Utes fall apart in road loss to Cal | The Salt Lake Tribune

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Berkeley, Calif. • Things were going well for Utah.

Good defense and a crisp offense led to an eight-point lead over California by the middle of the first half. Jordan Loveridge and Jason Washburn were asserting themselves in the paint. The Utes were making shots from the perimeter.

And then it all fell apart.

In a 64-46 loss to the Bears at Haas Pavilion, Utah would score just 24 more points after that 22-14 lead. A game that began hopeful for a road upset of the hottest team in the Pac-12 instead turned into an offensive nightmare, a game where scoring became more than a chore from that point on.

What happened? The Bears tuned up the defensive pressure and squeezed the perimeters.

The Bears began to get the ball to Allen Crabbe and the junior responded by effortlessly knocking down jumpers. And for Utah, simple turnovers resulted in easy points the other way. And when the crowd got into the game, Larry Krystkowiak's team had few answers.

By the conclusion of the loss, Krystkowiak was planted firmly on the bench with a look of frustration on his face. It represents the third consecutive loss for the Utes, who fall to 3-12 in the league and could find themselves in last place if they lose at Stanford on Sunday and Washington State wins at Washington.

Utah didn't put a single player in double figures. Loveridge was the closest with nine points. He also had 11 rebounds.

Washburn entered the game 16 points short of 1,000 for his career and scored just four points on 2-of-9 shooting. Senior Jarred DuBois went 1-8 from the floor, scored seven points and turned the ball over five times.

As a team, Utah shot 29 percent from the field.

Crabbe scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, also a game-high.

The Bears rolled to their sixth consecutive win and are now fully in contention for the regular-season title.

Justin Cobbs scored 12 points and handed out seven assists.

Freshman Tyrone Wallace had 11. —

Highlights

R Cal breaks the game open with a 19-0 run.

• Utah goes the last eight minutes of the first half without a basket.

• Utah falls to 3-12 in the Pac-12.