MBB: Utah falls on the road at Cal

In their last chance to win a Pac-12 road game, the runnin' Utes come up short in overtime in the Bay Area with a 86-79 loss.

After beginning Pac-12 play 0-8 on the road, the Utes went into Haas Pavilion on Saturday afternoon looking for a little bit of redemption.

When Both Gach sank two free throws with two seconds left to send the game against Cal into overtime, it appeared Utah had finally found the needed momentum to pull out its first road win. 

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. 

Utah couldn't capitalize in overtime, eventually falling 86-79 to the Golden Bears. With the loss, Utah falls to 10th in Pac-12 standings with a 6-11 conference record (15-14 overall). Cal improved to eighth in the conference with a 7-9 record (13-16 overall).

Utes fall to Cal in OT.#GoUtes🏀🔴 #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/zZHBSVc8C7

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) March 1, 2020

Despite the close loss, Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak wasn't happy with his team's overall effort — citing how the Utes didn't play a full 40 minutes, and ultimately that's what cost them in the end.

“I still wasn’t pleased — they punched us in the mouth both halves,” Krystkowiak said of the agonizingly slow starts for each half. “We’re not coming out of the locker room with the kind of energy we need to fight and scratch. We’ve got to be able to impose our will a little more on both sides of the basketball.”

Despite the 79 points scored, tying for the most the Utes have scored since notching 81 against Oregon State early January, most fo the damage came from Timmy Allen,. Alphonso Plummer and Both Gach. The trio combined for 68 points, led by Allen's 26 and Plummer's career-high of 23.

Allen, who shot 10-of-16 from the field, added eight rebounds and three assists — while Plummer went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, including a three-pointer with 10 seconds left in regulation that brought the Utes to within one point.

But it was Gach who was the star. 

After being taken out of the starting lineup, Gach thrived in his role off the bench when he played 30 minutes, shooting 8-of-13 from the field, while adding six rebounds and three assists. He also went 2-for-4 from the three-point line, breaking out of a seven-game slump in which he shot 0-for-20 from beyond the arc.

“Good players play with confidence, and that’s how Both plays,” Allen said of Gach. “That’s what he does, it’s not surprising. It’s great to see him doing that, knocking down shots, slashing to the hoop, which is big for our team. He stepped up, but it’s no surprise.” 

After a slow start in the first half, Utah rebounded to take a 28-24 lead heading into the break. But the Golden Bears came out firing to begin the second half, going on a 7-0 run to take a lead and ignite the back-and-forth affair.

Utah made it interesting in the end, finding itself trailing 67-61 with under two minutes to play. An Allen layup followed by an exchange of free throws from both teams, had the deficit at four before Plummer's three-pointer. Another Cal free throw made it a two-point game, setting the stage for Gach.

😤😤😤😤 Plummer with a new career-high 20pts and 4-6 from 3!

📺@Pac12Network#GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/nrRNESVTKD

— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) March 1, 2020

Gach was fouled with two seconds left, and knocked down both free throws to send the game into overtime. But, there is question as to whether Gach should've been shooting just one free throw because he made the original layup. ... But officials called the foul on the ground.

Overtime was a different animal as Cal, feeding off the raucous home crowd, had a quick 5-0 run that Utah could never recover from. 

Utah will now return home for the regular season finale when they face No. 21 Colorado on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. MST and air on the Pac-12 Network.