Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Nevada [Exh] on October 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
7:00 PM
![Nevada [Exh]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/crop?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Futahutes.com%2Fimages%2Flogos%2FNevadaAthletics_Navy.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
Men's Basketball
vs Nevada [Exh]
![Oregon [Exh]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/crop?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Futahutes.com%2Fimages%2Flogos%2Foregon.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
Saturday, January 4
Salt Lake City, UT
3:00 PM
University of Utah
64
vs
69
Oregon
Photo by: Rob Gray
Men's Hoops Splits Opening Weekend in Pac-12 Play with Narrow Loss to No. 4/6 Oregon
1/4/2020 6:19 PM | Men's Basketball
The Utah men’s basketball team dropped a narrow 69-64 game to No. 4/6 Oregon at home to split the opening weekend of Pac-12 play.
SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah men's basketball team couldn't quite pull off the upset Saturday evening inside the Jon M. Huntsman Center as it fell to No. 4/6 Oregon in a tightly contest game 69-64.
The first five-plus minutes of action was evenly matched between the Utes (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and the fourth-ranked Ducks before a scoring drought saw Oregon go on a 7-0 run to set Utah behind 12-7 at the 13:11 mark. Despites the shots not falling for the U, defensive stops kept them within arms-length of the Ducks and got within 12-11 thanks to a 6-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Mikael Jantunen.
Out of the 7:50 media break, Rylan Jones got the Huntsman crowd going when he drilled a triple atop the key and tied it up at 17-17 before a pair of free throws from Timmy Allen later on tied things back up at 21-21. Two possessions later, Gach gave Utah its first lead of the game when he knocked down his second three of the game for the 24-21 edge heading into the final media break (3:54).
A 7-0 run ensued for the Ducks (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12) out of the timeout and got up 30-24 before Jaxon Brenchley hit a corner three, but it was not enough as Utah headed into the break trailing 36-31. However, the Utes were able to keep Oregon within two possessions thanks to a 5-for-10 effort from three-point range after starting the game 0-for-7.
Utah came out of the gates to start the second half firing and took a short-lived 38-36 lead after a steal from Gach ended with a two-handed jam. A block from Lahat Thioune at the 12:21 mark led to a fast break trey from Jones to keep the Utes at arm's length of Oregon 48-44.
Gach then gave the Utes a little energy out of the timeout, draining a deep three as time expired on the shot clock and brought Utah within 56-49 of the Ducks. The scoring run for Utah continued after the 7:51 media break thanks to a Jantunen's second 3-pointer of the game made it 56-54. Allen then hit both free throws after Oregon's Shakur Juiston was called for a technical on the box out against Allen. The sophomore then followed with an offensive board and gave Utah the 58-56 lead before Payton Pritchard went down the other end and drilled a 3-ball of his own to put an end to the 12-0 run by the U.
After an Oregon timeout at the 5:32 mark in hopes of keeping Pritchard in the game after a collision with Allen that left the senior with a bloody nose that proved futile, Oregon went on an 8-2 spurt and set Utah back 67-62 heading into the final media timeout with 2:35 left to play.
After Gach's drive to the basket was blocked, Jones was able to get out in front of Oregon's Chris Duarte on the outlet and drew a charge – which gave the Utes the ball back with 32.1 ticks remaining. Out of the timeout and with 15 seconds on the clock, Allen had a chance to tie the ballgame up but his 3-ball just missed as Oregon sneaked out of Salt Lake City with the win to set both teams at 1-1 in Pac-12 play.
Gach finished with a career-high 24 points while Allen posted his fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and a career-tying 11 rebounds. Jantunen rounded things out for the Utes with a perfect night from the floor, scoring 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting – two of which came from downtown.
BY THE NUMBERS
The loss Saturday moves Utah to 10-23 all-time when playing against Oregon and 1-8 all-time when the Ducks have been ranked in the AP Poll … the Utes are now 5-8 when playing at home against the Ducks … Utah was able to convert 10 Oregon turnovers for a 16-10 edge in points off turnovers … the seven Utah turnovers is the lowest total this year and just the third time this season the Utes have committed single-digit turnovers.
QOUTABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak…
Thoughts on team's performance against Oregon…
"It was a good college basketball game. I told our team and I told our coaches, that's what we signed up for. There were a lot of positive things that our team did, Oregon has always been a problem for us with turnovers. If you would have told me that we were going to turn it over seven times in that game, I would have definitely hit the deal button. To beat an elite team like that, you've got to make more open shots. I thought that we had a ton of open shots in the first half, and then Oregon came back and played better defense in the second half. Rebounding was also a big factor, we played a little bit smaller, and they were able to out-rebound us by five. Oregon is the number one team in the country for scoring within the first eight seconds of the shot clock, and I think we definitely got hit with that, with the way that they were able to get out and run on us. To be down ten, with about ten minutes to go and to be able to come back and take the lead, was a remarkable thing for these guys and I'm proud of our team.
On being the second-youngest team in the nation…
"A lot of these guys haven't experienced anything like this, and the only way you gain experience is to go through an experience like this. I give them a lot of credit, for being able to stay in the moment and being able to get back into the game. This is a process, and you're not going to win a season and you're not going to get any accolades, by winning one game. As long as our guys understand that we need to learn from it and build on it, our guys are going to wise up and be ready for more games like this in the future."
Freshman Point Guard Rylan Jones…
On facing Peyton Pritchard…
"It was awesome. He's a guy who I've looked up to my whole life. He came to the pac-12 as a freshman and they went to the final four. I'm trying to be like him. He's really, really good. I'm trying to bel like him."
On the final play…
"They guarded our little action we ran, and then Timmy had it in iso. He shot a good shot, when he shot it I thought he made it, it looked good. We missed a lot of open shots tonight, we were getting consistent looks and just missing them."
On the game being a missed opportunity…
"Every game we lose is a missed opportunity. We just have to come back and get ready for the next game. We can't dwell on it. We're going to move on and prepare for a really good Colorado team."
On teammate Both Gach's career-high game…
"He had a really great game all around for us. When he gets downhill and going, he's hard to stop. He's probably the fasted guy in the league from half court to the basket. We used him in pick and roll because he was causing a lot of problems for them, and he made a lot of good plays."
UP NEXT
The Utes now get a whole to week off to prepare for a Sunday, Jan. 12, battle in Boulder against Colorado. Roxy Bernstein will have the call on the ESPNU broadcast alongside Bill Walton when the Utes visit the Buffs.
The first five-plus minutes of action was evenly matched between the Utes (10-4, 1-1 Pac-12) and the fourth-ranked Ducks before a scoring drought saw Oregon go on a 7-0 run to set Utah behind 12-7 at the 13:11 mark. Despites the shots not falling for the U, defensive stops kept them within arms-length of the Ducks and got within 12-11 thanks to a 6-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Mikael Jantunen.
Out of the 7:50 media break, Rylan Jones got the Huntsman crowd going when he drilled a triple atop the key and tied it up at 17-17 before a pair of free throws from Timmy Allen later on tied things back up at 21-21. Two possessions later, Gach gave Utah its first lead of the game when he knocked down his second three of the game for the 24-21 edge heading into the final media break (3:54).
Defense = ??@ThiouneLahat ??Offense = ?? @rylanjones15
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/UxTkKYjG73
A 7-0 run ensued for the Ducks (12-3, 1-1 Pac-12) out of the timeout and got up 30-24 before Jaxon Brenchley hit a corner three, but it was not enough as Utah headed into the break trailing 36-31. However, the Utes were able to keep Oregon within two possessions thanks to a 5-for-10 effort from three-point range after starting the game 0-for-7.
Utah came out of the gates to start the second half firing and took a short-lived 38-36 lead after a steal from Gach ended with a two-handed jam. A block from Lahat Thioune at the 12:21 mark led to a fast break trey from Jones to keep the Utes at arm's length of Oregon 48-44.
Catch and shoot ?? by @TutBoth.
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? #Gachya?? pic.twitter.com/bqdUkN7yfu
Gach then gave the Utes a little energy out of the timeout, draining a deep three as time expired on the shot clock and brought Utah within 56-49 of the Ducks. The scoring run for Utah continued after the 7:51 media break thanks to a Jantunen's second 3-pointer of the game made it 56-54. Allen then hit both free throws after Oregon's Shakur Juiston was called for a technical on the box out against Allen. The sophomore then followed with an offensive board and gave Utah the 58-56 lead before Payton Pritchard went down the other end and drilled a 3-ball of his own to put an end to the 12-0 run by the U.
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? pic.twitter.com/NBCO0Kq2Vx
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2020
After an Oregon timeout at the 5:32 mark in hopes of keeping Pritchard in the game after a collision with Allen that left the senior with a bloody nose that proved futile, Oregon went on an 8-2 spurt and set Utah back 67-62 heading into the final media timeout with 2:35 left to play.
After Gach's drive to the basket was blocked, Jones was able to get out in front of Oregon's Chris Duarte on the outlet and drew a charge – which gave the Utes the ball back with 32.1 ticks remaining. Out of the timeout and with 15 seconds on the clock, Allen had a chance to tie the ballgame up but his 3-ball just missed as Oregon sneaked out of Salt Lake City with the win to set both teams at 1-1 in Pac-12 play.
Gach finished with a career-high 24 points while Allen posted his fourth double-double of the year with 19 points and a career-tying 11 rebounds. Jantunen rounded things out for the Utes with a perfect night from the floor, scoring 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting – two of which came from downtown.
BY THE NUMBERS
The loss Saturday moves Utah to 10-23 all-time when playing against Oregon and 1-8 all-time when the Ducks have been ranked in the AP Poll … the Utes are now 5-8 when playing at home against the Ducks … Utah was able to convert 10 Oregon turnovers for a 16-10 edge in points off turnovers … the seven Utah turnovers is the lowest total this year and just the third time this season the Utes have committed single-digit turnovers.
QOUTABLE
Head Coach Larry Krystkowiak…
Thoughts on team's performance against Oregon…
"It was a good college basketball game. I told our team and I told our coaches, that's what we signed up for. There were a lot of positive things that our team did, Oregon has always been a problem for us with turnovers. If you would have told me that we were going to turn it over seven times in that game, I would have definitely hit the deal button. To beat an elite team like that, you've got to make more open shots. I thought that we had a ton of open shots in the first half, and then Oregon came back and played better defense in the second half. Rebounding was also a big factor, we played a little bit smaller, and they were able to out-rebound us by five. Oregon is the number one team in the country for scoring within the first eight seconds of the shot clock, and I think we definitely got hit with that, with the way that they were able to get out and run on us. To be down ten, with about ten minutes to go and to be able to come back and take the lead, was a remarkable thing for these guys and I'm proud of our team.
On being the second-youngest team in the nation…
"A lot of these guys haven't experienced anything like this, and the only way you gain experience is to go through an experience like this. I give them a lot of credit, for being able to stay in the moment and being able to get back into the game. This is a process, and you're not going to win a season and you're not going to get any accolades, by winning one game. As long as our guys understand that we need to learn from it and build on it, our guys are going to wise up and be ready for more games like this in the future."
Freshman Point Guard Rylan Jones…
On facing Peyton Pritchard…
"It was awesome. He's a guy who I've looked up to my whole life. He came to the pac-12 as a freshman and they went to the final four. I'm trying to be like him. He's really, really good. I'm trying to bel like him."
On the final play…
"They guarded our little action we ran, and then Timmy had it in iso. He shot a good shot, when he shot it I thought he made it, it looked good. We missed a lot of open shots tonight, we were getting consistent looks and just missing them."
On the game being a missed opportunity…
"Every game we lose is a missed opportunity. We just have to come back and get ready for the next game. We can't dwell on it. We're going to move on and prepare for a really good Colorado team."
On teammate Both Gach's career-high game…
"He had a really great game all around for us. When he gets downhill and going, he's hard to stop. He's probably the fasted guy in the league from half court to the basket. We used him in pick and roll because he was causing a lot of problems for them, and he made a lot of good plays."
.@TutBoth coming thru ????
— Utah Basketball?? (@UtahMBB) January 4, 2020
??@Pac12Network#GoUtes???? #Gachya?? pic.twitter.com/aUZXXZ3fKO
UP NEXT
The Utes now get a whole to week off to prepare for a Sunday, Jan. 12, battle in Boulder against Colorado. Roxy Bernstein will have the call on the ESPNU broadcast alongside Bill Walton when the Utes visit the Buffs.
###
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's BasketballCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Eric Weddle
Wednesday, October 01
Meet the Runnin’ Utes Staff: Martin Schiller
Monday, September 29
Meet the Runnin’ Utes Staff: Erick Schork
Thursday, August 28
Utah Basketball | Team Together - Episode 2
Thursday, August 21