SALT LAKE CITY — After a strong start to the season with three straight victories, the Utah basketball team came back to earth with a thud Thursday, losing in the first round of the Myrtle Beach Invitational 79-57 to Coastal Carolina in at the HTC Center in Conway, South Carolina.
The freshman-laden Utes had looked sharp at times in beating Nevada on the road and Minnesota at home and laying 143 points on Mississippi Valley State, but were overmatched by a team picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference.
Nothing went right for the Utes, who shot poorly from 3-point range (17.9%) and from the foul line (56.0%), gave up too many offensive rebounds and committed too many turnovers.
With the loss, the Utes fell to 3-1 on the season, while Coastal Carolina improved to 3-2. Utah will meet Ohio, which lost to Baylor 76-53, Friday at 5:30 p.m. MST.
“We knew it was going to be a dogfight,” said Utah assistant coach Andy Hill. “They presented some problems with their quickness. They outscrapped us — that’s their game — and they did it and we didn’t.”
Hill also pointed out that the Chanticleers were able to get fast break baskets because so many Utes’ shots weren’t falling. Overall, the Utes shot 33.3% on 19 of 57.
“You’ve got to make some shots, and we couldn’t get them to go down and that led to a transition game for them,” Hill said.
Except for Timmy Allen, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, the Utes didn’t have many good performances.
Both Gach, who came in averaging 17.7 points per game on 53% shooting, struggled all night, making just 2 of 11 shots and missing all five 3-pointers to finish with 5 points. Riley Battin, the third returning starter, missed all four of his field goal tries and finished with 6 points all from the free-throw line.
Playing on their home court, the Chanticleers led from start to finish. JC transfer Keishawn Brewton scored 22 points off the bench, including 6 of 9 from 3-point range, while Ebrima Dibba scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. For the game, Coastal Carolina hit 11 of 24 from 3-point range.
DeVante Jones, an all-Sun Belt Conference preseason selection, scored 16 and Garrick Green added 12.
The Utes started slow, falling behind at the midway point of the first half 19-10. They climbed back within two at 27-25 with a 7-0 run as Branden Carlson scored two baskets inside and Rylan Jones buried a 3-pointer.
Utah pulled within one at 29-28 had a couple of chances to tie the game, but twice missed the front end of one-and-one free throws.
Just before the half after a scramble for a loose ball, Brewton fired up a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer to give Coastal Carolina a 36-30 halftime lead.
By halftime, Allen had 13 points and seven rebounds, but the Utes could only make 3 of 13 from long range.
Coastal Carolina came out the more inspired team in the second half and quickly increased the lead to double figures and by the 10:15 mark, led 59-40. The biggest lead was 23 at 70-47.
“We knew this was going to be a tough environment,” Hill said. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and fix the things we can control and come back tomorrow ready to compete.”
Ohio stayed with Baylor until midway through the second half Thursday before faltering down the stretch and losing 76-53.
UTE NOTES: The Utes were able to play 12 players and all 12 scored at least one point, but only Allen was in double figures. ... In the Utes’ last preseason tournament game last year against Northwestern at the Wooden Legacy, the Utes lost in the 5th-6th game by the same 79-57 score. ... This was the first win ever for Coastal Carolina over a Pac-12 school. ... In other games in the tournament Thursday, Villanova defeated Middle Tennessee State 98-69 and Mississippi State beat Tulane 80-66. Utah will play one of those four teams on Sunday. ... This marks the fifth preseason tournament the Utes have played under coach Larry Krystkowiak. Their best finish was third at the Puerto Rico Shootout in 2015.