USC 65, Utah 60
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Utah basketball team suffered its second loss of the year Saturday afternoon, losing by a score of 65-60 for the second time.
At least this time the defeat came at the hands of a pretty decent team as 15th-ranked USC beat the Utes in the second game of the annual John R. Wooden Classic at the Arrowhead Pond. The loss dropped the 18th-ranked Utes to 4-2 on the season, while the Trojans improved to 4-0.
Utah's earlier 65-60 loss came last week to unheralded Georgia in the second round of the Puerto Rico Shootout. While the Utes played a better all-around game Saturday, some of the same problems that have been evident all season plagued the Utes again, namely turnovers (17), poor shooting (36.7 percent from the field, 50 percent from the line) and shoddy defense.
USC's Brian Scalabrine (18 points) and David Blumenthal (16 points) went 4-for-5 and 4-for-7, respectively, from 3-point range, as the Utes failed to defend the perimeter shooting.
"A lot of it was due to our poor execution defensively," said Utah coach Dick Hunsaker. "We let Blumenthal get away from us in the second half and we let Scalabrine start the game and get USC untracked."
The Trojans took it to the Utes right from the start as Scalabrine scored 11 of their first 13 points and kept a steady lead throughout the game. When the Utes went more than five minutes without scoring late in the game and USC moved out to a 62-49 lead with 3:49 left, it appeared the Trojans had finally broken the game open.
However, the Utes battled back with eight straight points as Britton Johnsen made a three-point play inside and Nate Althoff followed with a basket and another three-point play with 1:43 left.
Over the next minute, USC missed three free throws, but Utah failed to capitalize as Kevin Bradley missed a 3-pointer, Jeff Johnsen had a pass into Althoff intercepted, Althoff missed the front end of a one-and-one, Britton Johnsen missed a shot and, finally, Althoff had a shot blocked by Scalabrine.
"It was kind of instinct — I just went up and blocked the shot," said Scalabrine. "I'm not known for that. I had three blocked shots, so you guys can consider me now a big-time shot-blocker."
The Utes were led by Phil Cullen, who found his shooting stroke, making 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range for 18 points. The only other Ute in double figures was Britton Johnsen, who got his first start of the year and finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds in a lively effort.
However, Johnsen was only 4-of-13 from the field and the other starters were just as bad. Jeff Johnsen shot 2-for-11, Bradley went 2-for-9 and Chris Burgess, who made his first start of the year, was 3-for-7. Only Nate Althoff was decent, going 4-of-6.
"They scrambled us offensively," said Hunsaker. "We weren't able to make spontaneous adjustments. We were chasing them the whole game."
In the first half, the Utes led just once — at 4-3 — as the Trojans led by seven on several occasions before settling for a 30-25 halftime lead.
A 3-pointer by Jeff Johnsen pulled the Utes within two early in the second half, but the Utes couldn't get over the hump as they failed on four straight possessions before USC finally scored.
It was 35-33 after Burgess sank a 3-pointer and, after a Bradley steal, Burgess appeared to have a layup, only to get fouled by Sam Clancy. His first free throw missed horribly — an airball well short of the hoop, which drew derisive shouts from the fans, many of whom were on Burgess' back all night. The second free throw also missed and Blumenthal sank treys on the next two Trojan possessions to push the margin to eight.
Burgess said he was excited to play near his hometown of Irvine and had many friends and relatives in the crowd of 15,286. But he said he felt no extra pressure playing in his backyard.
"I've had that pressure since I was a junior in high school," he said. "No one expects anything from me any more."
Burgess finished with a career-high 10 rebounds and also came up with a pair of steals and three assists. "Each game is a stepping stone," he said.
Hunsaker seems to be tightening up the rotation on the talented Utes' roster every game. Seven players played more than 20 minutes and another, Trace Caton, played 11. No one else played more than five and one-time starter Nick Jacobson only played three minutes, getting all zeroes on the stat sheet.
After the game, the Ute players and coaches received a police escort to catch a plane out of John Wayne Airport. The Utes will play two in-state games this week, at Utah State Wednesday night and Weber State at home Saturday night.
GEORGIA TECH 72, UCLA 67
In the first game of the John R. Wooden Classic, the Yellowjackets came from behind in the second half to defeat the cold-shooting Bruins. Point guard Tony Akins scored 28 points to lead Georgia Tech, while Marvin Lewis added 15 and Shaun Fein 13.
The Bruins only managed 28.6 percent shooting for the game, including a 2-of-10 performance from leading scorer Jason Kapono. Thanks to 12 of 12 from the foul line, Kapono still led the Bruins scoring with 18, while Dan Gadzuric scored 17 and Earl Watson chipped in 16.