SALT LAKE CITY – The ninth-ranked Utah Utes remain undefeated in the Jon M. Huntsman Center as they came away with an 83-73 victory over Southern California in front of 3,200 fans on Friday night. 

Utah has advanced to 17-2 overall on the season and 7-2 in the Pac-12, while USC sits at 15-5 overall and 5-4 in Pac-12 action. Utah is 9-0 at home this season. This is the Utes best 19 game start since 2018-19 (18-1). 

Kennady McQueen drained a three pointer to put the Utes on the board just 45 seconds after opening tip. The two teams matched each other in scoring efforts sitting tied at 12-12 halfway through the first. The Trojans only scored one more field goal the remainder of the quarter while the Utes took off for 11 points to take a 23-14 lead. 

Utah controlled the entirety of the second quarter pushing the lead out to as many as 18 points and ended up outscoring USC 26-19. The Utes big second quarter gave them a 49-33 lead going into the halftime break. Utah's 49 points in the first half is the most first half points in a Pac-12 game this season.The Utes shot 63.6 percent from the field in the first half going 21-33 from the field and 5-12 from the three. 

Utah started out the second half maintaining a strong pace. With just over three minutes left, Jenna Johnson executed a layup to give Utah its biggest lead of the game with a 69-49 score. Johnson's bucket was the last one for the Utes in the third quarter as Utah went on a 3:27 scoring drought allowing the Trojans to push back with a 7-0 run. 

Utah still had a 69-56 lead going into the final quarter of play but struggled to find offensive momentum as they only hit two field goals in the fourth quarter and both were made three-pointers from McQueen. The Utes did record eight points from the free throw line in the final quarter to help claim the 83-73 victory. 

LEADERS
Utah was led by Alissa Pili who had 21 points going 9-13 from the field. This was Pili's fourth consecutive game scoring 20 or more points. She led the team in rebounding pulling down five total boards, three of which were offensive. Pili also led the team with four assists. 

McQueen ended the game going 5-8 from beyond the arc for 17 total points. Gianna Kneepkens also hit double figures with 16 points. 

COMPARISON
Utah ended the game shooting 53 percent from the field, 34 percent from beyond the arc, and 81 percent from the line. USC finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field, 38 from the three and 55 from the line. 

Utah surpassed USC's in-the-paint efforts 42-26 and narrowly outrebounded the Trojans 32-31. Utah had 10 turnovers to USC's 11.
 
TALKING ABOUT THE GAME – HEAD COACH LYNNE ROBERTS:
"Tonight was a great win. USC is tough. I think we were up 18 or 20 and then I felt like we took our foot off the gas a little bit. You can't do that in this conference against anybody, especially against a really good team that's playing at a high level. I'm proud of us for finding a way to finish. It's probably good for us to get pushed back and figure out how to still win by 10. But to score 83 on a team that's been giving up 53, is something I'm proud of the team for.  I think defensively we weren't as sharp as we could have been in that second half and then that kind of affected our offense. We weren't moving the ball like we had been so learning, while winning is the best thing."

STANDOUT STATS
Utah shot better than 50% for the 13th time this season (53%). The Utes made eight three-pointers (23 att.), bringing their season total to 10 games with eight or more three-pointers in a game. In Roberts' eight seasons as head coach it's the 96th time Utah has hit eight or more threes in a game, going 70-26 in such games.

Today's game was Utah's 13th this season scoring 80 or more points, all Utah victories, and the 15th time in the last 23 games, dating back to the 2021-22 season. The Utes are now 53-5 when reaching the 80-point mark in Roberts' tenure.

Utah recorded 3,252 in attendance. It's the highest recorded attendance since the 2019-20 season when 3,374 fans showed up for a matchup with Arizona on Feb. 21, 2020. 

COMMUNITY SERIES
The Utah Utes have been embarking on a community series that has helped serve those in need and connect people more with the program's student-athletes and coaches. Earlier in the week the Utes teamed up with Utah's First Lady, Abby Cox to help raise awareness and give back to Unified Sports Special Olympics. Head coach Lynne Roberts donated $100 per made three pointer and thanks to the Utes performance beyond the arc ended up donating $800. 

"I think that the reason that we chose the Special Olympics is to try to bring awareness for every kid to have a chance to play sports and including everybody," Roberts said. "I think sports is such a great thing for young people, no matter what their circumstances are. You're on a team and you're working with people and you're getting exercise and it's fun and  no matter what people's life situations are they need to have these opportunities. I'm so honored that First Lady Cox was here and she's just such a great advocate for that. It was fun to have her in the locker room and the bench. It's a cause that I feel strongly about and love being able to spotlight it."

UP NEXT
The Utes are set to host UCLA on Jan. 29 at Noon (MT) for the annual alumni game.  Tyson Ewing and Milee Enger will have the Utah radio call on ESPN700, and live stats can be found at UtahUtes.com.
 
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