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The Utah men's basketball team's global search for a team it can beat will return stateside next week, after the Utes came up empty at the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
The Utes went 0-3 at the eight-team tournament, the latest blow coming Saturday against North Carolina-Asheville, which used a big second-half run to pull away from the Utes and win 87-65.
Utah drew within five with 15:36 remaining in the second half, but the Bulldogs went on a 20-3 run to take a 73-51 lead and send the Utes home from paradise without a win to show for their journey.
"We just started standing around in the second half," first-year coach Larry Krystkowiak said on a postgame interview on ESPN 700. "We have to be able to fight through some things."
Point guard Josh "Jiggy" Watkins scored 21 points and center Jason Washburn matched him with a career-high, but Utah couldn't keep pace with the balanced attack of UNC-Asheville, which had five players reach double figures.
The Utes have lost five games since narrowly defeating NAIA San Diego Christian on Nov. 14, four by double-digit margins.
The Bulldogs, though, seemed to present a reasonable opportunity for a victory. A year after advancing in the NCAA Tournament, UNC-Asheville has struggled. Before Saturday, the Bulldogs were 2-4 and, like the Utes, looking for their first win against a Division 1 opponent.
The Utes and Bulldogs played a back-and-forth game until Asheville went ahead 25-16 and took a 41-34 lead into halftime.
Washburn's 21-point, 6-rebound performance was encouraging for the Utes and Krystkowiak, who declared after losing to UMass that the team's post players needed to increase their productivity.
"With Jiggy's penetration I was able to be in the right spot," Washburn said.
Washburn put-back dunk with 15:36 left was the last glimmer of hope for the Utes. After the Utes got a stop on the other end, freshman forward Blake Wilkinson committed a turnover, just one of 16 for Utah, and Asheville used it as a cue to score 12 unanswered points.
Needless to say, the Utes trip to the Bahamas didn't play out the way they hoped.
"I think we learned a lot about ourselves," Washburn said. "We played some good teams this week … and we were exposed a little bit on some things. We're going to go tweak those things and try get better every day."
Utah has a week off before traveling to Fresno State on Dec. 3.
Twitter: @oramb —
UNC-Asheville 87, Utah 65
R Josh Watkins and Jason Washburn combine for 42 points.
• Sixteen Utah turnovers lead to 24 points for the Bulldogs
• A night after shooting 60 percent against UMass, the Utes are held to 25-of-57 shooting and make just 3-of-18 3-point attempts.