Utes Can’t Overcome Oregon’s Hot Three-Point Shooting

EUGENE, Ore. – The University of Utah Runnin’ Utes couldn’t get past No. 17 Oregon’s barrage of three-pointers in the first half, falling to the Ducks 80-62 in Eugene.

Rylan Jones led the Utes with 18 points and 3 rebounds while hitting 5 of his 11 attempts from the field and 4 of his 8 attempts from beyond the arc. He scored 11 points in the second half.

Timmy Allen and Branden Carlson each added 10 points. Allen struggled shooting the ball, going 2-8 from the floor. Carlson had 7 rebounds and 2 blocks, hitting 5-6 from the field.

Utah has now lost their last two games and their last 7 true road games.

Final from Eugene.#Utes return home to face UCLA on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 8:30pm in the JMHC!#GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/xiltzwzAjC

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 17, 2020

Oregon Red-Hot From Deep

The 17th ranked Ducks seemed like they couldn’t miss a three-pointer in the opening half. They went 10-15 from beyond the arc. Pac-12 Player of the Year candidate Payton Pritchard made 5 of his six attempts from the perimeter in the opening half. Will Richardson went a perfect 3-3 from deep in the opening half. Oregon had a 44-30 lead at the half despite Utah shooting just 2-9 from three.

Oregon finished the game hitting 12 threes on 24 attempts and made 57 percent of their field goals. Pritchard finished with 25 points. Richardson added 18 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists.

FROM DEEP 😱@fastpp3 ➡️ 5-of-6 3FG#GoDucks pic.twitter.com/cIhHw0ogDm

— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) February 17, 2020

Second Half Was Much Better For Utah

After trailing by double figures in the first half, the Utes cut the lead to seven points but the Ducks used their three point shooting to extend the lead. Utah was much improved defensively in the second half and limited Oregon to just 2-9 from beyond the arc.

The Utes started to attack the rim and get good looks against a very good Oregon defense. But, they couldn’t make enough runs to complete the comeback.

“I thought we were ready to go. It was a seven point game there about eight minutes left in the first half. It was a nice little flow,” Utes head coach Larry Krystkowiak said after the game. “We were playing hard enough and then boom, three straight threes and it went from 7 to 16 just like that. Somethings we have to fix but that’s an elite team that hasn’t lost a game at home so we’re going to just keep fighting and I am proud of how hard we played. I thought second-half defensively was as good of a half as we played even though we had some breakdowns, but I am pretty proud of our effort.”

Mickey gets us within single-digits with this bucket and 11:15 left to play!

🔴 47 | 🦆 55#GoUtes🏀🔴 #Pac12Hoops

📺@FS1 pic.twitter.com/GIJhXHjUO1

— Utah Basketball🏀 (@UtahMBB) February 17, 2020

Utah dropped their record to 14-11 overall and 5-8 in Pac-12 play. They will return to the Jon M. Huntsman Center on Thursday night to face the UCLA Bruins. Tip-off is at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on FS1.

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