Utah basketball gets blitzed in double-digit loss to Iowa State

Runnin' Utes commit season-high 18 turnovers in loss to the Cyclones

Iowa State Cyclones guard Jamarion Batemon (1) knocks the ball away from Utah Runnin' Utes guard Don McHenry (3) during the first half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Tuesday presented Utah another opportunity to earn its first signature win of the Alex Jensen era, with Big 12 power Iowa State in town for a matchup at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

The Cyclones, however, had important business to take care of as well.

Led by Joshua Jefferson's 21 points and timely 3s from Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State (24-4, 11-4 Big 12) bounced back from its loss in Provo and avoided another hit to its NCAA Tournament résumé with a 75-59 victory over Utah (10-18, 2-13 Big 12) on Tuesday.

Terrence Brown's 18 points led the Runnin' Utes, who dropped a fifth straight home game after trailing the Cyclones for all but 6 minutes of Tuesday's tilt from Salt Lake City.

Here's how it all went down at the Huntsman Center.

Early Turnovers Pile On Utes

Coming off a lackluster loss at BYU, Iowa State spent the first several minutes of Tuesday's contest taking its frustration out on Utah.

Specifically, the Cyclones relentlessly blitzed the Utes on the offensive end, making it extremely difficult for Utah's guards to move the ball from one side of the court to the other and create open looks for others. Iowa State's ball deny created several turnovers, a few of which led to easy dunks on the other end.

Iowa State had a reputation for causing havoc on the defensive end; it entered Tuesday ranked No. 8 in the country in turnover rate, according to KenPom. But scouting for the Cyclones' physicality and actually having to match it on the court proved to be two completely tasks for the Utes, who essentially matched their season average in giveaways (11.3) through 20 minutes of play Tuesday.

Tamin Lipsey, Nate Heise and Jamarion Batemon were the main culprits responsible for making Utah's life difficult early on, as those three Cyclones each recorded two steals in the first half and were rewarded with their defensive intensity with transition buckets on the other end.

Iowa State's ball denial wound up being the difference at the halftime break. The Cyclones led by 10 after scoring 14 points off Utah's 11 turnovers.

Utah took better care of the ball in the second half, but still wound up committing a season-high 18 turnovers. Iowa State scored 20 points off those miscues by the Utes.

Utes Battle On Both Ends But Run Out Of Steam

Alex Jensen has often credited his team for the fight and grit its shown throughout what's been a rocky 2025-26 campaign. Conversely, he hasn't shied away from making his frustrations with Utah's effort known when the Utes put together a lackluster performance.

Tuesday's showing was emblematic of the former.

Yes, the Utes found themselves trailing by double-digits midway through the first half — a scenario they've found themselves in multiple times in Big 12 play this season — and continued to make the same mistakes on both ends of the floor that they did in several of their other losses. Finding ways to generate offense through back-cuts, playing off each other and battling a team many consider to be Final Four contenders were the main takeaways from the Utes' performance, though, even if they seemed like "morale victories."

Iowa State had a few opportunities to blow its lead wide open, but Utah managed to answer the call a handful of times, even pulling within two after the Cyclones jumped ahead by 10 through 15 minutes of play, and then again coming within five points in the early minutes of the second half. It wasn't until Joshua Jefferson made a few free throws, followed by a flurry of 3s from Milan Momcilovic over a 3-minute span midway through the second half, that the Cyclones felt like they had a comfortable enough lead to hold off the Utes.

Prior to Iowa State's 15-4 scoring run, Utah strung together stops and scores to keep things interesting. The Utes managed to have success against the Cyclones' ball pressure with backdoor cuts, in addition to some nice shotmaking from McHenry, and had moments defensively that led to transition opportunities.

Outside of its turnover woes, Utah had an OK night offensively. Obviously, against a squad like Iowa State, the Jefferson-Momcilovic combination and the experienced guard play, the Utes would've needed better than just "OK" in order to pull off the upset.

Ultimately, the Cyclones' methodical approach offensively and their relentlessness on the defensive end slowly but surely put the Utes in a submission hold.

Up Next

Utah hits the road for a Saturday matinee against Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils will be looking for the regular season sweep of the Utes after earning a 71-63 victory in Salt Lake City on Feb. 4.

While Utah battled Iowa State, Arizona State was in Fort Worth, Texas, for a matchup against TCU. The Sun Devils trailed by three at the half but couldn't contain the Horned Frogs in the second half, as Bobby Hurley's squad yielded 57 points over the final 20 minutes en route to a 90-78 loss.

Tipoff from Desert Financial Arena is set for 1:30 p.m. MT. Fans can watch the game on TNT.