Utah Improves To 3-0, Following 87-69 Win Over Holy Cross

SALT LAKE CITY— The Runnin’ Utes handled Holy Cross 87–69 and provided a clearer picture of where the foundation is being laid under Alex Jensen.

Utah walked into this one looking to clean up the mess from the Weber State performance — mostly rebounding, the finishing at the rim, and the overall shot creation.

The good news: the Utes got that part right— finishing +12 on the boards, converting 19-of-26 at the rim, and 53% from the field overall.

The bad news: the defense still looked like it has plenty of work to do.

Final from the @HuntsmanCenter! pic.twitter.com/eXR8187wyr

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) November 11, 2025

But on a night where nearly everyone contributed, this was a game Utah controlled, not without teaching moments though.

Five players reached double-figures, led by Terrence Brown who finished with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

A back-and-forth start, then Kendyl Sanders got it going

Utah opened the game with strong ball pressure, forcing a turnover right away, but the defense just didn’t hold up for the next stretch. Holy Cross kept getting easy looks — Utah’s closeouts were late and the interior resistance was borderline polite early on.

Thankfully, Utah’s offense had some rhythm from the jump, with four different players hitting early buckets and Terrence Brown scoring twice to keep pace. At the first media timeout, it was a 12–12 game.

Enter Kendyl Sanders.

After back-to-back empty possessions from both teams, Sanders buried a corner three. Then, on the next trip down, he dropped a defender with a hesitation move and finished at the rim — the first real “spark” moment of the night.

Other Notables

• Utah was still without Elijah Moore, who took a hit to the head last Monday. He joined James Okonkwo and Ibi Traore on Utah’s unavailable list.

• This was the final game Okonkwo had to sit out. He will be able to suit up in Utah’s next game contest against Sam Houston State.

• On Traore, he went through warm-ups completely dressed again, and continues to progress towards a return.

From there, Utah began to stack stops and finally turned defense into offense. A 9–0 run — highlighted by buckets from Sanders, Hayes, and McHenry — pushed the lead to 29–17 and forced Holy Cross into a timeout.

Momentum belonged to Utah, and the Utes stayed on the gas.

Utah found success attacking the rim

Once the pace settled, Terrence Brown took over. He scored three of Utah’s next four buckets, all at the rim, all comfortably. Then Josh Hayes went to work — footwork, patience, touch — every big man buzzword applied. He hit a post move, a jump hook, and then converted an and-1 to stretch the lead.

Utah’s Terrence Brown TORE IT UP vs. Holy Cross

🔺8 of 16 from the Field
🔺21 Points
🔺Home Court DUB

Brown Highlights⬇️#Big12MBB | @UtahMBB pic.twitter.com/9JOeN2phqs

— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) November 11, 2025

The half closed on two crisp plays: McHenry finished at the rim off a well-timed back cut from Sanders, and Obomate Abbey drilled a right-wing three to cap the scoring.

Utah went into the locker room up 48–34, shooting nearly 60% from the field and converting 13-of-16 at the rim — a massive improvement from the Weber State game.

The issue was the defense: Utah allowed Holy Cross to score on 44% of their possessions — just not enough resistance.

Second half starts flat — Alex Jensen’s early timeout got Utah going… sorta

The first four Utah possessions after halftime: miss, miss, miss, miss. Holy Cross started with a 7–0 run.

So Jensen called timeout at the 18:15 mark — and made sure his team understood they were giving away control. The huddle was short, but it was loud.

And it worked — sort of. Utah’s defensive intensity spiked immediately, generating back-to-back steals, but Seydou Traore and Keanu Dawes both missed layups.

Finally, Brown got the lid off with a layup, then Abbey hit a top-of-the-arc three, and Traore followed up with another from the left wing. That rebuilt the lead to 58–46.

But the theme of the half was Utah’s inability to put the game out of reach. Utah never allowed Holy Cross to seriously threaten the lead, but they also never fully stepped on the throat. Every time Utah punched the margin up to 12–14, Holy Cross answered with a jumper, a ball-screen slip, or — late in the half — the exact same inbound play leading to back-to-back threes.

Utes climbing their way to 3-0⛰️

Holy Cross vs. Utah Highlights⬇️#Big12MBB | @UtahMBB pic.twitter.com/MghWgESroh

— Big 12 Studios (@big12studios) November 11, 2025

Still, Utah controlled the final stretch. A Dawes putback slam finally re-energized the building. Traore hit a tough pull-up. Brown added a free throw.

And after the final media timeout, Utah finished in the manner they needed to. Dawes powered in another finish, Utah beat a press for a two-handed Dawes dunk, Abbey hit free throws, Dawes hit free throws, threw down another dunk, and closed the game, 87–69.

Final Thoughts — Progress, but unfinished

This game showed meaningful growth:

• Finishing at the rim improved — Utah converted 19-of-26 at the rim, a massive improvement from the ~50% in the previous contest.

• Multiple scoring threats are emerging — or at least, sources of shots and who can convert certain shots.

• Jensen is allowing his team to work through difficult stretches — but the early second half timeout was purposeful. Utah has a long ways to go and Jensen needs to be mindful

But the defensive problems are real:

• Holy Cross scored on 44% of their shots and 47% of their possession in the entire game.

• Utah had one extended stretch they kept Holy Cross scoreless, when they went over five minutes without conceding a point from the 9:14 mark to 4:09 in the second half.

• Utah repeatedly lost shooters on simple actions, even the same actions.

• Outside of Hayes, interior physicality remained inconsistent.

This is a team still settling into a new identity — spacing, pace, motion, cutting — while building the defensive toughness this team needs. That takes time, reps, and some pretty tough coaching.

The good news? The offense looks plenty capable. But the defense is the next frontier — and Jensen can’t let that slide.

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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