Utes lose to San Francisco 89-86

It wasn't the best night for the Utes, as they dropped a game to a WCC team in San Francisco by a score of 89-86 In their opening game of the Diamond Head Classic. The Utes played most of the game without Kyle Kuzma, who injured his ankle in the opening minutes of the game. That left the Utes without one of their starters, and one of their best rebounders on the team.

Utah was picked up by a couple of the new guys, including David Collette, who had 18 points on 7 of 12 shootings, as well as Sedric Barefield who had 35 points on 11-of-15 from the floor, including 5 of 7 from three point range. Barefield has the primary catalyst in bringing Utah back from a 15 point second half deficit, after USF caught fire from three by hitting 16 triples. Utah didn't do themselves any favors turning the ball over 21 times, including the final one, a Barefield charge on a play that could have tied the game or taken the lead for the Utes. USF had 20 turnovers of their own, so it wasn't super clean on either side.

Although the loss is disappointing, watching Utah fight back from the deficit was encouragin, and watching Barefield put to the team on his back, especially offensively was also something I was happy to see. Often times within the last couple of years, you weren't always sure who was going to take the final shot, or who would shoot the Utes out of a dry spell. That answer appears to be answered with Barefield.