After grinding out a pair of wins, Utah continues a five-game homestand on Tuesday night against in-state rival Weber State in Salt Lake City.
The Utes (2-0), who started the season with a 66-63 victory over Long Beach State on Nov. 2, come in off a 67-57 win over Towson on Thursday. Utah has done it with defense, holding the Tigers to just 39.3% shooting, including 30.0% from 3-point range, and Long Beach to 39.6% from the floor while outrebounding the Beach, 40-27.
Taison Chatman had 15 points, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range, in 22 minutes off the bench against Towson. The Utes led 27-19 at halftime and quickly built the margin to 15 points with 16:30 left.
“Being aggressive, being smarter and recognizing things,” Chatman told the Deseret News when asked about the team’s focus heading into Tuesday’s game. “We want to gain momentum for (Big 12) conference play.”
The Utes also finished with a 35-30 edge in rebounds against Towson while sinking 16 of 19 free throws in the second half.
“We did a really good job on the boards, which has been a point of emphasis,” Utes head coach Alex Jensen said. “We won by 10, but they got 12 more shots. (The margin) could have been a 15- or 20-point game.”
Weber State (0-2) opened the season with a lopsided 102-61 loss at Oregon State and followed that up with a 101-93 home loss to Utah Valley on Saturday. Mason Abittan led the Wildcats with 22 points, including 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc, and grabbed five rebounds.
First-year Weber State head coach Kaleb Canales said he was happy with the improvement he saw from his team over the first two contests.
“A lot of growth from the first game,” Canales told the Ogden Standard-Examiner. “That’s why we’re going to continue to schedule tough because this allows us to get where we want to get faster. Nobody wants it more overnight than me. But it’s a process. We’ve got a young team, and that’ll never be an excuse. It’s a reality that we’ve got to go through these growing pains. … You can’t skip steps.”