Sedrick Barefield hit five 3-pointers and scored 17 of his game-high 22 points in the first half Sunday as Utah led wire-to-wire in a 78-69 Pac-12 win over Colorado in Salt Lake City.
Timmy Allen added a career-high 21 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals in a quality all-around performance for the Utes (9-8, 3-2), and Donnie Tillman hit for 11 points and had three steals. Utah led by as many as 28 points and owned a double-figure lead for most of the final 31-plus minutes.
Shane Gatling led the Buffaloes (10-7, 1-4) with a season-high 21 points, although he made only 6 of 18 shots from the field. Daylen Kountz and Lucas Siewert added 13 points each, while D'Shawn Schwartz scored 11. It wasn't enough to make up for the absence of leading scorer McKinley Wright IV (shoulder).
Barefield set an immediate tone by drilling a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes. Allen took up the mantle during a 12-0 run that upped the Utes' advantage to 21-7 with 10:49 left, accounting for seven points with a 3-point play and a pair of alley-oop jams off Both Gach passes.
Barefield and Allen combined for Utah's next 11 points, Barefield canning three more 3s in just over two minutes while Allen added two free throws. When Barefield took Allen's outlet pass and converted it into a transition layup with 2:50 left, the Utes' lead grew to 40-15.
Utah didn't mess around at the start of the second half, either, upping the margin to 49-21 on a reverse layup by Riley Battin. The lead reached 28 points on one other occasion before Colorado spent the game's remainder making the final margin more respectable.
The Buffs made only 40.6 percent of their field-goal attempts and were outrebounded 38-37.
Utah sank 45.5 percent from the field and connected on 9 of 22 3-pointers, thanks to Barefield's huge first half.
Oddly, Colorado committed 10 turnovers in the first half and just one in the second half.
--Field Level Media
Colorado | Utah | |
Shane Gatling 21 | Scoring | Sedrick Barefield 22 |
Shane Gatling 3 | Assists | Timmy Allen 4 |
Tyler Bey 10 | Rebounds | Timmy Allen 10 |
Shane Gatling 6 | Free Throws Made | Timmy Allen 9 |
Tyler Bey 2 | Steals | Timmy Allen 3 |
D'Shawn Schwartz 1 | Blocks | Jayce Johnson 2 |