Cougars  71    Utes  51

Recap: Utah vs. B-Y-U

Sports Network | March 4, 2010

Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Brandon Davies had 21 points and seven rebounds to lead 14th-ranked BYU past Utah, 71-51, at the Huntsman Center.

Michael Loyd, Jr. added 18 points and six rebounds for BYU (27-4, 12-3 MWC), which rebounded from Saturday's loss to New Mexico, now ranked eighth in the nation.

Jackson Emery scored 11 for the Cougars, who have won five of six and close out their regular season this upcoming Saturday at TCU.

"I thought we would play really hard but I didn't know how well we would play," BYU head coach Dave Rose said. "But our guys responded well and I am really proud of them. I am really impressed with our bench. Our first guys got us off to a great start and we really got better as we substituted."

Chris Hines scored nine to pace the Utes (14-15, 7-8), who had won their last two contests. Utah ends its regular season Saturday at Colorado State.

Davies scored 10 of his points in a critical 12-0 run the Cougars used to start the second half. Already up 36-24 at halftime, BYU blew the game apart with the burst, which Davies ended with a jumper for a 48-24 advantage with a little over 14 minutes to go.

Utah never recovered from the run. BYU's lead stood at 57-28 following an Emery three, and the Cougars cruised over the final 11-plus minutes.

"We tried to make a comeback and make something happen but got ourselves in a hole," Utah head coach Jim Boylen said. "We thought that we would be able to come back in the second half, but couldn't get a shot to fall to help steady the team."

BYU took control early, using a seven-point run to take a 20-6 lead near the midway point of the first half. Davies capped the stretch with a pair of free throws.

Utah was within 31-24 after Luka Drca made 1-of-2 from the line with 2:43 to play, but BYU ended the half on a five-point burst to go up by 12 at the break.

BYU leading scorer Jimmer Fredette finished with eight points and shot just 1- for-7...The Cougars sank 25-of-31 free throws and shot 36.8 percent from the floor...Utah made only 14 field goals, shooting 26.9 percent overall.