The University of Utah men’s basketball team (1-3, 8-6) returned from winter break for a two-game trip to the pacific northwest where they faced the Oregon State Beavers (1-2, 3-10) and the Oregon Ducks (0-2, 8-6).

This is the second set of conference games for the Utes after losing on the road to conference-leading USC (2-0, 12-0) before beating the Cal Bears (2-1, 9-5) at home in early December.

Both the Beavers and Ducks were looking to overcome slow early-season starts as they sit 10th and 12th in the conference respectively. Utah comes into the weekend in 9th place in the Pac-12.

Oregon State Beavers 88 – Utah Utes 76

Oregon State capitalized on a sloppy Utah offense, turning 20 Ute turnovers into 23-8 points off turnover advantage. Combine that with better than 60% shooting in the first half, and it was too tall of a task for a streaky Utah offense to overcome.

Hot-shooting kept the Utes close early in this ballgame, as they knocked down five of their first six attempts from three-point range. 

While the offense was humming, head coach Craig Smith’s defense struggled to get enough stops, allowing Oregon State to shoot an astonishing 62.5% from the field and 66.67% from three-point land. 

Utah never led again after taking an 8-7 lead on a Marco Anthony three with 17:04 left in the first half. 

After trailing by nine at halftime, the Utes used a 13-5 run to cut the OSU lead to one, 52-21 but would never get closer. 

David Jenkins Jr. led the Utes with 21 points while Anthony was the only other Ute in double-figures with 10. Anthony also contributed six rebounds and five assists. 

Oregon Ducks 79 – Utah Utes 66

Will Richardson goes off in the second half as Oregon outscored Utah 50-31 in the second half on their way to a 79-66 win.

Utah held a six-point advantage at halftime after limiting the Ducks to just 36% shooting. It was no offensive firework show for the Utes either as they were held to 31% shooting.

Utah made their hay by scoring eight points on six Oregon turnovers and scoring nine second-chance points while collecting eight offensive rebounds.

Jenkins Jr., the Utes second-leading scorer this season averaging 12.7 points per game, went scoreless after battling foul trouble all night long. Jenkins Jr. fouled out with 7:07 remaining in the game after being whistled for an offensive foul. 

In the second half, Will Richardson found the range, scoring 23 points while shooting a perfect 8-8 from the field with four three-pointers. He led all scorers with 26 points. Jacob Young finished with 22 points.

Branden Carlson paced the Utes with 15 points while Marco Anthony finished with 14 and Lazar Stefanovic had 10 points.

Next Up

Utah returns home to the Jon M. Huntsman Center as they host the Washington Huskies (0-0, 5-5) on Thursday, Jan. 6. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MST. The Utes then turn around to face the Washington State Cougars (1-1, 8-5) on Saturday, Jan. 8. Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. MST. Both games will be streamed on the Pac-12 Networks and broadcast on ESPN 700.

Follow the Runnin’ Utes men’s basketball program online at www.UtahUtes.com and on social media by following @UtahMBB on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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