Cal men overpowered in 77-43 rout by Utah

SALT LAKE CITY - David Collette scored 18 points on 9-of-10 shooting in a dominant performance around the paint and led Utah to a 77-43 win against Cal on Saturday night.

Justin Bibbins chipped in 15 and Sedrick Barefield added 13 for the Utes. Utah (15-9, 7-6 Pac-12) won its fourth in a row at home against Pac-12 opponents.

Darius McNeill scored 10 points to lead Cal. The Bears (8-18, 2-11) lost their sixth consecutive road game after going 3-0 away from home to start the season.

Cal struggled to adjust to Utah's defensive pressure in the first half and quickly coughed up several turnovers. The Bears totaled six turnovers in the first 8½ minutes and racked up 11 turnovers by halftime. Utah scored 17 points off those turnovers.

It opened the door for the Utes to gradually pull away as the first half progressed.

Cal initially seized an 8-4 lead behind back-to-back baskets from McNeill. Bibbins evened the score with a 4-point play that also sparked a 10-0 run. The senior point guard finished off the run with a layup that gave Utah a 14-8 lead.

The Utes carved out their first double digit lead behind an 11-2 run later in the half. Barefield and Collette combined to score baskets over three straight possessions to get things going. Then Collette finished off the run with back-to-back layups, giving Utah a 30-18 advantage.

Cal scored one field goal - a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Don Coleman - over the final five minutes of the first half. The Utes took advantage, pushing their lead to 40-21. Collette and Bibbins fueled the run with a pair of baskets apiece.

Utah led by as many as 34 points in the second half. The Utes took their largest lead in the final minute on back-to-back baskets from Parker Van Dyke and Jayce Johnson.

THE BIG PICTURE

Cal: Scoring droughts and turnovers doomed the Bears. Cal endured a five-minute stretch in the first half and a six-minute stretch in the second half where it scored a single basket.

Utah: The Utes are clicking on offense again at the right time. One reason for it is Utah's dominance around the basket. The Utes averaged 32 points in the paint in their victories against Stanford and Cal this week.

FINAL FOUR RECOGNITION

Utah honored its team that reached the 1998 Final Four at halftime. The Utes, led then by point guard Andre Miller and coached by the late Rick Majerus, raced off to an 18-0 start that season and eventually beat No. 1 seeds Arizona and North Carolina to earn a shot at winning a national title.

Utah eventually fell to Kentucky 78-69 in the national championship game.

UP NEXT

Cal: The Bears host archrival Stanford on Feb. 18.

Utah: The Utes play at Washington on Thursday.