RECAP: Utah Smothers Cal, 88-59

The Utes' size dominates on both ends of the court

The mountain schools road trip is the toughest pair of away games in the Pac-12. Colorado and Utah have a combined 3 home losses this season. Prior to this week, Cal had their first 3-game winning streak after the home sweep of the Oregon schools. It was going to be a tall task for the Bears to continue the streak as they ventured to the mountain time zone.

Utah established their interior superiority right from the start. In the first 8 minutes of the game, Utah already had a 15-3 rebounding edge to go with 2 early blocks. Fardaws Aimaq finished the game with 5 rebounds, his first single-digit total since the early January loss to Arizona.

Utah dominated all facets of the first half, except turnovers. The Utes’ shot better, they committed fewer fouls, and they outrebounded the Bears 28-14. It felt like Utah should have a dominating lead. The Utes’ committed 7 turnovers, which led to 7 points for Cal. Jalen Cone had 10 first half points while continuing to display a strong drive-and-dish game. Though Utah led 42-32 at the half, there was a sense of mild optimism that Cal had a reasonable chance to mount another comeback win.

Cal was able to cut the led to 7 points within the first minute of the second half, but that’s as close as Cal would get. Utah started connecting on their 3-point shots, and was able to push the lead to 15 by the 13-minute mark, 56-41. They pulled away form that point on for the final 88-59 score.

The Utes’ Branden Carlson finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. The Utes finished with a 47-29 rebounding edge. Utah had 11 second-chance points, compared to Cal’s 2 points.

For the Bears, Jalen Cone finished with 19 points, and Fardaws Aimaq added 12. Jaylon Tyson was only 2-of-11 shooting, and finished with 7 points.

Keonte Kennedy was ejected late in the first half. Kennedy was dribbling and starting to drive on Utah’s Hunter Erickson. Kennedy extended his arm, hitting Erickson below the belt. Erickson doubled over in pain, but no whistle was blown and Kennedy completed the basket. The officials stopped play and watched a replay of Kennedy’s contact, eventually charging him with a Flagrant 2 foul, which is an automatic ejection. I thought a Flagrant 1 was the more appropriate call.

Cal falls to 13-17, 9-10 in conference play. They finish conference play next Thursday at Stanford. The Bears are currently in 7th place in the conference. A top 4 finish is no longer in reach. There are six teams with between 9 and 11 conference losses. Anything from a tie for 5th to a tie for 8th-10th is still in play for the Bears.