Ducks late run dumps Utes

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah's upset bid went down in flames Thursday night when Oregon turned up the pressure.

Devoe Joseph scored 20 points and the Ducks used their press to forge a late 11-0 run and beat Utah 79-68.

"The tempo favored them but then the press changed the game because we were able to get some run-outs and some open 3s," Oregon coach Dana Altman said.

The Ducks' pressure broke the Utes' deliberate rhythm and turned an eight-point deficit into a 14-point lead down the stretch.

"The press gave us more energy and got the pace closer to where we wanted it," Joseph said. "We wanted to get up and down the court more than they did."

Oregon was also aided by the return of Carlos Emery and Tony Woods, who sat out the first half due to a violation of team rules.

Emory made his presence known quickly and ended up with a perfect shooting night, making all four field goal attempts and all five free throws on his way to 14 points.

"Carlos gave us a big lift, no doubt about it," Altman said.

E.J. Singler added 12 as the Ducks (16-6, 7-3 Pac-12) won for the fifth time in their last six games.

Chris Hines had 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and Cedric Martin added 15 for Utah (5-17, 2-8). Kareem Storey had 10 points and a career-high 11 assists for the Utes, who have dropped seven of their last eight games.

Storey made a pair of free throws for Utah's last lead at 59-58. Emory then converted a three-point play and added a reverse dunk on a lob pass from Joseph during the game-clinching run.

"I know Carlos will go up and get it," Joseph said. "He's just a superior athlete and you know you can just throw it up anywhere and he'll dunk it. That really got us going."

Since becoming eligible on Dec. 10 after transferring from Minnesota, Joseph has scored in double figures in all but one game of his 16 games.

"He's big for us. He scores, he plays at a great tempo and doesn't take many bad shots," Altman said.

Utah led 49-41 after Hines and Dijon Farr hit back-to-back 3-pointers. But the Utes went cold as they have so often in this season of frustration, going almost seven minutes without a field goal, and Oregon took the lead on Singler's layup with 8:37 to play.

"We didn't have the mindset to deal with their press," Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "They came in with a fresh batch of horses and that hurt us."

Utah has been blown out of most conference road games in its initial Pac-12 season but has been competitive at home, beating Washington State and Oregon State and suffering a close defeat to Washington.

"We knew these guys fight really tough at home but our defensive intensity really picked up," Joseph said. "You saw that in their field goal percentage (32 percent) in the second half."

The Utes lost their only two seniors when leading scorer Josh Watkins was released from the team for rules violations last month and center David Foster had foot surgery in November.