Runnin' Utes Can't Contain No. 20 San Diego State

Saturday, December 21

Los Angeles, CA

4:30 PM

University of Utah

9-3,0-0Pac-12

San Diego State

12-0,2-0Mountain West

Utah

San Diego St.

Photo by: Alina Rogers

Runnin' Utes Can't Contain No. 20 San Diego State

12/21/2019 7:55 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

The Utah men’s basketball wrapped up non-conference play 9-3 after Saturday night’s loss to No. 20 San Diego State.

LOS ANGELES – The University of Utah men's basketball team battled against one of the top defensive teams in the country in No. 20 San Diego State but weren't able to find the bottom of the net Saturday night inside STAPLES Center and fell to the Aztecs 80-52 to wrap up non-conference action.

Utah (9-3) had a tough time getting its offense going against the defensive minded Aztecs, going 0-for-5 with a turnover before an offensive board from Riley Battin led to a jumper by Rylan Jones with 16:16 on the clock for the team's first points.

San Diego State's defense continued to keep Utah from finding rhythm on offense and held the Utes to just 4-of-19 from the field with 3:50 left on the clock. Despite not finding its groove on offense, Utah was able to stay within striking distance of SDSU (12-0, 2-0 MWC) at the break and trailed just 30-19 thanks to a 6-0 run in the final 3:10 minutes of action.

After a quick 4-0 start by the Aztecs, Utah answered with a pair of triples from Timmy Allen and Both Gach and brought the SDSU lead down to single-digits 33-25. However, a hard drive to the rack from Malachi Flynn coupled with a foul saw the deficit go back up to double-digits 36-25 at the first media break (15:54).

The U needed a timeout with 12:21 left to play after a quick 6-0 spurt from San Diego State pushed the lead up to 44-27. The Aztecs' defense continued to disrupt the Ute offense until the final buzzer rang, holding Utah to just 10-of-26 from the floor in the second half while SDSU shot 55.9-percent (19-of-34) from the floor – including 6-of-10 from deep.

Allen finished with a team-high 21 points and six rebounds on 3-of-5 from deep. Gach was the next closest in the scoring column with eight points and four boards on just 2-of-9 shooting.

BY THE NUMBERS
With the loss, Utah is now 54-20 all-time against its former Mountain West rival and 5-3 all-time when playing the Aztecs on a neutral floor … Utah also saw its five-game win-streak come to an end … Haddock's three points is a new season-high for the freshman after hitting 3-of-4 from the free-throw line … the 15 made field-goals by Utah is the fewest so far this season and just the second time it hasn't made 20-plus in a single game … meanwhile, the .313 shooting clip Saturday night was the lowest this season as well … Saturday night was the first time Utah lost a game when losing the opening tip.

UP NEXT
Utah will now take some time off for the holidays before returning to the court and get ready for Pac-12 play. The Utes first welcome Oregon State (Jan. 2) for a 6:30 p.m. (MT) contest before entertaining the Ducks of Oregon (Jan. 4) for a 4:30 p.m. game inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Both games are scheduled to air on the Pac-12 Network with J.B. Long on the call for both games alongside Matt Muehlebach and Don MacLean, respectively.

###