Runnin' Utes Drop First Game of the 2025-26 Campaign

Thursday, November 20

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

5-1,0-0Big 12

Cal Poly

3-3,0-0Big West

Cal Poly

Utah

Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics

Runnin' Utes Drop First Game of the 2025-26 Campaign

11/20/2025 10:42 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Terrence Brown Highlights

Trio of players in double-figures not enough in Utah’s Thursday night’s loss

By: Austin Eames

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team fought valiantly but the Cal Poly Mustangs handed the Utes their first loss of the 2025-26 season, 92-85, inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center Thursday night.

Utah (5-1) opened the contest with a 5-0 lead but quickly relinquished its advantage as the Mustangs (3-3) stormed back and tied the game at 5-5 with 16:57 left in the first period. Cal Poly followed it up with an 8-2 run to take a 13-7 lead before Utah responded with a defensive stop and two scores of its own to get back within 13-11 on a second-chance layup from Kendyl Sanders at the 12:15 mark.

Down 48-35 later in the frame, a driving score from Terrence Brown gave the Utes life and started up a quick 6-0 run that closed with a crowd-popping transition dunk to cut the Utah deficit to 48-39 with 1:00 left before the break.

Brown led the Utes with 15 points in the half, shooting 6-of-11 from the field, as they entered the locker room trailing 50-39 after a combined 36 points from Cal Poly's Hamad Mousa (18) and Cayden Ward (18).

Down 73-62 with 10:21 remaining in the game, a layup from Josh Hayes opened a 12-3 scoring run that was capped off by Brown – which electrified the Utah fans as the Utes got within 76-74 of the Mustangs.

However, Cal Poly responded with a run of its own to push its lead back up to 87-76 with 2:11 left on the clock. The Runnin' Utes didn't give up, however, and got within two-possessions of the Mustangs twice but wasn't able to complete the comeback as they dropped their first game of the Alex Jensen Era.

Despite the loss, Brown notched a game-high 29 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field. Keanu Dawes nearly registered his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Don McHenry added 16 points to round out Utah's trio of double-digit scorers.

BY THE NUMBERS

Terrence Brown saw his 25-consecutive made free-throw streak snapped with 54 seconds to go – which was a new three-game high at Utah
Utah has now made at least 15 free throws in the last four games
The loss against Cal Poly marked head coach Alex Jensen's first loss inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center both as a player (59-0) and coach (6-1) – moving to 65-1 all-time

UP NEXT
The Runnin' Utes will get their first test away from home the next couple weeks as they first travel to Palm Desert, Calif., for the Acrisure Series (Nov. 25-26). Utah battles Grand Canyon first on Tuesday, Nov. 25, inside Acrisure Arena as it squares off against the younger two Drew brothers in Bryce Drew starting at 10 p.m. (MDT) on CBS Sports Network with Ed Cohen and Dan Dickau calling the action.

SEASON TICKETS & MINI PLANS
Fans still have time to purchase season tickets for the 2025-26 Utah men's basketball season under first-year head coach Alex Jensen. In addition, fans can also choose between two mini plans; the Saturday ONLY Plan starts at $125 while the Conference ONLY plan starts at $150. Single-game tickets for non-conference games are also on-sale starting at just $10 per ticket.

Fans interested in buy season tickets, mini plans or single-game tickets (non-conference) can do so by going online at UtahTickets.com or by phone at 801-581-UTIX (8849).

For the latest news and information on the Runnin' Utes men's basketball program, fans can stay connected online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, X and Instagram. Fans can also stay connected on their mobile devices or tablets with the Utah 360 app.

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