By Morris Phillips

Things just got progressively more difficult for the Cal Bears in Salt Lake City on Sunday afternoon.

From realizing an early eight-point lead, then having to tussle to maintain some portion of that lead at the halftime break, the Cal Bears found resistance from host Utah almost immediately.

That pressure was ratcheted with Utah’s 10-0 run to take the lead four minutes into the second half, and it didn’t relent. Utah’s focus on stopping Cal’s top three offensive threats carried all the way through to the final horn, and a 66-58 Utes’ victory.

“We never found a rhythm in the second half,” coach Mark Fox said. “Our three-point shooting in the first half was good to us, and in the second half not so much. We have to have a more mature approach. We still had a possession late where we missed a couple of good threes that would have got it to a one-possession game.”

The Utes targeted Andre Kelly, Jordan Shepherd and Grant Anticevich for statistical close shaves, and they did a precise job, limiting the trio to 12 makes and no threes in a combined 33 shot attempts. Cal best offensive threats never got started–their teammates did, most notably Makale Foreman–and they certainly didn’t finish off anything.

Utah doubled Kelly in the post, which kept him to just six shot attempts. For Anticevich and Shepherd, the Utes were careful to stay attached, especially when either were looking to unleash a three.

“I don’t think we nearly demanded the ball well enough in the post,” Fox said of how his Bears reacted to Utah’s defensive approach. “I don’t think the post trap led us to a bunch of turnovers, but I don’t think we nearly executed with the authority that we need to on the offensive end to create advantages.”

The game’s progression told a simple tale: With Cal shut down in the paint, they initially made tough shots, especially Foreman who had eight of his 13 in Cal’s 26-18 start. But Foreman’s scoring ceased at halftime, and his teammates couldn’t follow his lead. The Bears missed all eight 3-point attempts and shot 29.6 percent after the break.

Both Gach led Utah with 19 points, six rebounds and Branden Carlson–a gametime decision with an ankle issue–started slow, but came up with 10 of his 12 after break, presumably when his injured ankle loosened up. Utah was 2 of 11 from three before the break, but much better with 6 of 14 afterwards.

“It wasn’t a fire and brimstone speech or anything like that at halftime,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “But it was a matter-of-fact speech and we made a few adjustments with our screen and roll defense, which really helped us.”

The Utes avoided consecutive, home losses to start Pac-12 play, while Cal couldn’t surprise the entire West Coast with a 2-0 conference beginning after they were picked to finish 12th. Still, the early taste of league action was good for the Bears (4-5, 1-1) and their quiet confidence, and they’ll try to expand on it when they host Idaho State on Wednesday.