{"id":528947,"date":"2026-01-11T07:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T07:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/528947\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T07:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T07:41:18","slug":"cougars-defeat-rival-utah-89-84-in-salt-lake-city-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/528947\/","title":{"rendered":"Cougars defeat rival Utah 89-84 in Salt Lake City \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

BYU\u2019s 12th consecutive win may have been its sweetest to date.<\/p>\n

The Cougars defeated rival Utah 89-84 Saturday night in Salt Lake City, earning their first victory at the Huntsman Center since 2021.<\/p>\n

Kevin Young\u2019s squad is now 15-1 on the season and 3-0 in Big 12 play.<\/p>\n

3 takeaways<\/p>\n

The Cougars made life difficult for themselves. Seemingly every BYU-Utah matchup at the Huntsman Center ends up being rather chaotic, but the Cougars were definitely to blame for some of the drama Saturday.<\/p>\n

BYU allowed the Runnin\u2019 Utes to open the night on a 7-0 run, then let a 12-point second half lead to dwindle down to just a single point in less than seven minutes.<\/p>\n

\"\"BYU Cougars forwards Dominique Diomande (24) and AJ Dybantsa (3) jump in celebration after the Cougars defeated Utah 89-84 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"Utah Utes fans erupt after no foul was called late in the game as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. BYU defeated Utah 89-84. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"Utah Utes fans and BYU Cougars players gesture and jaw back and forth as the Cougars exit the arena after defeating Utah 89-84 at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"BYU Cougars center Abdullah Ahmed (34) and BYU Cougars forward Dominique Diomande (24) celebrate the Cougar win over Utah at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. BYU held on to win 89-84. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"Utah Utes forward Josh Hayes (7) falls as BYU Cougars guard Richie Saunders (15) grabs the loose ball as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"Utah Utes forward James Okonkwo (32) blocks BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) at the hoop as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"BYU Cougars guard Robert Wright III (1) turns as Utah Utes forward Ibrahima Traore (31) celebrates causing a turnover as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"Utah Utes forward Keanu Dawes (8) is defended by BYU Cougars center Abdullah Ahmed (34) as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News \"\"BYU Cougars forward AJ Dybantsa (3) dunks the ball as Utah and BYU play at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n

The Cougars shot just 6 of 26 from 3-point range, missed 10 free throws \u2014 including six in the second half \u2014 and gave up the most points of the season to an opponent not named UConn.<\/p>\n

While free throws were a struggle throughout the night, Richie Saunders knocked down two crucial ones in the final seconds to ice the victory.<\/p>\n

It may have been ugly for BYU at times, but a win is a win, especially against a heated rival and in a venue that has too often been a haunted house for the Cougars in their history.<\/p>\n

The \u201cBrig 3\u2033 was exceptional once again. Of BYU\u2019s 89 points against Utah, 67 came from the superstar trio of Saunders, AJ Dybantsa and Rob Wright III.<\/p>\n

The Salt Lake County native Saunders scored a team-high 24 points on 9 of 16 shooting, notching a double-double by grabbing 14 rebounds \u2014 eight coming on the offensive glass.<\/p>\n

Dybantsa posted yet another 20-point outing \u2014 his ninth in a row \u2014 with six rebounds and four assists in what will be his last time playing in Salt Lake City until he suits up for or against the Utah Jazz a year from now.<\/p>\n

Wright added 23 points with six assists, scoring 15 points in the first half to keep the Cougars\u2019 offense afloat early and scoring another six points in the final minutes of crunch time when some of his teammates had gone cold.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Keba Keita scored 11 points with seven boards against his former team, adding a thunderous spiked block for good measure, and fifth starter Kennard Davis Jr. ended with eight points and two made 3-pointers.<\/p>\n

BYU made history on the Hill. Prior to Saturday, not only had the Cougars failed to win at the Huntsman Center since 2021, but they\u2019d only managed two total wins there since Jimmer Fredette graduated. <\/p>\n

For as frustrating as Saturday\u2019s action may have been at times for Cougar Nation, no one should complain about a road victory against Utah. They don\u2019t grow on trees.<\/p>\n

The win also marks BYU\u2019s 12th in a row and secures the first-ever 3-0 Big 12 start for the Cougars as well.<\/p>\n

BYU shot 50% from the field against Utah and dished out 16 team assists. The Cougars, who led for more than 31 minutes of play, also won the battle down low with 46 paint points and a 41-33 rebounding margin.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BYU\u2019s 12th consecutive win may have been its sweetest to date. The Cougars defeated rival Utah 89-84 Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":528948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,1111],"class_list":{"0":"post-528947","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-news-feed-local"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115875341387204522","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/528948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}