Oregon’s dominance of Utah has come to an end.

Jermaine Couisnard scored 26 points and N’Faly Dante had 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Ducks, but each had layups rim out in the final 15 seconds and the center missed the first of two free throws that could have tied it with 1.3 seconds to go in an 80-77 loss to the Utes Sunday afternoon at the Huntsman Center.

Deivon Smith had 15 of his career-high 24 points in the second half and added nine rebounds and nine assists for Utah (14-5, 5-3), which scored 48 points in the second half. The Utes shot 68% from the field in the second half, including 50% from three, and went 8 of 12 at the free throw line after the break.

In the final 12 minutes Utah shot 11 of 14 from the field, including 5 of 6 by Smith, compared to 9 of 23 for Oregon (13-5, 5-2 Pac-12), which saw its 11-game win streak in the series snapped with its first loss in Salt Lake City since March 9, 2013.

“You can’t give up 48 points in a half,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said on postgame radio. “We played really well defensively the first half but had eight turnovers. The second half we don’t turn it over, we score 44 points but we give up 48. Really disappointed with some of our focus.

“Two guys I’m not disappointed in, and it’s not because of the points they scored, but N’Faly Dante had 10 rebounds, 11 deflections, he drew nine fouls, two blocked shots, six assists, one turnover. He played an unbelievable game. He was so focused and so prepared. Jermaine played really well. I really got after him in film (for his) performance at Colorado. He did hit some shots but he was second in deflections and talking defensively trying to get our guys in the right position. Those two guys I’m not disappointed in. The rest of the guys, they got to play harder.”

Neither team led by more than six points in a game that was tied nine times and saw 15 lead changes. The teams traded runs in the second half, as Utah scored seven straight to take a 60-57 lead, then Oregon scored 10 of 13 to go ahead and Smith scored nine straight to give the Utes a narrow lead they would not relinquish. Smith, a fourth-year junior, topped his previous career-high (17) from March 28, 2021 while a freshman at Mississippi State.

In his third game back from knee surgery Dante played a season-high 29 minutes and was closer to his usual form. The fifth-year senior went 10 of 15 from the field and 3 of 5 at the free throw line.

“We’re a lot better team with him on the floor,” Altman said. “Our guys just got to do a much better job of flying around defensively around him and I think if we get that we’ll be in a lot better shape.”

Being swept by the mountain schools is a massive missed opportunity for Oregon, which drops to 2-3 in Quadrant 1 games with just three such opportunities remaining. Giving up 86 and 80 points in the process is what is upsetting to Altman, who has been harping on the need for defensive improvements for weeks.

“We’ve given up 80 six times (in regulation) and we’re 1-5,” he said. “I’m not the smartest guy around but we’re 1-5 when we give up 80 and our defensive performance has got to improve. Offensively all the analytics got us top 30 and our defense is way down there. It was another night at proving it.”

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