SALT LAKE CITY — Devon Daniels had a career-best 18 points and Kyle Kuzma nearly had a triple-double to lift Utah to a 92-84 win over Montana State on Thursday night.
Tyler Rawson, a junior college transfer, also posted a career high with 17 points and nine rebounds for the Utes (5-1). Jo Jo Zamora added 15 points, Lorenzo Bonam had 12 and Parker Van Dyke 10 to give coach Larry Krystkowiak win No. 100 at Utah.
Kuzma, who faced a double-team whenever he caught the ball in the post, had 16 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists.
Kuzma found Daniels on a fast break with 1:04 to play, but Daniels was fouled before he could make the a layup and complete Kuzma’s rare statistical benchmark. Kuzma, who played 38 minutes, went to the bench before the free throws.
Tyler Hall paced MSU (5-3) with 22 points while Quinton Everett had 21 and Zach Green 15.
Green made a 3-pointer to cut Utah’s lead to 52-49 early in the second half. Rawson made three baskets and a free throw while Daniels added a 3-point play to put the Utes up 66-56.
The Utes dominated the interior early and used a 24-9 rebounding advantage to stake a 47-35 lead at halftime. Ben Osayande was the first Bobcat to grab a rebound more than nine minutes into the game.
Long-time NBA player Andre Miller and current Utah Jazz assistant coach Alex Jensen are the only two Utah players who have notched double figures in three categories. Miller did it against Arizona in 1998 NCAA Tournament and Jensen’s gem was against Fresno State in 1999.
BIG PICTURE
Montana State: The Bobcats have won all five of their home games, but have now dropped three in a row on the road. The biggest difference has been on the boards, where the Bobcats are outrebounded by more than 10 each away game, compared to a plus-9 advantage at home. Montana State made all three of its losses competitive.
Utah: After its first loss of the year against No. 18 Butler, the Utes bounced back against another outmatched opponent. Kuzma had his best all-around game of the season and the Utes had 21 assists after a four assists-18 turnover performance against Butler.
UP NEXT
Montana State returns home to face Milwaukee on Monday.
On Tuesday, Utah will play its seventh straight home game against Utah Valley.
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