Utah eases to largest win vs. Division I opponent
With its 143-49 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Friday night, Utah set the NCAA record for the largest scoring margin against a Division I opponent since the NCAA tournament was introduced in the 1938-39 season.
The 94-point win broke the previous margin-of-victory mark of 91, set by Tulsa against Prairie View in December 1995.
Utah also broke some school records: 143 points shattered a mark that had stood since 1960, when the Utes scored 132 points against Evansville. Utah’s 73-point second half set a record for points in a half, surpassing the 71-point first half the Utes also had against Evansville.
Timmy Allen scored 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting to pace the host Utes (2-0). Both Gach and Rylan Jones each had a triple-double, with Gach totaling 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists and Jones finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. The triple-doubles were Utah’s first since Alex Jensen did it in 1999.
Utah is the first team in the past 20 seasons to have two different players with triple-doubles in the same game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Utah got out to a quick lead with a 9-2 advantage early in the contest. The Utes made another push in the middle of the first half after the Delta Devils (0-2) cut the margin to 15-9 on a Michael Green jumper, spurring a 25-4 Utah run over the next five minutes to extend the Utes’ lead to 40-13 and essentially put the game out of reach.
Jaxon Brenchley and Gach were instrumental in the run. Brenchley hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark the Utah scoring push, while Gach tallied seven points during the run.
By halftime, Utah was up by 50 and had scored 70 points on 63% shooting while holding Mississippi Valley State to 20% from the field.
It was more of the same in the second half as Utah broke the century mark with 12:29 to go in the game. The Utes broke the school record for most points in a game with 2:54 left in the contest.
Utah had more dunks (26) than Mississippi Valley State had field goals (21).
In the end, Utah only tied the school record for largest margin of victory against any opponent — the Utes also beat Salt Lake High School by 94 points in 1913.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.