Taison Chatman scored 15 points while leading Utah to a 67-57 win over Towson in Salt Lake City on Thursday night.
Ben Roseborough and Jaquan Womack each had 13 points for the Tigers, who made the game interesting in the final minutes after trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half.
Utah (2-0) used a 10-2 run early in the second half to turn a 27-19 halftime lead into a 15-point advantage.
Towson chipped away at the deficit and was within six with 50 seconds remaining after a Chike Ndefo layup.
The Tigers (0-2) subsequently had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but Zion Sanford missed a jumper and Utah’s Trey Campbell connected with Alec Anigbata for a dunk that resulted in a three-point play.
TJ Burch, who had nine points, then stole a Towson pass to help the Utes seal the victory.
Anigbata finished with 13 points for Utah, thanks to a 9-for-11 showing from the free-throw line. Campbell added nine points, six assists and five rebounds in the win.
The Utes had a scary moment when Jackson Holcombe went to the floor for a few minutes after colliding with a teammate with just under two minutes remaining. He eventually walked off the court to the training room.
Holcombe contributed eight points, six rebounds and four assists before leaving the game.
Towson jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and was up 11-4 after a 3-pointer by Womack.
Utah responded with a 9-1 run to take its first lead at 13-12 following a Babacar Faye fastbreak dunk.
Jaxon Johnson continued that momentum for the Utes with a 3-pointer and another hoop to cap a 17-3 surge that put Utah up by seven.
Towson was limited to 39.3% shooting on the night and couldn’t take advantage of 18 Utah turnovers. The Utes hit 45.5% of their field-goal attempts.