-up jumper to tie the game back up at 71-71 with 1:40 left in the game.

Mississippi State benefitted from a friendly whistle throughout the game, which also manifested itself down the stretch.

Erickson was whistled for a questionable offensive foul. Meanwhile, Mississippi State knocked down four consecutive free throws to take a 75-71 lead.

Utah had scoring opportunities but were unable to convert those in the final minute.

The Utes fall, 78-73 to the Bulldogs.

Next Up

Utah returns home to the friendly confines of the Jon M. Huntsman Center to start a six-game homestand beginning with Utah Tech on Friday, Nov. 22, at 3:30 p.m. (MT)

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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