MBB: Utah can't contain No. 14. Oregon in loss
Utah can't catch a break on the road.
Despite one of its better offensive performance away from the state, Utah couldn't contain hot-shooting Oregon and fell 80-62 on the road. The Utes now sit in a tie for eighth place in the Pac-12 at 5-8, while the No. 14 Ducks stay atop the conference at 9-4.
“They came out and they hit a lot of shots,” said freshman point guard Rylan Jones. “They shot the ball well and we screwed up some coverages, ball-watched and everything. They just made their open 3s.”
Oregon finished the first half 10-of-15 from beyond the arc and 12-for-24 for the game, marking one of the Ducks' better shooting performances of the season.
But credit must be given to the Utes because despite the hot shooting by the Ducks, Utah never gave and kept battling. Utah found itself trailing by seven late in the first half, able to sustain multiple Duck runs with runs of its own.
A Branden Carlson jumper had the Utes trailing 31-24 with just over six to play in the opening frame. ... But then the Ducks erupted with three three-pointers on three consecutive trips down the court while Utah struggled to get anything on the other end.
“Guys stepped up and made some of those 10 in the first half, but there were four off the glass (on offensive rebounds), and a couple ball-watching ones,” Utes coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “Just the discipline against an elite team.It was a seven-point game, it was a nice little flow. ... We were playing hard enough and then boom, three straight 3s. It went from seven to 16 just like that.”
Despite trailing by 14 entering the second, Utah found a little bit of a groove. And following a 12-6 run that ended with a Mikael Jantunen layup, the Utes trailed 55-47 following the under-12 media timeout.
But that was the closest they would get. Oregon went on an 8-1 run and Utah was unable to overcome the deficit.
Jones was sensational for the Utes, finishing with 18 points on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc — it was battle for Jones who went up against Oregon's Payton Pritchard, more than likely the Pac-12's player of the year.
“I’ve looked up to him since he’s been in the Pac-12,” Jones said. “When my dad first moved down here, it was his freshman year, and he went to the Final Four with a really good team. I’ve watched him ever since, and I’m trying to be as good as him one day.”
Pritchard acknowledge Jones' talents after the game, tweeting at him.
Carlson continued to his strong play of late with 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks while Timmy Allen added 10 points as well.
Pritchard finished with 25 points while his backcourt mate Will Richardson added 18 — they combined to shoot 9-of-13 from three-point territory.
Utah now returns home for two big matchups against UCLA and USC, two times tied for fifth place in the conference standings and a game behind Oregon and Colorado.
Tipoff with UCLA is set for 8:30 p.m. on Thursday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
“Past performance is not a great predictor of what we’ve got ahead of us,” Krystkowiak said. “We’ve got to get dialed in and have another great week, and it’s really important. We can’t have any days that we aren’t making some type of progress, mentally or physically on the court.