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No. 25 Utah hammers UC Riverside

Nov 22, 2014 - 4:27 AM Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Kyle Kuzma finished with a game-high 19 points off the bench to lead No. 25 Utah to an 88-42 blowout of UC Riverside on Friday.

Kuzma was 6-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range for the Runnin' Utes (2-1), who rebounded from a 53-49 loss to San Diego State on Tuesday.

Delon Wright and Jordan Loveridge netted 13 and 12 points, respectively, and Brekkott Chapman supplied 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the win.

Nick Gruninger had 14 points for the Highlanders (1-2), who were coming off a 70-69 loss to Sacramento State on Monday.

The Runnin' Utes separated themselves with a 19-4 run, which Kuzma capped by tipping in a shot for a 35-15 score with 4:46 to play in the first half.

Utah led 48-21 at the break and shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27) compared to UC Riverside's paltry 29.2 percent (7-of-24).

Wright's 3-pointer set the tone early in the second half and the Runnin' Utes pushed the lead to 34 points after he and Kuzma hit back-to-back triples for a 62-28 game 5:08 into final stanza.

Utah's lead ballooned to 47 points down the stretch.

Game Notes

It was the first meeting between the two programs ... Utah improved to 69-15 all-time against teams in the Big West conference ... Utah finished the game shooting 51.8 percent, while UC Riverside shot 29.1 percent.