In the 100 years of the BYU-Utah men’s basketball rivalry, there have been many memorable games. For Cougar fans there have been exactly 122 memorable games, the number of times BYU has defeated Utah out of 247 meetings. While many of those 122 wins bring up fond memories for Cougar faithful, 10 of the most memorable are listed below.
10 Memorable Games in the BYU-Utah Rivalry Series
February 26, 1927
BYU 40, Utah 34 (OT)
Saved by free throws in BYU’s first overtime win against Utah, the Cougars pulled in front of the Utes 40-34. Utah missed all four of their free throws while BYU made 6-of-12, giving them six points to win the game. Fred Richards scored 10 points with Bill Snow and Owen Rowe adding nine apiece. Reed “Lob” Collins followed with six points as Clarence Skousen (3), Leslie Wright (2) and Mark Reeve (1) also scored points for the win.
March 5, 1966
BYU 115, Utah 100
In the highest-scoring game against Utah in BYU history, the Cougars came out fast against the Runnin’ Utes and held the lead until Utah got up 20-19 at the 12:02 mark of the first half. It was a back-and-forth battle for the lead, but BYU would pull away, leading at the half by 21 points at 64-43. BYU would hold onto the lead for the rest of the game, putting away the Utes 115-100. With solid team play, four Cougars posted double figures, as well as two posting double-doubles. Jeff Congdon led the Cougars with 33 points and 11 rebounds. The other double-double came from Jim Eakins who tallied 18 points and 13 rebounds, making 4-for-4 free throws and 7-for-10 from the field. Dick Nemelka chalked up 29 points and was shy one rebound for a double-double with nine. Steve Kramer finished off the double-figure players with 16 points on the night.
March 7, 1981
BYU 95, No. 9 Utah 76
After spotting Utah 10 points to start the game and trailing throughout the first half, BYU turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and spoiled the Utes’ hopes of claiming an outright conference title with a 95-76 victory in Provo. The Cougars held the Utes to just 29 percent shooting from the field in the second half to win and solidify their place in the NCAA Tournament. Danny Ainge led the Cougars in the last home game of his BYU career, scoring 35 points on 14-of-25 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Utah All-American Danny Vranes was held to only 12 points (4-for-12 from the field, 4-for-5 on the line) and was 3-of-9 in the second half. The win avenged an earlier 56-60 loss to the Utes on their home court at the Special Events Center. Fred Roberts gave the Cougars the lead for good with a jumper from the free-throw line at the 14:45 mark in the second half, giving BYU a 55-53 lead. The Cougars outscored the Runnin’ Utes 40-23 from that point on, moving Utah into a tie with Wyoming for the WAC championship. BYU had the house packed for the game, setting a Marriott Center attendance record with 23,106.
January 14, 1984
BYU 113, Utah 105 (2OT)
Devin Durrant scored an impressive 34 points in BYU’s 113-105 double overtime victory against the Utes in both teams’ first Western Athletic Conference game of the 1984 season. After maintaining a lead the entire first half and holding onto a 49-44 lead at the break, BYU continued to score, thanks to Brett Applegate’s 15 second-half points and 32 overall. With the Cougars up 87-85, the Utes scored with six seconds in regulation, tying the score and sending the game into overtime. In the first overtime Utah claimed its first lead of the game at 89-87. Down by two points with less than 30 seconds to play, the Cougars fouled Utah’s Albert Springs, sending him to the free-throw line for a one-and-one situation. After Springs missed his first attempt, a jumper by Scott Sinek tied the score, 97-97, with one second on the play clock. The second overtime started with an 8-0 BYU run. Late Utah fouls sent the Cougars to the charity stripe six times in the final two minutes of the game. It was from the line BYU claimed its’ final eight-point win.
January 26, 1985
BYU 63, Utah 62
With Scott Sinek and Timo Saarelainen starting out the scoring for the Cougars in a nail-biter, the Cougars caught the lead four different times early in the first half. BYU then posted a 10-4 run to finish the half, going into the locker rooms with a score of 36-22. Utah would start out the second-half scoring with a 15-foot jumper from the top of the key followed by a dunk from Kelvin Upshaw, sparking an 11-0 Utah run to put the Runnin’ Utes within three. BYU answered with a 10-3 run to put the Cougars up by 10 points again. After three-straight fouls in a row called on BYU, the Utes were able to cut the Cougar lead to three and eventually capturing a one-point lead at 59-60. With a five-foot hook from Saarelainen with 57 seconds left to play, the Cougars found themselves with a one-point lead at 61-60. Utah’s Upshaw then posted a 24-footer with 16 seconds left in the game to put the Utes up by one point. However, a 12-foot jumper from the baseline from Saarelainen with four seconds left gave BYU the one-point victory over Utah with a final score of 63-62. Saarelainen posted 27 points and six rebounds on the night, hitting 12-of-18 from the field. Sinek tallied 10 points and played 35 minutes for the Cougars. Chris Nikchevich chalked up 12 points, shooting 6-for-10 from the field. Alan Pollard posted nine points and 11 rebounds while Jeff Chatman added eight rebounds.
March 9, 1991
BYU 51, No. 8 Utah 49
Played at the University of Wyoming, the Cougars and Utes fought a close battle for the WAC Championship Title. Utah started the scoring, only to be answered by BYU until 10-10 (the fourth tie of the game) when BYU pulled away to lead going into the locker rooms at 18-15. Seven-foot-six freshman Shawn Bradley led the Cougars in scoring at the half with seven points and five rebounds. Coming out of the half, BYU then went on an 11-4 run to achieve the largest lead of the game at nine (29-20). With back-and-forth play for the rest of the game, Utah caught up with the Cougars at the 2:21 mark (42-42), trading baskets until the final buzzer at 44-44. Missing his first free throw and then making the second, Gary Trost put the Cougars up by one point in the five-minute overtime. Utah responded making one of two free throws, tying up the game for the seventh time. Trost, Scott Moon and Mark Heslop each scored from the field, giving the Cougars the 51-49 victory over the Utes. Bradley finished off the game with 21 points, five blocked shots and 13 rebounds (three offensive, 10 defensive). Nathan Call and Trost both posted nine points in the game to help the Cougars win.
March 10, 2000
BYU 58, Utah 54
Perhaps a benchmark for head coach Steve Cleveland and BYU basketball fans at large, the Cougars revitalized the BYU-Utah rivalry, winning 58-54 at the Mountain West Conference Tournament in Las Vegas. BYU ended a 12-game losing streak to the Utes, winning for the first time against Utah since 1995. The victory improved BYU’s record to 20-9 (eventually 22-11), the first time the Cougars recorded a 20-win season since 1995. With 40 percent shooting on the night and 59 percent from the free-throw line, it is no surprise it was the Cougars’ defense that won the game. BYU held Utah to a dismal 30 percent shooting from the floor. With BYU star Mekeli Wesley struggling and hampered with foul trouble, BYU sophomore Eric Nielsen kept the Cougars in the game. Averaging just 5.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game going into the semifinal game, Nielsen shocked the Utes with a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds. Poor Cougar free-throw shooting kept the game close but Utah wasn’t able to capitalize. Down 57-54, Utah’s Hano Mottola had a chance to tie the game with 14.6 seconds left, but his three-point attempt drew nothing but air. The Utes had one more chance to tie the game, but Phil Cullen sent an inbound pass sailing over the heads of his teammates and out of bounds on the opposite baseline. While the Cougars lost to UNLV in the MWC Championship game, BYU secured an NIT bid and advanced to the quarterfinals of the tournament to finish the season.
February 23, 2002
BYU 63, Utah 61
With the attention of the world on Utah during the final days of the 2002 Winter Olympics, the BYU-Utah rivalry stole local headlines with an unforgettable 21-point BYU comeback win to protect the nation-leading home winning streak at 35 games. A victory looked very doubtful after BYU played its worst first half of the home-court victory streak, trailing 43-26 at the break. In the second half, two quick Utah buckets pushed the lead to 21 at 47-26, but the Marriott Center magic ignited as BYU went on an amazing 24-5 run. The momentum had completely changed as BYU was back in the game with 7:26 remaining and down by only two points, 52-50. Great defense led to the second-half offensive explosion. After giving up a season-worst 43 points in the first half, BYU held Utah to 29 percent shooting and outscored the Utes 37-18 in the second half. Seniors Matt Montague and Eric Nielsen led the second-half charge. With 1:18 remaining in the game, Montague hit a rare three-pointer to bring BYU within one, 61-60. On the next possession, Montague made a record-setting assist to Nielsen for an eight-foot jumper that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 62-61, with 25 seconds left. That assist tied Montague with BYU legend Danny Ainge for the all-time career record for assists at 539. The Cougars sealed the win with two crucial rebounds, with 7-foot center Dan Howard getting fouled after a key board. Howard added a free throw, and the Utes were left to walk off the court in disbelief while the BYU players and fans celebrated at mid-court. Despite being in foul trouble, junior forward Travis Hansen finished with a game-high 17 points and team-high seven rebounds for BYU.
March 3, 2007
BYU 85, Utah 62
Playing before a sellout crowd of 22,812, the BYU Cougars secured their position as the Mountain West Conference Champions with an 85-62 victory against in-state rival Utah. With the win, the Cougars claimed their first outright league regular-season title since 1988 and maintained their hold on the nation’s longest active home winning streak at 31 games. BYU was led in scoring by MWC Player of the Year Keena Young, playing in his final home game, and Sam Burgess with 15 points each. Also scoring in double figures was Trent Plaisted with 13 points and Austin Ainge with 11 points. Young led the team with nine rebounds. With 14:03 left to play in the first half, the Cougars took their first lead of the game after a dunk by Plaisted. Lee Cummard increased BYU’s lead to 13-9 with a three. Johnnie Bryant responded with a three-pointer, giving his team a one-point lead, before Jimmy Balderson made one of his own. A pass from Ainge to Burgess sparked a 10-2 Cougar run that gave BYU a 29-21 lead. A three-pointer by Balderson with a minute to play in the half brought the score to 34-24. The fans were then brought to their feet when Ainge’s fast break lay-up resulted in a three-point play and allowed the Cougars to take a 37-26 advantage into the locker room at halftime. BYU continued its hot all-around play in the second half as Jonathan Tavernari increased the Cougar lead to 14 points when he made a lay-up on a pass from Young, and the rout was on with a 15-0 BYU run. With 8:40 to go in the second half Mike Rose found his second basket from behind the arc, bringing the score to 69-40, BYU’s largest lead of the game. From there, the Cougars cruised to the 85-62 win. After the buzzer sounded, BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe presented the conference championship trophy to the team.
January 19, 2008
BYU 55, Utah 52
After a 76-66 win over the Utes in 2007 at the Huntsman Center, the Cougars posted two straight victories for the first time since the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons and three straight over Utah overall, claiming the victory over the Utes 55-52. The Utes drained their first two buckets of the night, holding the lead until junior Lee Cummard drove the paint and scored, earning the and-one opportunity and draining the free throw to give BYU its first lead of the game at 9-8. Utah finally ended a 7-0 Cougar run and a 5:49 scoring drought with a jumper from Johnnie Bryant, and moments later, an 11-8 Cougar lead was 15-13 back in the Utes' favor midway through the first half. The two teams traded buckets from there to a 17-15 Ute lead until another 7-0 Cougar spurt, featuring five points from freshman Jimmer Fredette, gave BYU its largest lead of the game to that point at 22-17 with 5:20 left in the half. Bryant finally ended the 5:30 Utah scoring drought with two free-throw makes at the 2:39 mark as Utah scored six of the next eight points. But BYU had the last word in the half as Cummard drained two free throws and freshman Michael Loyd, Jr. blocked a shot on the other end to send the Cougars into the locker room up 26-23. Utah came out hard and fast to begin the second half, scoring seven of the first eight points to go up 30-27 and force a Cougar timeout 68 seconds in. Plaisted made two free throws in the early going before Cummard scored BYU's first bucket of the half to knot the score at 30-30. The Cougars would find themselves with their largest lead of the game to that point at 48-41. However, a 9-2 run the other way had the Huntsman Center rocking and the game tied at 50-50 with 3:20 left to play. But Burgess hit a huge three-pointer from the corner to put BYU up three points with 2:27 left. Utah got within one point with a bucket from Tyler Kepkay, but couldn't convert at the free-throw line after a Cougar miss. BYU got the ball back up one point with under a minute to play but couldn't find the hoop, giving Utah one more chance with 30 seconds left. The Utes ran the clock down before taking one more shot, which sailed to the side of the basket and into the hands of Cummard. Fittingly, Cummard was fouled and iced the game with two free throws on the other end, making him a perfect 7-for-7 from the line on the night and securing the 55-52 BYU win. Cummard filled the stat sheet as he posted a game-high 19 points along with a team-high nine rebounds, two steals and one assist. Senior Sam Burgess also scored in double figures with 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the field. Despite another tough shooting night for the Cougars, BYU's defense held the Utes to their lowest point total of the season in the win.