Utah finally earned its first true road victory of the season in its last game.
The Utes bid to make it two in a row on Saturday when they visit California in Berkeley, Calif.
After squandering late leads in two consecutive contests away from home, Utah finally snapped a 12-game road skid dating back to last season when it rallied to beat Stanford 60-56 on Thursday.
The Utes (10-16, 3-13 Pac-12) held the Cardinal to one basket over the final 9:28 of the second half and closed the game on a 12-2 run to improve to 1-9 on the road this season.
Balanced offense helped Utah down the stretch. Both Gach and Branden Carlson each finished with a team-high 13 points while Rollie Worster and Gabe Madsen chipped in with 11 points apiece.
For the Utes, it was a breakthrough moment after late losses to Colorado and Washington in the team’s previous two road contests.
“The guys have had a tremendous attitude, one that craves improvement,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “We show up every day to practice ready to go to work. When you keep knocking at the door, you’re bound to break it open at some point.”
California squandered a potential similar breakthrough moment in a 70-62 loss to Colorado on Thursday.
The Bears (11-16, 4-12) answered a 10-game losing skid by defeating Oregon State and Oregon on the road. A sluggish second half against the Buffaloes impeded their chances to build upon those victories.
California held a 33-22 lead with 3:37 left before halftime before scoring just three baskets from the floor over a pronounced stretch. The Bears found themselves trailing 58-43 with 6:44 to go and could not get back in the game.
“This is as disappointed as I’ve been in our players, our coaches, and myself all season. We had a lead, and we handled it very immaturely,” California coach Mark Fox said. “We had some success last weekend, and I thought we opened the game and played pretty well. But as soon as adversity hit, we didn’t respond the right way and I was certainly very disappointed in all of us tonight.”
Utah posted a 66-58 home victory over California when the two teams met on Dec. 5.
Gach had 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting to lead the Utes.
Grant Anticevich collected 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Bears.
–Field Level Media