Utah falls to Cal in overtime as Utes finish Pac-12 basketball play 0-9 on the road

Berkeley, Calif. • In a potential preview of a first-round game at the Pac-12 Tournament in 10 days, Utah and Cal did play the cleanest contest on Saturday afternoon, but at least it was exciting.

Big games from Timmy Allen and Both Gach ultimately went for naught as Utah closed another tough weekend on the road, as part of a forgettable season of road trips, with an 86-79 overtime loss to the Golden Bears at Haas Pavilion.

The loss leaves Utah at 0-9 in Pac-12 road games for the season. The Utes are the first conference team to do that since Oregon State and Washington both did it in 2017.

Gach (19 points, 7-for-11 shooting) fouled out with 3:35 to play in overtime after what was his best showing in almost two months. He spent much of the game with the ball in his hands, slashing to the rim and making the right plays to set up teammates.

On the offensive possession after he fouled out, carless dribbling led to a turnover. A choppy offensive possession followed, and Cal pounced. Up three after that second possession, Paris Austin got by his man and into the lane for a layup and a 76-71 lead with 2:09 to play.

Utah hung tough late in regulation to give itself a chance at the end. After Austin hit one of two free throws to give Cal a two-point lead with 9.4 seconds left, Gach hit two of his own to tie the game with two seconds left after a strong dive. Matt Bradley’s desperation heave from beyond halfcourt was on line, but short as the game went to overtime.

Already playing with what Larry Krystkowiak termed on Thursday night after Stanford as a “significant shin injury,” Rylan Jones went down early in the first half after appearing to take a shot to the head as Cal star Matt Bradley followed his own miss in traffic at the rim. Jones went down, stayed down and was eventually helped to his feet by Utes trainer Trevor Jameson. Jones was then helped to the locker room by Jameson as the game hit the under-16 media timeout.

Jones emerged from the locker room at the under-4 timeout. He spent that stoppage speaking with his father, Utah Director of Basketball Operations Chris Jones, then had a seat at the end of the bench, which indicated he was likely done for the afternoon, although that was never made official.

Jones did not return to the game and his status moving forward was not immediately known. Utah is off until Saturday when it hosts Colorado at the Huntsman Center.

This story will be updated.

from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/2Vx4Mt9
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