The Runnin' Utes were running on Monday in their season-opener at home with the Utah men's basketball team dominating Eastern Washington 101-66 inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

With the win, the Utes are now 90-26 all-time in season-opening games and 81-13 overall when those season-openers also served as the home-opener. Meanwhile, head coach Craig Smith is now 7-3 all-time as a Division I head coach.

  Utah started the season off in a flurry with Cole Bajema and Game Madsen knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a monstrous one-handed jam from Madsen to go up 8-2 early before things settled in. Up 12-10 heading out of the 11:48 media break, the Runnin' Utes kicked things into high gear and went on an 18-8 run to lead 30-18 at the 4:00 mark.

That lead would only grow for the Utes as they finished out the final 4:00 minutes of the frame with a 14-2 run that was aided by 15 first-half points from Rollie Worster.

Madsen led the way in the second half for Utah, scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points on 5-of-7 shooting – three of which came from downtown. Utah was also able to unload its bench on Monday in the season-opener with Jayden Teat making his collegiate debut alongside Jake Wahlin – who recorded the first point of his career with 2:14 left in the game to put the Utes up by 35 (98-63) before Brandon Haddock drained a corner three on the next position to push Utah past the century mark 101-66.

Bajema and Madsen were both shy of their career-highs. Bajema was just a basket away from surpassing his previous career-high of 18 before finishing with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Floor general Rollie Worster had a great night for the Utes, posting 15 points with 5 rebounds, 8 assists and a career-high 6 steals. Meanwhile, a trio of other Utes chipped in with 11 points including Branden Carlson, Keba Keita and Ben Carlson. Keita also recorded his first-career double-double on Monday pulling down 11 boards to go with his 11 points.

BY THE NUMBERS
Worster's 6 steals is a new career-high and the first Ute to have 5-plus steals since Rylan Jones against Idaho State on Dec. 8, 2020 … last time Utah had 10-plus steals in a game came against Stanford on Feb. 2, 2023 … the last time Utah had double-digit 3-pointers came at #8 Arizona on Feb. 16, 2023 …  the last time Utah had six players in double-figures came against Washington in the Pac-12 Tournament back on March 10, 2021 … the Utes eclipsed the century mark for the first time since defeating BYU at home on Dec. 4, 2019, in thrilling overtime game … last time Utah shot 55-percent or better in a game was against Washington State this past season on Jan. 19, 2023 … the Utes were also +20 on the boards tonight, outrebounding Eastern Washington 48-28.

UP NEXT
Utah remains at home this week as it welcomes in UC Riverside into the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Friday, Nov. 10, as part of its Military Appreciation Night.