Allen’s Second Half Performance Carries Utah Past California

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Utes men’s basketball team won their second straight game and completed the sweep over the Northern California schools with a 60-45 victory over the Cal Golden Bears.

Timmy Allen scored a game-high 21 points, including 16 points in the second half. Allen also had 4 rebounds, 2 assists and one block while shooting 8-16 from the field. It’s just the second time in conference play that Allen has scored over 20 points. He was the only Utah player to reach double figures.

Both Gach missed his fourth straight game with a knee injury as Utah improved their home record to 10-1 this season.

Alphonso Plummer added 8 points, along with 7 points and 8 rebounds from Riley Battin.

ⓁⒾⒼⒽⓉ ⓉⒽⒺ Ⓤ 🔴🙌🔴

We take down the Cal Golden Bears 60 to 45.#GoUtes🏀🔴 #Pac12Hoops pic.twitter.com/4n6xLG7XoS

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 9, 2020

Utes Were Much Better Offensively

Utah has struggled for most of conference play shooting the basketball. But, against Cal, Utah shot 45 percent from the floor on 24-53. From beyond the arc, the Utes did struggle by making just 5 of their 18 attempts.

In the first half, Utah shot 48 percent and made 42 percent of their shots in the second half.

During conference play, Utah has shot over 40 percent from the floor in 4 games. They are 4-1 in those games. The Utes have shot below 40 percent in seven games and are 2-5.

Against Cal, Utah’s offense seemed to have a better flow and the ball was moving much better than in past games. They had 14 assists on 24 made field goals and only turned the ball over 9 times.

Going ⬆️, on a Saturday!
CC: @timmybuckets35 🚀🚀

📺@Pac12Network#GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/whkQmhHx3A

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 9, 2020

Defense Was Great Once Again

After a tremendous defensive effort in their overtime win over Stanford on Thursday, the Utes were very good on that side of the basketball once again. They limited Cal to 32 percent shooting on 16 of 50 attempts from the field and 3-11 from beyond the arc.

The Golden Bears had just one player score in double figures which was their leading-scorer Matt Bradley with 13 points along with 7 rebounds on 5-13 shooting from the floor. Cal had 17 turnovers with the Utes scoring 22 points.

Utah had four blocks and 10 steals in the win. Allen, Rylan Jones and Plummer each had two steals.

🚫SWAT LAKE CITY🚫@ballerbranden35

📺@Pac12Network#GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/Ov66oKJS0X

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 9, 2020

Utah Honored Dr. Chris Hill

At halftime, the University of Utah honored former Director of Athletics Dr. Chris Hill. They unveiled a banner in the rafters of the Huntsman Center with the No. 31 to represent the years of service as AD for the school.

Hill was critical in Utah’s transition from the Mountain West Conference to the Pac-12. He also hired some program-changing coaches for football and basketball. Hill hired Rick Majerus and Larry Krystkowiak for basketball along with Urban Meyer and Kyle Whittingham for football.

Under Hill’s leadership, Utah has also won national championships in skiing and gymnastics.

Up in the rafters! ☝️

Former Utah athletic director Dr. Chris Hill was honored at halftime with a No. 31 banner hung in the Huntsman Center to represent his 31 years at the helm with @utahathletics. pic.twitter.com/PMrzIw9Hye

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 9, 2020

The Utes improved their record to 14-9 overall and 5-6 in Pac-12 play. They will hit the road on Thursday to face Oregon State at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

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