What Alex Jensen said after Utah basketball's disappointing loss to Cal Poly

Runnin' Utes couldn't string together enough defensive stops in loss to the Mustangs

Utah Runnin' Utes head coach Alex Jensen suffered his first home loss as a Utah player or coach during Thursday's 92-85 defeat to the Cal Poly Mustangs. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Alex Jensen went into Thursday having never lost inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as a player or coach.

Then, all the deficiencies Utah was able to overcome in its first five games of the season reared their ugly head in an embarrassing loss to Cal Poly, handing the Runnin' Utes their first defeat of the 2025-26 campaign and plenty of questions needing to be answered going into their first test away from home.

Utah (5-1) trailed by as many as 15 points and never led over the final 37 minutes of regulation, largely because of defensive lapses, lack of urgency on both ends of the floor and some hot shooting from the Mustangs (2-3), who left Salt Lake City with a 92-85 win after drilling 14 3-pointers and outrebounding their Big 12 opponent, 42-32, on the glass.

Jensen, who had won all 64 home games prior to Thursday (59 as a player, five as a coach), threw his hands in the hand and dropped his head in frustration whenever Utah made a careless turnover or was late on a rotation, which happened more often than he would've preferred against a team that entered the matchup ranked No. 218 in the country on KenPom.com.

The Runnin' Utes committed a season-high 16 turnovers, including a handful of costly ones during their second-half comeback attempt.

Utah managed to trim its deficit to single digits but couldn't stop getting in its own way, allowing Cal Poly to push its lead back to 11 with 10 minutes to play following a strong push from the Runnin' Utes out of the halftime break.

A 12-3 scoring run, capped off by a Terrence Brown layup, made it 76-74 with 5:57 remaining. Cal Poly responded in a hurry, drilling a couple of free throws off an over-the-back foul on James Okonkwo, followed by a score inside from Jake Davis to extend the Mustangs' lead back to seven.

Nov 18, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes guard Terrence Brown (2) speaks with head coach Alex Jensen. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Cayden Ward, who finished with a team-high 28 points, nailed a big 3-pointer a few possessions later off a pick-and-pop with Davis, giving Cal Poly an eight-point advantage and propelling a 12-2 scoring run that made it a double-digit game with just under 3 minutes left.

Hamad Mousa added 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field (4-of-4 from 3) for the Mustangs. Brown paced the Runnin' Utes with 29 points on 11-of-18 from the field.

Utah will look to bounce back on Tuesday when it takes on Grand Canyon from Palm Desert, California, in the third game of the Acrisure Series (10 p.m. MT, CBS Sports Network).

Here's what Jensen had to say after the loss.

On where Utah goes to rally after such a disappointing loss

"It's interesting because we were talking about that as a staff right after the game, and I think we go to the same place we were before the game."

"We went through this with Weber [State] — we came out and we floated, took early shots and had turnovers, and then we ramped it up and we were fortunate to win that one. But the games are gonna get tougher, and I think where do we go? We go back to where we went I think in preparation for this game.

"Defensively, we gotta guard, individually and collectively. And 'how do I as a teammate fit into this scheme to what we're doing?' And our mind can't be anywhere else."

On whether Utah's defensive lapses are due to poor execution or lack of continuity

"Continuity is a wonderful thing. It's a luxury that you'd love to have on a basketball team. And I love our guys — all of our players are great people. But when you start the game, you got to have a change. We have quiet guys, but you can't be quiet on the court, right? Whether you're selfish or not, you got to communicate and I think when one guy starts to do it — like we made our run, I think that's what happened, right? When we made our run, I think we started talking, we were physical, we got the rebounds."

On Cal Poly's unique offense, effort from his players

"It was unique, because, like I said, they didn't have guys in the paint. They played fast. They're gonna shoot 3s and I think just as a group — the coaches and then the players — it's a maturity thing. I try to preach that you make a shot, now you got to ramp up. It doesn't get easier, especially when you dig yourself a hole, because now they're confident."

"And I always say, a lot of players can make one good play. Good players can go make the 3 and get a stop; really good players can make a 3, get a stop and go score again. And the great ones keep doing it. It's kind of a maturity process for us; it's not about making a shot, but then getting the stop and combining and stringing those possessions together."