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EUGENE, Ore. — A staggering 38-17 rebounding deficit leads to a second-straight loss for the Runnin' Utes, as they fall at No. 19 Oregon, 73-64.
Senior forward E.J. Singler led the Ducks with 21 points and eight rebounds, with 12 of those points coming from his 13 attempts at the free-throw line. Freshman guard Damyean Dotson scored 16 and senior forward Arsalan Kazemi contributed 11 points, 14 boards, four steals and three blocks, as Oregon outscored Utah 51-34 in the second half to recover from an eight point halftime deficit.
"(We) just got outscrapped," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak told the ESPN 700 radio broadcast. "It seemed like a fist fight under the glass, and we just didn't come up with enough of the 50-50 balls."
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Senior center Jason Washburn scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting to lead the Utes, grabbing seven rebounds. Senior guard Jarred DuBois added 15 points and five assists.
Freshman forward Jordan Loveridge shined in the first half, scoring 14 points on 6 of 7 from the field. He went scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting in the second half, however, and failed to corral a rebound for the first time as a Ute.
In addition to getting outrebounded by 21, the Utes also gave up as many offensive rebounds to the Ducks (17) as they grabbed in total.
"(Oregon) is as physical as any team in our league," Krystkowiak said. "You have to give credit to a team that really goes for the offensive board. You can be the best defensive team on the planet, but if you can't get the defensive rebound, you become pretty average."
"As a big, I have to take personal responsibility for that," Washburn said. "Sometimes, a team's best offense is just to put the ball up off the glass and have guys go get it. They have a team that's full of athletes and guys that really attack that glass hard."
Washburn beat the buzzer to end the first half and give Utah a 30-22 advantage at the break, as the Utes' 20-5 first half rebounding deficit was temporarily neutralized by 11 first-half turnovers for Oregon.
But the tide began to turn after a technical foul called on Utah guard Cedric Martin contributed to a 9-2 Oregon run to bring the Ducks within one early in the second half.
"I can't even tell you how much it swung (the momentum)," Krystkowiak said of Martin's technical foul. "Without a doubt that was the key. With as many bodies as were on the ground, Cedric came over to me and said, 'they gave me a T for that? Coach, you got to get them to check the monitor, I didn't even do anything.'
"To me, that's an indication that it maybe shouldn't have happened. Obviously they hit the free throws and hit the bucket. I don't know how many points we lost out of it, but it sucked the life out of our team."
A Singler jump shot tied the game at 43 with 10:48 left in the game, followed by a Kazemi free throw to give the Ducks a one point lead.
Oregon continued on an 18-2 run to get out to an 11 point lead with just over four minutes left in the game.
DuBois got to the rim for a layup to make it 61-55 with 2:16 left, but that was as close as the Utes could get.
Aside from the deficit on the boards, Utah got to the free throw line just 16 times, in contrast to Oregon's 35 free-throw attempts.
"They got in the bonus early," Washburn said. "They started shooting a lot of free throws and getting offensive rebounds. Eventually, it all adds up."
Utah (10-13, 2-9) loses its second straight, while Oregon (19-5, 8-3) snaps a three game skid.
Despite the loss, Krystkowiak still sees the progress his team is making.
"We're headed in the right direction," he said. "We had a great team meeting after Oregon State. We had the best practice we've had at the rec center. There's nobody here that's not focused, and certainly no sense of desperation or any guys that are throwing in the towel. We're going to try to get on a roll here at the end of the season and maybe do some damage."
The Utes will return home to face the Arizona schools next week, starting with the Sun Devils on Wednesday, followed by the Wildcats on Sunday.
Tyson Maddy has covered the University of Utah football and men's basketball teams as a contributing writer for KSL.com Sports since 2011. Follow his Utes coverage on twitter @Tyson_Maddy
