Oregon quickly erased the sting of what Dana Altman called an "embarrassing" loss to Colorado earlier in the week by jumping out to an early lead Saturday against Utah. Once the Ducks (9-7, 3-2 Pac-12) gained control in the game they never looked back and eventually secured a convincing 70-60 victory to hand the Utes their first loss in conference play.

Big man N'Faly Dante led what was a strong showing all around for Altman's team by finishing the win with his fourth double-double of the season on a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The senior was also one of three Oregon players with two steals against the Utes (12-5, 5-1 Pac-12).

The Ducks didn't shoot better than 29% in either half against the Buffaloes on Thursday. That trend didn't continue Saturday as Oregon quickly came out with more success on the offensive end of the floor against Utah.

Freshman big man Kel'el Ware hit two 3-pointers to help the Ducks open up an 10-point lead by the 12:50 mark giving Oregon a cushion to build from through the rest of the half. By the end of the first 20 minutes the Ducks made 12 shots and hit on nearly 43% of their attempts from the field.

Oregon connected on just 14 shots overall in the loss to Colorado.

Dante and Ware combined for 17 points in the first half for the Ducks leading to a comfortable 34-27 advantage at the midway point of the game.

The Ducks eventually pushed their lead to 14 points during one stretch in the first half and held a 12-point advantage with under four minutes to play in the second. That was enough of a lead to hold off a better performance from the Utes on their end of the floor in the second half.

Utah closed the gap to 5 points with around a minute to play before Quincy Guerrier hit a 3-pointer to ultimately put the game out of reach.

As much as the bounce-back showing on offense was key for Oregon in the win, its ability to keep the Utah offense in check mattered just as much Saturday.

The Ducks held Utah, which came into the night atop the Pac-12 standings, to under 27% shooting in the first half. Eventually, the Utes were able to find a rhythm on offense in the second half, behind 12 points apiece from Marco Anthony and Laz Stefanovic, and finish the game at just under 36% shooting from the field.

Oregon's ability to turn defense into offense played a pivotal role in the win with 14 turnovers for the Utes eventually becoming 20 points the other way in favor of the Ducks. The Utes were able to turn 12 Oregon turnovers into just five points on their end.

Utah had just eight turnovers in its win over Oregon State.

Oregon finished the game with eight steals and five blocks marking a strong all-around performance for Altman's defense.

The Ducks received contributions from all over the floor in the road win to close out the Mountain road trip as four different players scored in double figures including 11 points for Will Richardson over 39 minutes and 10 points for Jermaine Couisnard. Both players finished with four assists apiece.

Ware finished his night with 10 points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 13 minutes off the bench for the Ducks.

Oregon will now turn its attention to another important week with the Arizona schools making their way up to Eugene. The Ducks will open up the two-game stretch Thursday night at 6 p.m. PT.