SALT LAKE CITY — Gabe Madsen scored 21 points and Deivon Smith came up an assist shy of his second career triple-double as Utah held off a late Colorado rally to earn a 73-68 victory to remain undefeated at home on Saturday.
Utah (15-7, 6-5) is 12-0 at the Huntsman Center, but has lost nine straight Pac-12 Conference road games dating back to last season.
After playing to a 31-31 draw at intermission, Madsen hit a 3-pointer and turned a four-point play to put Utah up, 42-37 three minutes into the second half. Smith scored the first five points in a 6-0 run that gave the Utes a 10-point lead, 48-38 with more than 12 minutes left. Utah held a double-digit lead until KJ Simpson scored at the basket with 2:51 left to make it 62-54.
After Lawson Lovering's layup at the 2:00 mark, Simpson had a layup, then sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a dunk by Smith to get Colorado within 66-63 with a minute left. Madsen and Smith each hit two free throws while Simpson dunked to make it 70-65. Simpson missed a 3-pointer, but Tristan da Silva hit the second of two free throws to get the Buffaloes within four but Utah hit 3 of 6 from the line to close out the win.
Madsen hit 7 of 12 from the field and was 5 of 6 from the free throw line to lead Utah. Smith posted a triple-double in his first career start against Stanford on Jan. 14, scoring 16 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing 11 assists. He nearly matched that feat against Colorado, finishing with 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Simpson led Colorado (15-7, 6-5) with 25 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals. J'Vonne Hadley scored 15 points, Eddie Lampkin Jr. scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and da Silva added 10 points and grabbed seven boards.
Utah will play host to No. 11 Arizona on Thursday. Colorado will host Arizona State on Thursday.
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