The Utah basketball team doesn't have another game for more than a week, which is probably a good thing after what happened Monday night at the Huntsman Center.
They still need to get a few kinks worked out.
The Utes, who had just come off a couple of good games in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Seattle, were defeated — no, make that destroyed — by Santa Clara, 72-57.
The loss drops the Utes to 2-2 on the young season with their next game against Weber State in Ogden on Nov. 28.
Afterward, first-year Ute coach Jim Boylen didn't keep his team in the locker room for a half hour (it was only five minutes) and he was surprisingly upbeat.
"Nothing has changed," he said. "Not one thing has changed since we started practicing six weeks ago as far as where we want to go and what we have to do. We're going to get better. We have 10 days to get better. We're going to practice tomorrow and as much as we can within the rules."
The Utes looked a little sluggish all night and they allowed the Broncos to set the pace. And even though the Broncos set a slow pace, using most of the 35-second clock on every possession, they seemed to play with more energy than Utah.
Santa Clara (3-1) shot 59 percent in the second half, outrebounded the Utes 27-24 and had two fewer turnovers
"I was disappointed in our second-half defense," Boylen said.
"They went 13 for 22. That's inexcusable. That can't happen."
Calvin Johnson scored 21 points, including 5-of-11 from 3-point range to lead the Broncos. But the player of the game was senior center Okechukwu Mbanugo, who filled in for foul-plagued starter John Bryant.
"Without (Mbanugo) tonight we don't win," said first-year Bronco coach Kerry Keating. "He played 24 minutes with no turnovers and four rebounds and two huge three-point plays in that 21-4 run. That was completely unexpected for us."
The three-point plays came midway through the second half with the game tied 41-41. That made it 47-41 and although Utah's Johnnie Bryant sank a 3-pointer to cut the lead to three, the Utes went more than eight minutes without a field goal before Bryant scored again with 2:23 left.
By that point it was 62-48 for Santa Clara, which coasted home.
Bryant , not to be confused with Santa Clara's 6-10, 305-pound Bryant, was the only Ute who could find the basket, although most of his team-high 19 points came in the final minutes.
Tyler Kepkay had 11 points, but only one assist and five turnovers, while Luke Nevill scored 10 points on 2-for-10 from the field and 6-for-10 from the foul line.
The Utes got couldn't take advantage of Santa Clara's Bryant picking up two fouls in the first 90 seconds of the game. He sat out the rest of the half, but scored 17 points in just 12 minutes in the second half.
"Their game plan was solid," Boylen said. "They milked it down and milked it down and made plays at the end of the shot clock. You've got to give them credit."
However, according to Keating, that wasn't the game plan coming in, but after Bryant, the team's leading scorer and rebounder picked up those two early fouls, plans changed.
"We didn't have a game plan to go fast or slow," Keating said.
"We had to milk some time off the clock because of the foul trouble with John. We had to slow the pace down a little bit."
Boylen said while the loss was "bad," it wasn't devastating.
"I'm not discouraged, I'm not down," he said. "We're going to keep working and getting better and better and better."
UTE NOTES: Stephen Weigh, who came in as the Utes' second-leading scorer at 14.0 points a game, has been sick and made just three points in 18 minutes ... Shaun Green went scoreless for the second straight game and only the fourth time in his career ... Utah's next home game is Dec. 1 against Cal Irvine.
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