In preparation for Thursday’s contest at Oregon, the Utes were conscious of the importance of getting off to a good start.

“That will be a pretty big deal. We’ve had some pretty slow starts the last couple of games and it can’t just happen (at Oregon),” David Collette said. “With the environment that they play in and how they get rolling so quick, we have to come out strong and hit them first.”

Simply put, it didn’t happen. It took just 21 seconds for Oregon to start a lead that it would maintain for the duration of its wire-to-wire 79-61 victory over the Utes.


Why the Utes lost

Perhaps it was the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Kyle Kuzma, who was ruled out with a ankle injury, but the starting lineup for the Utes didn’t measure up to Oregon’s. The Ducks’ starters outscored the Utes’ 69-31. The Ducks also played stifling defense, turning away 10 Ute shot attempts.


The turning point

The Ducks went on a 12-4 run midway through the first half that expanded their lead to 18. By the time that Oregon’s Dillon Brooks connected on a jumper at the 6:37 mark, the score was 30-12 and the game was effectively out of reach for the Utes.


What it means

A quality win over the No. 7-ranked team in the country would have done wonders for the Utes’ NCAA Tournament chances. The latest bracketologists now have five Pac-12 schools making it to the Big Dance, the Utes not being one of them. To make it to the tournament, Utah will have to finish the season playing well and have a strong showing in the Pac-12 Tournament.


Grading the performances

Utah

The Utes did some things well in the loss. They grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, compared to just seven by the Ducks. That number, however, may be skewed. The Utes, who shot 38 percent in the game, had a lot more misses than the Ducks, who shot 53 percent.

Freshman Jayce Johnson had a strong outing off the bench with team highs in 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Utah bench outscored Oregon’s 30-10, but the Ducks’ starters did so much damage, it ultimately didn’t matter.

Grade: C-

Oregon

The Ducks played like the No. 7-ranked team in the country should. Brooks was the best player on the court with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

The up-tempo Ducks did turn the ball over 13 times, but the Utes only managed 12 points on the counterattack.

Grade: A-


Three telling stats

Scoring just 61 points, the Utes were held well below their season average of 80.5 points per game.

Utah managed just two fast-break points while the Ducks got 14.

The Utes were also unsuccessful when shooting from beyond the arc, going 3 for 19 for a lowly 16 percent.


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Up next

The Utes will remain in the Beaver State to face the Oregon State Beavers on Sunday.

In their last matchup with Oregon State on Jan. 28, the Utes handed the Beavers an 86-78 defeat at the Huntsman Center.

Utah will have to slow down guard Stephen Thompson Jr., who scored 30 points on 7-of-10 shooting in that last meeting.

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