Utah was manhandled on Wednesday, falling 70-36 to No. 7 Houston at Fertitta Center in Houston in the most lopsided loss of the year for the Runnin’ Utes.

The game was moved back a day, as a snow storm blew through the Houston area Tuesday.

3 takeaways

Turnover troubles and shooting woes doomed the Utes. Houston is known for its tough defense, but that really manifested itself against Utah.

The Cougars forced the Utes into a season-high 26 turnovers, and Houston turned those into 29 points.

Utah’s offense put up a season-low 36 points on 30.2% shooting — that is 20 fewer points than the Utes’ previous total of 56 in a Big 12 opening loss at Baylor and the fewest points for Utah in a game since March 13, 2014.

Even after a frigid first half, Utah missed 12 of its first 13 field goals of the second half before getting a handful of shots to fall late against the Cougars’ backups.

No Utes finished in double-figures — Gabe Madsen had a team-high eight points on 3 of 10 shooting.

Defensive issues and playing from behind … again. Much like in its first three Big 12 games when the Utes went 0-3, things unraveled for Utah early in the game.

Houston was missing its top offensive player, Emanuel Sharp, because of an ankle injury. It didn’t matter, as the Cougars used an 18-0 run to build a 26-8 lead, as the Cougars made 9 of 11 from the field to begin the contest.

That put the Utes in a gargantuan hole early, and it just got worse.

After taking a 41-17 lead into the break, Houston scored the first 12 points of the second half and led by as many as 37 points.

The Cougars ended up shooting 43.3% from the field, including 51.4% in the first half.

Milos Uzan led four Houston players in double-figures, with 14 points and five assists.

Houston owned the paint. Even though the Utes had a noticeable size advantage over Houston, the Cougars outworked the Utes inside.

Houston ended up outscoring Utah 28-14 in points in the paint, an aspect that had been a strength for the Utes during a three-game win streak before Wednesday’s loss.

The Cougars also had 11 blocks, while the Utes had one.

What’s next

The Utes (11-7, 3-4 Big 12) return home to take on Baylor at the Huntsman Center on Saturday (2:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2).

The Bears faced Kansas State Wednesday night.

Baylor beat Utah by 25 in Waco, Texas, in the Big 12 opener for both schools.