Utah went into halftime trailing 29-27 to Santa Clara feeling that they had a good shot to win this game.  However, Santa Clara came out of halftime and began to steam roll the Utes.  Utah shot a poor 39.3% from the field in the second half and allowed Santa Clara to shoot 59.1%. 

Tom Smart / Deseret Morning News

Santa Clara's John Bryant sat out 18.5 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble, but played 14 minutes in the second half and put 17 points on the board.  Luke Nevill couldn't match Bryant as he only went 2-10 from the field and scored 10 points for the game.  Nevill also ended the game with one foul.  Luke needs to learn to play tougher defense and use his fouls to his advantage.

The only bright spot for the Utes was Johnnie Bryant's 17 point second half performance, but he got very little assistance from his teammates which only managed to contribute an additional 13 points in the second half.

This is a very tough loss to swallow since the Utes were at home (where they should never lose) and going against a team that only has two key players.  Utah has the next 9 days to breakdown their problems and see what they can do to get headed in the right direction.

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