By Morris Phillips

Utah’s superb defense figured to test Cal and their unlikely five-game win streak, but at least for a while the Bears had the Utes on their heels thanks to Tyrone Wallace.

Wallace scored 17 of his game-best 26 points in the first half, but an 11-minute stretch spanning the halves in which Cal made just one basket tipped the scales for Utah in their 76-61 win on Sunday in Salt Lake City.

“We just didn’t make plays down the stretch of the first half and they did,” Jabari Bird said.  “That gave them the boost they needed and they used that to their advantage in the second half.”

Had Cal maintained their early lead, and upset No. 11 Utah, it would have marked the biggest win of their season, and given them a tremendous boost to their post-season aspirations.  But the Utes haven’t allowed more than 72 points to any opponent all season, and their early struggles on defense didn’t seem likely to last.

“We just didn’t have much energy and they were playing a heck of a lot harder offensively than we were defensively,” Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak.

But Utah’s energy issues didn’t last, after Cal shot 54 percent and led by six after the first 15 minutes.  From that point, the Bears scored just 25 points the rest of the way, and never led after halftime.  As usual, the stingy Utes started the run with a steal, and a big boost from their sellout crowd.

Utah won at the historic Huntsman Center for the 17^th consecutive time.  Utah has been dominant in conference play, winning all six previous Pac-12 home games by an average of 23 points.  A 16-point win over Cal Sunday ranks at the closest of the bunch.

All-conference guard Delon Wright started the rush with a steal and breakaway basket and Cal almost immediately was stuck in the mud.

Consequently, the Bears spent much of the second half trailing by double digits and failed to make Utah uncomfortable at any point.

The Bears fell to 6-7 in Pac-12 play with the loss, but they get another big game on Saturday at 7-6 Stanford, who have seen their NCAA hopes take a hit with losses in three of their last four games.

Cal’s 3-point shooting during their win streak was dramatically better than it was over the balance of their schedule, and it was the first to go in the loss to Utah.  The Bears missed 10 of their 14 attempts and that surely made any hopes of another buzzer beater shot on Sunday. Also, they lacked the scoring balance that normally would be essential to beating a highly-ranked opponent.

The Bears got 21 of their 26 made baskets from Wallace and Bird.  The other seven Bears missed 23 of their combined 28 shots.

Besides Wallace’s 26 points and Bird’s 21, the Bears got seven from backup point guard Brandon Chauca.  The Utes were lead 7’0” center Jakob Poeltl with 18 points.