By Morris Phillips

If Saturday night’s California-Utah ballgame were contested on a gridiron, not on the hardwood, Cal would have been saddled with poor field position throughout and rarely crossed midfield.

As it was, the Bears’ offensive possessions often ended quickly with a thud while Utah’s explored the rich tapestry of sharing the basketball, more often than not concluding with a flourish at point-blank range.

Even the final margin of 34 points lent the proceedings the feel of a five touchdown-mismatch at Rice-Eccles Stadium three blocks to the west, not a blowout on the hoop court at the history-filled Hunstman Center.

Either way the Bears were sent packing, much in need of the week of preparation they’ll have prior to their rematch with Stanford next Sunday. According to head coach Wyking Jones, the Bears will need an infusion of heart as well before seeing the Cardinal.

“We had no fight tonight,” Jones admitted. “It sums it all up… we had no fight.”

The Bears started respectably, leading 8-4 after four minutes. But a 10-0 Utah run changed the tenor of the ballgame immediately. Later in the half Cal went scoreless for more than five minutes and found themselves trailing 40-21 at halftime.

Offensively, the Bears were a mess early. Six of Cal’s 11 first half turnovers came in the first nine minutes as Utah’s zone built in tenacity. In their typical style under Coach Larry Krystowiak, the Utes’ defense fueled their offense with 17 of their 40 points a direct result of Cal’s miscues.

“If we truly focus on getting stops, it’s the cliché in sports,” Krystowiak said. “Pitching wins World Series’; Defense wins Super Bowls. We’ve had a couple of weeks playing zone, the guys are buying into it. Coach Hill is doing a great job on the defensive side of the ball, and it makes the game fun. We took some charges, took care of the glass, and the offense took care of itself.