Cal caught fire after a poor start at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City. The Bears started 1-10 from the field in first half, but Makale Foreman would score 13 first half points in a 14-20 shooting finish to the first frame. That would not last, as Utah came out of the half with ten straight points, made six threes in the second half, and Cal's offense struggled to hit anything, as the Bears dropped a 66-58 decision to the Utes.

"We didn't start the second half with much success on either end and we never found a rhythm in the second half," head coach Mark Fox said. "Our three point shooting was good to us in the first half, not so much in the second. We have to have a more mature approach, and we still had a possession late where we had a couple threes that could've gotten us to a one possession game. Sometimes it's a make or miss game and while we didn't play as well I think we can play, we still had a chance late if we make a basket."

Jordan Shepherd led Cal with 14 points on 4-13 shooting, while Makale Foreman had all 13 of his points in the first half, as Cal went 8-27 in the second frame, including an 0-7 showing from beyond the arc.

The first half started slow for both sides, with Cal scoring only six points in the first 8:23 of play. The Bears would start hitting not long after, thanks to a couple makes from Grant Anticevich (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Andre Kelly. Foreman came in early for Joel Brown, who struggled with foul trouble all night, and added a boost. A three from Foreman gave Cal the lead, as the grad transfer had 11 points during the 29-17 stretch of the final 10:43 of the first half. Foreman would cap the half on a runner in the lane, though those would mark his final points of the contest.

Utah would open the second half on a 10-0 run to take a lead, and would not trail again from there. Behind the play of Both Gach, Utah would start hitting from beyond the arc, and Cal's shooting couldn't keep up. In addition, Cal was without Kuany Kuany for most of the game, after the junior forward went out with what appeared to be an ankle issue. Kuany had already been dealing with a hip pointer coming into the game. His absence hurt Cal's wing defense, which led to the big three point disparity.

"That's the key, they have six threes and we have zero," Fox noted, "What hurt us, Kuany had a hip pointer in the previous game, he got injured there early, Joel got in foul trouble, and we're a little shorthanded now. We had some matchups that weren't ideal for us, they forced some situations where we had to help, they got one on an out of bounds, off a fade screen, off a back screen. We didn't play hard enough to be disruptive in the second half."

Cal struggled to get Andre Kelly shots (2-6 from the field, 4 points and 8 rebounds overall), but the Bears had an opportunity to cut the deficit to three with two minutes left. After Branden Carlson missed a free throw, Jordan Shepherd would miss a jumper, and both Grant Anticevich and Makale Foreman missed threes that would've made it a single possession game. They didn't go down, Utah would get free throws thanks to a flagrant foul on Andre Kelly, and while Shepherd would get a couple steals leading to free throws, Cal wouldn't complete the comback attempt, and would come back having split their first two conference games.

- There are two big things heading into the next two games against Idaho State and Santa Clara at home. The first is the health of the wings. If Kuany is out for significant time, the Bears will need Jalen Celestine, Jarred Hyder, Obinna Anyanwu, and Dimitrios Klonaras to step forward in a big way, with Sam Alajiki potentially taking more minutes at the 3 spot. Cal will also need Marsalis Roberson to get his first action, as he has dressed for the last two home games.

- The second piece is finding more offense. Foreman did part of it tonight, but the Bears couldn't get him going in the second half, and weren't making the same shots that they made in the first, answering 3s with 2s as their deficit ballooned. Fox mentioned a need for a more mature approach, as while the Bears didn't appear to panic (only 10 turnovers), they didn't get into their offense to the extent they worked it against Oregon State.

Cal gets Idaho State Wednesday night back at Haas Pavilion