Parker Van Dyke scored 16 points off the bench, while Donnie Tillman tallied 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, to lead Utah to a 98-63 victory over Mississippi Valley State on Thursday night.
Timmy Allen finished with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Utah (2-1) has won 11 straight regular season non-conference home games dating back to the 2016-17 season.
Dante Scott scored 18 points to lead the Delta Devils (0-4). Mississippi Valley State leading scorer Jordan Evans scored just two points after going 0-of-11 from the field. Evans averaged 19.0 points over his first three games.
Utah wasted no time imposing its will on offense. The Utes ripped off a 14-4 run to take a 19-9 lead over Mississippi Valley State. Riley Battin and Van Dyke punctuated the run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
The Delta Devils trimmed the deficit in half behind baskets from Michael Green and Aleksa Koracin. They had a brief chance to make it a one-possession game, but Gregory Holloway missed an open layup.
Vante Hendrix quickly responded by knocking down a transition 3-pointer on the other end. Tillman followed his basket with another long-distance basket and then fed a steal to Van Dyke for a layup to extend Utah's lead to 27-14.
Mississippi Valley State rallied a second time before halftime.
The Delta Devils cut Utah's lead to 37-30 on Emmanuel Ejeh's jumper. The Utes slammed the door shut for good, scoring baskets on six straight possessions as part of a decisive 15-0 run.
Battin and Van Dyke each contributed a pair of baskets to fuel the run. Once Van Dyke finished it off with a layup, Utah held a commanding 52-30 lead.
The Utes shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half - including 8-of-15 from 3-point range -- to pull away.
Utah tied a school record set in 2002 against UNLV by making 17 3-pointers. Brandon Morley helped the Utes match the record on the second of back-to-back 3-pointers with 2:13 left.
--Field Level Media
Mississippi Valley State | Utah | |
Dante Scott 18 | Scoring | Parker Van Dyke 16 |
Tereke Eckwood 2 | Assists | Donnie Tillman 7 |
Emmanuel Ejeh 6 | Rebounds | Donnie Tillman 9 |
Dante Scott 5 | Free Throws Made | Timmy Allen 4 |
Michael Green 3 | Steals | Donnie Tillman 3 |
Emmanuel Ejeh 1 | Blocks | Novak Topalovic 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Mississippi Valley State | 63 | 38.1 | 6-17 | 9-14 | 12 | 28 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
Utah | 98 | 51.5 | 17-36 | 11-18 | 23 | 41 | 5 | 4 | 10 |