Utah Utes basketball: Frustrated after another home loss

SALT LAKE CITY — Another disappointing home loss resulted in another players-only meeting for the Utah Utes on Saturday afternoon.

After the Utes (5-6) lost to Illinois State 73-63 at the Huntsman Center, the players gathered to talk about making the right plays, playing for each other and sharing the ball.

It's a scenario that's grown tiresome for guard Carlon Brown.

"We shouldn't be here having a team meeting after every game we lose — it shouldn't be like that," Brown said. "We shouldn't be losing these games, especially at home. Our record doesn't show who we are so we got to change it, turn it around as fast as we can."

It's no mystery what the Utes have to fix. Their ailing execution on offense was again a source of trouble against Illinois State.

Utah trailed for nearly the entire contest because it couldn't score in the first half. The Utes shot 30 percent and scored just 20 points in the first 20 minutes. They made nine shots, and four of them were assisted.

"We couldn't hit the broad side of the barn in that first half, and it made the game ugly for us," said Utes coach Jim Boylen.

Did it ever. The Redbirds, of the Missouri Valley Conference, took the lead for good when Austin Hill made a layup to give them a 13-11 lead. Illinois State never led by more than eight points before halftime, but it seemed like an insurmountable deficit because the Utes could never get clicking offensively.

Utah shot a much better percentage in the second half, knocking down 52 percent of its attempts. But it ran into a different problem — turnovers — down the stretch. Luke Drca hit a 3-pointer with 7:08 remaining to get the Utes within 50-45, and they looked to be getting things together offensively.

Instead, they fell apart. They committed five turnovers on their next seven possessions. Marshall Henderson made an ill-advised pass to Jason Washburn, and it was stolen in the paint the next time Utah had the ball following Drca's 3-pointer. Washburn and Brown each had a turnover, while Henderson and Jace Tavita each committed offensive fouls to give the ball back to the Redbirds.

"I've talked about our offensive deficiencies, and it kind of reared its ugly head tonight," Boylen said. "It just seemed like we would shoot ourselves in the foot. We stopped our momentum with those kind of plays (the turnovers) and it made it tough."

Illinois State, which is 8-2 and has defeated just one team with a winning record, made 15 of its last 16 free-throw attempts in the final 2:01 to put the game away.