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Boulder, Colo. • The Buffaloes had revenge in mind on Saturday night.
The Utes? Repeat.
It was No. 13-ranked Utah that had its way, hitting shot after shot after shot and embarassing its Rocky Mountain rival in a 79-51 drubbing on its home floor.
How hot were they? Utah lit up the 3-point line, going 13 for 22, led by Brandon Taylor's 18 points.
How good was the defense? Colorado began the first half shooting 1 for 13 and the second shooting 2 for 17. Aside from a 10-point effort from returning starter Josh Scott, there wasn't much to say about Colorado's offense.
Luck had something to do with it: The Buffs were without leading scorer Askia Booker, who was the focus of much of Utah's game plan before being announced as a late scratch an hour before tipoff.
But that hardly took away the sweetness for the Utes, who now share first place with Arizona in the Pac-12. Until Saturday, a Larry Krystkowiak-coached team hadn't tasted victory in Boulder.
"I didn't really care about the rankings," Taylor said. "I think that it is a signature win for us to go into Colorado and beat them. It's very hard to win here."
Three-pointers put a lid on Colorado midway through the game. Between the end of the first half and the beginning of the second, Utah hit five straight 3-pointers — shot by Taylor, Jordan Loveridge and Dakarai Tucker — to pull away.
Even a brief scare, when Delon Wright didn't start the second half due to muscle tightness in his leg, didn't seem to slow the Utes, who started the final 20 minutes on a 9-0 run and left the Buffaloes to choke on Utah's dust.
Taylor's sixth and final 3-pointer with 6:47 left sent the fans streaming out of Coors Events Center, where the Utes hadn't won since 2003.
"Hopefully that's an indication of how we do next year without [Delon]," Krystkowiak said. "It was a good performance."
Wright's soreness was quickly relieved, and the senior added 9 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists to the stat sheet. Loveridge came up strong in the second half, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.
Utah's passing helped it immensely. Colorado attempted to apply pressure, but the Utes broke down the defense with relative ease in the second half, whipping assists left and right to the paint and on the perimeter. Utah's physicality on the boards helped: The Utes outrebounded a team that has historically won that battle at home.
In all, the Utes had 20 assists on 26 baskets, and the 10 turnovers were a bit of a mirage — some late giveaways in the final minutes didn't do service to how Utah took care of the ball.
The Utes began the game with the defense that was so effective against USC: Colorado hit only one of its first 13 shots. Already without Booker, and with Johnson and Scott coming off the bench, it seemed like the Buffs might get buried before they began.
But Utah left a bit of a window, going almost six minutes without a field goal midway through the first half. Scott led a Colorado surge, muscling his way inside to sink tough shots, and CU had a little bit of life.
But the run was short-lived. Utah ended the half with a run of 3-pointers, making four of their last five deep shots of the half. Taylor clipped all Colorado momentum with the final shot before the break — a buzzer-beater that put the Utes up by 12.
Twitter: @kylegoon —
No. 13 Utah 79, Colorado 51
• Utah earns its first win at Coors Events Center since 2003.
• The Utes earn a share of first place in the Pac-12 with a win and an Arizona loss.
• Utah shoots 13 for 22 from 3-point range.
• Brandon Taylor leads with 18 points on 6-for-9 shooting.