What Utah basketball players said following blowout win over Eastern Washington

Terrence Brown and Keanu Dawes analyzed Utah's 24-point win over Eastern Washington

Utah Runnin' Utes guard Terrence Brown (2) scored 20 points in the team's 101-77 victory over the Eastern Washington Eagles. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Maybe Utah basketball players were tired of hearing their head coach preach about it; perhaps it was blowing a 14-point second-half lead to Mississippi State the last time out that made the message finally sink in.

Whatever the case, the Runnin' Utes (8-4) finally adhered to what Alex Jensen had been preaching for the last month as they put together their most complete performance of the season in a 101-77 victory over Eastern Washington on Saturday.

Led by 20-point performances from Don McHenry (27), Keanu Dawes (21) and Terrence Brown (20), Utah set new season-highs in points (101), made field goals (39), assists (23) and margin of victory (24 points) during its victory over Eastern Washington (2-10).

Utah had struggled closing out some of its other nonconference games, including a few wobbly nights against mid-major opponents. The defensive lapses and self-inflicted miscues didn't rear their ugly head into Saturday's contest, though, as Utah's lead in the second half never shrunk below nine and swelled to 20 with just under 8 minutes left in regulation.

Here's what Brown and Dawes had to say after the game.

Brown on what made this game different from the others

"I would say probably the emphasis the coaches had on like the other players on the other team in practice this week. We were really locked in on that the whole week, and knowing our personnel and knowing our man and coming in, knowing what we wanted to execute."

Dawes on the team's ability to share the ball effectively

"I just think we were able to follow the game plan. And then, like you said, we just played with a pass. We had 23 assists to their 13 assists. [Terrence Brown] had 11 assists. And I think it just started from how we came out the jump, ready to play and just getting everybody involved early on in the game."

Brown on Kendyl Sanders' impact

"I'd say Kendyl helps us really well, because he comes in every time and does exactly what coach asks of him. He doesn't expect more from the team — like he doesn't come in thinking that he deserves more than what he should."

"He comes in, he rebounds, he knocks down open shots and then he just he listens, because he knows he's a freshman, so he listens to a lot of upperclassmen whenever we tell him something. He's just doing the right things, and that's why he's getting more minutes."

Dawes on Ibrahima Traore making his Utah debut

"It means a lot to me personally because I've been around him the last year, so I've seen from the day he got injured till now, and then just seeing how much work he puts in to be able to get back to playing shape and to be able to come in ready to play immediately."

"I think he got a bucket like his as soon as he checked in the game. He just brings so much physicality and intensity that I think we we miss at times."

Brown on the team's improvements over the past couple weeks

"Coach emphasizes a lot — like going into games — a lot of teams are going to be crowding the paint, doing things like that. So just emphasizing me finding an open man and playing with the pass, which I was doing a little bit, doing pretty well today; just trying to find my teammates, and then, us playing off each other.

"I feel like the energy for our team is a big thing for us. If one person sees the ball go into the basket, we got good energy for them. It gravitates to the next person. So, just us playing with high joy and a high motor just gets us better every single day."

"And obviously bringing it into practice. It starts in practice. So that's what we do."