Taylor scores 20 points to lead No. 19 Oregon to 75-64 victory over Utah

PORTLAND, Ore. — Bryce Taylor scored a season-high 20 points and No. 19 Oregon defeated Utah 75-64 Saturday at the annual Pape Jam at the Rose Garden.

Tajuan Porter had 16 points and Maarty Leunen and Joevan Catron both added 11 for the Ducks (7-1).

The win was the 200th at Oregon for coach Ernie Kent, who is second on the school's all-time win list, 12 behind Howard Hobson.

Tyler Kepkay scored 23 points to lead Utah (5-3).

Ranked fourth in the nation with an average of 91.3 points per game, Oregon scored fewer than 80 points for the first time this season. But the Ducks shot 53.7 percent, the first time Utah has allowed an opponent to shoot better than 50 percent.

Porter had a left-handed layup over Luke Nevill, Utah's 7-foot-1 center, to push Oregon's lead to 49-40 with 15:44 left. Nevill, slowed by double-teams in the first half, had a layup and Kepkay followed with a 3-pointer to cut the Utes' deficit to 49-45.

Nevill was then forced out of the game with a bloody nose, and Oregon promptly went on a 7-0 run. After Utah again cut Oregon's lead to four, the Ducks built a 69-59 lead on three straight layups by Malik Hairston, Taylor and Leunen.

Kepkay scored nine consecutive points to turn Utah's 18-13 deficit into a four-point lead with 7:28 left in the first half.

Carlon Brown's three-point play three minutes later kept the lead at four for Utah, but Oregon ended the half on a 13-4 run. Porter hit a pull-up jumper just before the halftime buzzer to give the Ducks a 38-33 lead.