A week after Oregon’s scrappy loss to Oregon State, the Ducks looked to be building and improving in order to find a silver lining in what looked to be a lost season.

On Sunday, after the second straight blowout loss, it’s clear the only thing Kelly Graves’ squad had brewing was false hope.

Ran out of the gym by Utah, (17-7, 8-5 Pac-12) Oregon (11-13, 2-10 Pac-12) struggled to shoot from range, grab offensive rebounds, reduce turnovers, or anything that winning teams do to win taut games down the stretch.

Now after losing  seven in a row and 13 straight road games, the Ducks were able to get off to a hot start as Phillipina Kyei got a pair of easy layups to fall.

Then for the first of many times, Oregon went into a scoring drought — going 0-5 on a slump that lasted over three and a half minutes.

The Utes’ Jenna Johnson drained two 3-pointers and added 10 points to give Utah a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter of action.

The new quarter brought a scoring slump from both sides, as neither team had a field-goal until Grace VanSlooten’s mid-range found the net and made the score 19-15 at the 6:07 mark in the second quarter. 

The Ducks failed to capitalize on Utah being held scoreless until the 5:33 mark in the quarter. Johnson’s 16 first-half points led Utah to a 12-point lead at the break. 

At halftime, Oregon had allowed 15 second-half points and had seven turnovers compared to just two from the Utes. 

Playing from behind almost the entirety of the game, the Ducks were unable to make up for the talent disparity with 3-point shooting, Utah went 12-35 on the day and Oregon went just 1-8. 

The two teams traded baskets for the first minutes of the half before Oregon began to hit a groove. The Ducks went 4-5from the field while Utah would go cold from the field allowing Oregon to cut the lead to as few as four. 

The final four minutes of the period proved costly for the Ducks as Matyson Wilke and the Utes pulled away again. Wilke and Johnson combined to hit a pair of three’s to make Utah’s lead 11 going into the fourth quarter.

Oregon’s zone defense fell apart, as Utah shot 44% in a quarter played mostly by bench players. With the Ducks down 15 and badly needing a bucket, Kyei tossed an ill-advised pass into the hands of Utah’s Ines Vierira who scored on the fast break. 

Held to just two points in the first half,  Alissa Pili finished with 16 points for the Utes, who led by as many as 24 down the stretch. 

Down 20 with 6:31 to go, Graves called a timeout hoping to muster a final surge from his Ducks. On the ensuing possession, Kennedy Basham immediately turned it over. 

It was that kind of night for Oregon. 

In another collapse in a season full of them, Oregon allowed 19 points off turnovers. Utah was held scoreless over its last 4:54 and still won by 22. 

Graves’ Ducks now sit in dead last place in Pac-12 play and will return home to take on No.10 USC this Friday at 7 p.m.