Runnin' Utes Rally Past Long Beach State In Season Opener, 66-63

Monday, November 2

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

1-0,0-0Big 12

Long Beach State

0-1,0-0Big West

Team	1	2	F
Long Beach St.	40	23	63
Utah	28	38	66

Box Score (PDF) Highlights Trey Campbell Highlights

Utah men's basketball vs. Long Beach State in the 2026-27 season-opener at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on Monday, November 2, 2026

Photo by: Anna Fuder/Utah Athletics

11/2/2026 10:23 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Trey Campbell Highlights Photo Gallery

Utah erased a 17-point deficit to defeat Long Beach State 66-63 in its season opener.

By: Satya Redman

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah men's basketball team battled back from a 17-point deficit to defeat Long Beach State 66-63 Monday night inside the Jon. M. Huntsman Center to open the 2026-27 season.

Long Beach State scored the first five points of the game, until an electric dunk by Alec Anigbata. This dunk sparked Utah's (1-0) offense to a 10-0 run, which helped give the Utes a 12-8 lead at the first media timeout (13:43).

Both teams consistently exchanged baskets for the next several minutes before Long Beach State used an 8-2 run to jump ahead 26-22 at the 7:04 media timeout.

Coming out of the break, the Beach (0-1) continued to strike and extended their lead to 35-23 with 3:39 remaining in the half. However, Utah answered with a 5-0 spurt behind a dunk from Malek Gomma and a triple from Trey Campbell to cut the deficit to 35-28 (1:40). Long Beach State answered with five-straight points of its own to send Utah into the locker room trailing 40-28.

Coming out of the halftime break, the Beach wasted no time and knocked down a pair of triples to extend their lead (47-30). However, Utah fired right back with a 10-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to 47-40 entering the first media break of the second frame, 49-40 (15:27)

Both teams continued to exchange buckets before Jaxson Johnson knocked down his first collegiate triple to bring Utah within 56-51 at the 11:14 mark. The Utes then turned things around defensively, holding Long Beach State scoreless 6:43 minutes while going on a 12-0 run to take their first lead since the opening half (60-56) with 6:29 remaining.

The Beach cut Utah's lead down to a 60-59 before Campbell knocked down a pair of free throws followed by a steal that led to a fast break layup from TJ Burch to give the Utes a 64-59 cushion heading into the final media break (3:26)

Long Beach State answered with a triple to cut Utah's lead down to 64-62 with 1:54 left to go. However, Jackson Holcombe answered with a second-chance layup to push the Utes' lead back to 66-62 with 1:02 to go.

The Beach got within three after a free throw, but Utah held on to secure the 66-63 comeback win.

Campbell led the Utes with a game-high 20 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. Holcombe added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks while Anigbata finished with 10 points. Gomma chipped in with 7 points and added 11 rebounds while Zati Loubaki added 8 points off the bench.

BY THE NUMBERS
·       Utah's recovery from a 17-point deficit tied for the fourth largest comeback since 2013-14
·       The last time Utah came back from a 17-point deficit was back on January 3rd, 2019, at Arizona State to win 97-86
·       With the win, Utah is now 93-26 all-time in home-openers and 84-13 all-time when those home-openers also served as the season-opener
·       Utah head coach Alex Jensen is now 2-0 in season-openers since taking over the helm last season
·       Utah scored its first basket of the season thanks to an electric dunk from Alec Anigbata (17:25) – which was his first collegiate basket
·       Zati Loubaki scored a driving layup in the first half – which marked his first Division 1 basket (14:28)
·       Babacar Faye checked in for the Utes with 10:41 on the clock in the first half – which was the first time he has played since December 14th, 2024, due to injury
·       Jaxon Johnson recorded his first collegiate bucket scoring a three with 11:14 on the clock in the second half
·       TJ Burch tied his career-high in rebounds with 5 boards – the fifth time in his career
·       Utah outscored Long Beach State 38-23 in the second half while holding the Beach to just 7-of-22 shooting from the field
·       Utah shot 51-percent from the floor as a team, knocking down 26-of-51 attempts while assisting on 18 made field-goals
·       Utah dominated inside the paint with a 40-18 advantage over Long Beach State while also outscoring the Beach 22-12 in fast-break points

UP NEXT
The homestand continues for Utah as it welcomes in the Towson Tigers for a 7 p.m. (MT) match-up inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday, Nov. 5. Chris Sylvester will once again have the call on ESPN+ while former Runnin' Utes assistant coach Joe Cravens serves as the analyst in the first-ever match-up between the two programs.

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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