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We knew it was going to happen. We knew that there was almost no way St. Katherine — a first year college basketball program — could challenge Utah at the Huntsman Center.

Still, knowing and seeing the carnage in person are still two very different things.

The Utes defeated the Firebirds on Saturday afternoon 124-51 in a game where the most impressive thing may have been the 9,954 who showed up to watch a guaranteed beatdown. Utah scored the first 19 points of the contest, 24 of the first 27 and led by as much as 47-12.

With that, Utah's nonconference season ends with 11 wins in 12 tries. Now, with nationally ranked Oregon coming to Salt Lake City on Thursday, the basketball is for real from here out.

"We wanted to come out focused and come out and play well," sophomore forward Jordan Loveridge said. "The main thing we wanted was to execute. We didn't want to just score on fastbreaks when we could've. We wanted to run our offense and create good looks at the basket."

After playing San Diego State on Friday night, facing the Utes amounted to a second game within 24 hours for the Firebirds. Utah took advantage of that. Every member on the roster outside of walk-on Austin Eastman scored at least two baskets. Everyone played minutes. Krystkowiak worked on different lineups, as junior center Marko Kovacevic, a juco transfer making his Utah debut after breaking his wrist earlier this season, totaled eight points and six rebounds.

There were some good performances. Freshman Ahmad Fields scored a career-high 13 points and added 10 rebounds. Junior guard Delon Wright had 15 rebounds and six assists in 26 minutes. Loveridge had 17 points and eight rebounds.

Beyond that, however, the blowout was predictable. Utah shot 79 percent from the field in the second half. —

Storylines

O Utah rolls past first-year NAIA program St. Katherine 124-51, improving to 11-1 this season.

• Center Marko Kovacevic makes his Utah debut, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds.

• Junior guard Delon Wright grabs 15 rebounds in 26 minutes.

ONLINE NOW • For a photo gallery of Utah's win, visit

> sltrib.com/sports —

Utah 124, Saint Katherine 51

SAINT KATHERINE (2-13)

Wood 3-10 0-0 8, Miller 2-11 0-0 6, White 5-13 1-1 12, W. Shugrue 1-3 0-0 3, Roethler 1-5 0-0 2, Tavares 1-2 2-2 5, Haywood 0-2 0-0 0, MItchell 0-3 0-0 0, Perez 4-13 3-5 13, Rose 0-4 0-0 0, Reeves 0-0 0-0 0, J. Shugrue 0-0 0-0 0, Merrell 0-4 2-2 2.

Totals 17-70 8-10 51.

UTAH (11-1)

Lenz 3-3 2-2 8, Taylor 3-8 0-0 6, Tucker 5-8 0-0 14, Loveridge 7-9 3-4 17, Wright 3-5 0-0 6, Van Brocklin 2-3 0-0 6, Kovacevic 3-5 2-2 8, Onwas 2-3 1-2 5, Van Dyke 5-6 0-0 11, Fields 5-7 1-2 13, Eastman 0-1 0-0 0, Ogbe 2-3 4-4 8, Bachynski 3-5 4-6 10, Ricketts 2-2 0-0 4, Olsen 4-5 0-0 8.

Totals 49-73 17-22 124.

Halftime—Utah 55-14. 3-Point Goals—Saint Katherine 9-39 (Perez 2-5, Wood 2-8, Miller 2-9, W. Shugrue 1-2, Tavares 1-2, White 1-4, Haywood 0-1, MItchell 0-2, Roethler 0-2, Rose 0-4), Utah 9-21 (Tucker 4-6, Van Brocklin 2-2, Fields 2-2, Van Dyke 1-2, Onwas 0-1, Eastman 0-1, Ogbe 0-1, Wright 0-1, Loveridge 0-2, Taylor 0-3). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Saint Katherine 12 (Rose, Wood 2), Utah 71 (Wright 15). Assists—Saint Katherine 9 (Miller 3), Utah 31 (Wright 6). Total Fouls—Saint Katherine 18, Utah 15. A—9,954.