On Saturday, Cal men’s basketball lost to the Utah Runnin’ Utes by a final score of 60-45. Utah sophomore forward Timmy Allen led the way for the Utes with 21 points and 4 rebounds while Cal sophomore guard Matt Bradley had 13 points for the Golden Bears. Utah improves to 14-9 overall and 5-6 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 10-13 overall and 4-6 in the Pac-12.

Utah got off to an early 9-6 lead with 15:03 to go in the half. Utah was shooting 4-6 from the field as Branden Carlson led them with 4 points. Cal was shooting 3-7 from the field. With 13:54 to go in the half, Matt Bradley picked up his second foul of the game, preventing him from having more of an impact.

With 12:30 to go in the half, Utah would lead 13-6 as Riley Battin got an easy bucket inside causing Cal head coach Mark Fox to call for time. He was up to 4 points. Shortly after, Fox got called for a technical foul, upset with an offensive foul called on Grant Anticevich, for a moving screen. It was a very ticky tack call that probably shouldn’t have been called, hence Fox’s frustration.

Fox’s tech appeared to light a fire in his team as Cal would get themselves back in the game a bit. With 7:10 to go in the half, Utah was up 21-14 as Timmy Allen had 5 points for Utah while Paris Austin had 5 points and 2 assists for Cal. Utah was shooting 9-15 from the field while Cal was shooting 6-18. As close as the game was, Cal would not take the lead if their shooting continued to struggle.

With 3:35 to go in the half, Cal closed the gap a bit as Utah led 26-20. Cal recently went on a 6-0 run, getting some life back. Battin had 7 points and 5 rebounds for Utah. Cal was 2-2 at the foul line, needing to get to the line more.

At the half, Utah led 34-22. Battin was still had 7 points and 5 rebounds for Utah while Austin was still at 5 points and 2 assists for Cal. Cal needed to move the ball better, knock down some shots, and get to the line. What hurt Cal was Bradley picking up his second foul. With him having to sit for the bulk of the half, Cal had to solider on without their top player.

To start the second half, Cal got themselves back in the game, trailing 34-26 with 15:32 to go. It really helped that Bradley was back in as he was up to 6 points. Cal needed him to get rolling if they were going to make a comeback. With 11:55 to go, Utah was up 38-28. Cal had 0 points in the last 2:44 and was up to 13 turnovers. Cal’s sloppy play on offense was really hurting them.

To Cal’s credit, they didn’t give up as they would trail by single digits 40-31 with 10:42 to go after Bradley nailed a pull up jumper from beyond the arc. He was up to 9 points. Cal called for time, hoping to get back in the game. With 7:39 to go, Utah was up 46-33, on the verge of putting the game away. Allen was the first player in double figures as he had 11 points for Utah. Utah had made 5 of their last 7 shots, starting to gain separation.

The Runnin’ Utes continued to run away with the game as they would lead 53-37 with 3:45 to go. Allen was up to 16 points for Utah while Bradley had 11 points for Cal. Cal’s 16 turnovers were too big of a hurdle to overcome. That and Bradley’s early foul trouble. With 2:23 to go, Allen was now up to 21 points after another 3-pointer, which was the icing on the cake for the Utes. Utah was up 58-39.

In the end, Utah would walk out with a 60-45 win. Cal battled hard, but as I said earlier, their turnovers, poor shooting, and inability to get Bradley in a rhythm for the whole game did them in. While this loss looks bad on the scoreboard, it needs to be remembered that the Colorado-Utah road trip is one of the toughest trips if not the toughest trip in the Pac-12. We’ve seen many good teams struggle to win in the Rockies.

Up next for Cal is a home stand against the Arizona schools. Up first will be Arizona on Thursday night. That game will tipoff at 7:30 PM PST on FS1.