Gabe Madsen scored 21 points, Deivon Smith had 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists, and Utah beat Colorado 73-68 in Pac-12 play at Salt Lake City on Saturday.
Lawson Lovering finished with nine points and eight rebounds in his return after missing four games for the Utes (15-7, 6-5 Pac-12).
KJ Simpson scored 25 points, J’Vonne Hadley added 15 points, Eddie Lampkin contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds and Tristan da Silva finished with 10 points for the Buffaloes (15-7, 6-5).
The game was tied 31-all at halftime and Madsen hit a 3-pointer to give Utah a 36-34 lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Madsen was soon fouled on a made 3-pointer and hit the free throw to complete the four-point play, Lampkin split a pair of free throws but the Utes started to stretch the lead.
Smith hit a layup and converted a three-point play and Lovering made one of two free throws to give Utah a 48-38 edge.
Hadley ended Colorado’s scoring drought of 3:39 when he split a pair of free throws, Lovering hit a layup and Julian Hammond III drained a 3-pointer for the Buffaloes’ first field goal in 7:45.
The Utes answered with an offensive rebound and layup from Keba Keita and a Colorado turnover led to Hunter Erickson’s 3-pointer and a 55-42 lead with 8:34 left.
The Buffaloes responded with a dunk by Simpson off of a turnover and putbacks from Hammond and Lampkin to cut the deficit to 55-48. Madsen stopped the run with a three-point play to extend the advantage to 10 with 6:12 left.
The teams traded baskets before Madsen had a steal and dunk to make it 62-50 and force Colorado to call a timeout.
The Buffaloes made one last push. Hadley made two free throws, Simpson hit a layup and da Silva split a pair of free throws that pulled them within 62-55.
Simpson hit a pair of 3-pointers to pull Colorado within 66-63 with 1:04 left. Madsen and Smith each hit two free throws, Simpson made a layup but Utah closed it out.
–Field Level Media