Field Level Media
Feb 8, 2020
Timmy Allen scored 21 points to help Utah ease by California 60-45 on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
Eight different players scored to help the Utes earn their second straight Pac-12 victory. Utah also beat the Bears for the third straight time in the series between the two teams, after forcing 17 turnovers and scoring 22 points off those takeaways.
Matt Bradley scored 13 points and collected seven rebounds to lead the Bears, who remained winless in seven true road games this season.
Utah took control behind a 12-2 run early in the first half. Riley Battin and Rylan Jones scored back-to-back baskets to punctuate the run, which gave the Utes a 17-6 lead.
California scored eight unanswered points and cut the deficit to 17-14. Paris Austin keyed the surge with back-to-back layups, and Kareem South's 3-pointer made it a one-possession game.
But the Bears could not overtake Utah. Alfonso Plummer scored back-to-back baskets, and Battin buried a 3-pointer to push the Utes' lead to 24-14. California missed five straight shots and did not score over a four-minute stretch, opening the door for Utah to rebuild a double-digit lead.
California had a chance to rally when the Utes missed eight of nine shots to open the second half, but the Bears could not overcome their own offensive struggles long enough to get back into the game. They closed to within 36-28 on Andre Kelly's layup before going 3 1/2 minutes without scoring.
Utah finally found a spark behind a pair of layups from Mikael Jantunen that fueled a 12-5 run. Branden Carlson buried a jumper to cap the run and give the Utes a 48-33 lead with 6:51 remaining.
The Bears never got closer than 11 the rest of the way, with the Utes' lead maxing out at 19.
--Field Level Media