Utah shuts down Colorado once again

[February 24, 2017]  BOULDER, Colo. -- Kyle Kuzma scored 25 points and David Collette added 14 to lift Utah to an 86-81 victory over Colorado on Thursday night.

Lorenzo Bonam added 12 points for the Utes before fouling out in the final seconds. Utah (18-10, 9-7 Pac-12) earned its seventh straight victory over the Buffaloes. The Utes shot 9-of-19 (47.1 percent) from 3-point range to help keep their streak over their rival going.

Derrick White scored 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting while George King and Wesley Gordon added 12 apiece for Colorado. The Buffaloes (16-13, 6-10) trailed the entire second-half despite making it a one-possession game in the final two minutes.

Eight different players scored for Utah in a balanced first-half offensive effort. It helped the Utes stay in front of Colorado for much of the time. The Buffaloes only led once, going up 15-13. White threw down a dunk and Xavier Johnson buried a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions to tie it. Then Lucas Siewart dialed up a go-ahead 3-pointer.

The Utes quickly tied it on a layup from Jayce Johnson and retook the lead when Sedrick Barefield drained a pair of free throws. Utah built on that momentum and ripped off a 13-2 run to stake out a 32-20 lead with 5:25 left before halftime. Lorenzo Bonam, Collette and JoJo Zamora each scored a 3-pointer over three consecutive possessions to finish off the spurt.

Gordon scored a layup and White followed with a 3-pointer in transition on back-to-back possessions to help the Buffaloes cut Utah's lead to 39-36 early in the second half. Tyler Rawson answered with a 3-pointer and Collette added a pair of free throws to push the lead back to eight.

Utah kept answering each Colorado basket with one of its own. The Utes eventually pushed it back to a 56-46 lead on a fast-break dunk from Kuzma with 10:06 remaining.

Utah Utes forward Jayce Johnson (34) pulls a rebound away from Colorado Buffaloes forward Tory Miller (14) in the first half at Coors Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado made a late run and chipped away at Utah's lead. After Johnson threw down a wide-open dunk to make it 73-63 with 3:56 left, the Buffaloes cut it to 76-73 on a 10-3 run capped by a deep 3-pointer from White with 1:36 remaining.

Collette answered White's basket from distance with a reverse layup and then Rawson and Kuzma each hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to keep Colorado from completing the comeback.

Freshman forward Devon Daniels did not travel with Utah to Boulder. Daniels was suspended indefinitely earlier this week by Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak for conduct detrimental to the team. He has averaged 10.4 points in 27 games this season -- starting in all but one contest.

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