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Cincinnati • Utah's final timeout at the Cintas Center on Saturday night came with 13 seconds left, down by six points. A defeat wasn't yet assured, but it was near.

The larger point that junior forward Kyle Kuzma took away from that timeout wasn't a play call or an adjustment, but rather a thought from coach Larry Krystkowiak.

"He said he was real proud of us," Kuzma said. "It was definitely a learning moment, but he said we showed a lot of heart."

The Runnin' Utes scrapped with No. 13 Xavier, showing they had heart but not enough execution in a 77-69 loss in their first road contest of the year.

There's going to be plenty to correct when the Utes get back to practice on Monday: They were outrebounded (33-28), on the wrong side of turnovers (14-8), and were at times completely overmatched when running back on defense. But they didn't stop fighting through their immaturity against an experienced Big East squad that some have tabbed as a potential Final Four team in March, and it was held to a single-digit loss when it could've been much worse.

A team like that, Krystkowiak said, he can work with. He scheduled the game to give a young Utah group a look at what it's like to face down a mature team backed by a crowd of 10,350 passionate fans.

"This was our first true test with that," he said. "The biggest thing is we never gave up."

Leading the effort was Devon Daniels, who fouled out late with a career-best 19 points. The springy freshman gave the team energy and hope when there wasn't much of either.

The Musketeers established their post presence early, scoring off their first four offensive rebounds by the nine-minute mark and getting a big effort out of 6-foot-9, muscular transfer Rashid Gaston.

By the end of the half, Gaston (six) had more offensive rebounds than Utah's entire team (four), and he and teammate Tyrique Jones were able to either hit shots at the rim behind the Utes' zone, or slam home buckets in transition on offensive rebounds. But it wasn't enough that Xavier dominated inside — junior guard J.P. Macura knocked down four first-half 3-pointers for a game-leading 14 points at the break.

But after halftime, when they trailed 40-29, the Utes rallied: They outscored Xavier (40-37), and beat them on the glass (17-12) in the second half. Kuzma, who had only two first-half points, got more active on offense, and the Utes closed down some of their weak holes on defense to allow only 40.7-percent shooting in the second half.

It wasn't enough, of course, thanks to junior guard Trevon Bluiett, who scored 14 of his team-high 18 points in the second half. He and teammate Edmond Sumner locked down on the free throw line in the last minute, hitting all 10 of the Musketeers' final foul shots.

Lorenzo Bonam (18 points) hit Utah's final three shots, all running layups. But there was little Utah could do at that point to close the gap.

It stayed close for much of the second half, but never closer than four points. Xavier benefited from leading Utah in points off turnovers (19) and second-chance points (18). Gaston enjoyed an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Had Utah not taken its time to find its defensive groove, Krystkowiak said, Utah may have walked away with more than a little pride.

"We probably played a little too much zone in the first half, and [Xavier] started feeling comfortable with it," he said. "We went specifically to man, and Devon did a nice job with it defensively. If our guys will all get in that mindset where we come out and get some stops, that's kind of the basketball karma we talk about."

Utah's problems weren't exclusively on defense: The Utes looked lost at times in the first half against Xavier's defenders, struggling to penetrate and settling for 11 first-half 3-pointers. The Utes registered only two assists on 12 baskets in the first half.

That improved with penetration from Daniels, Bonam and JoJo Zamora (12 points), who helped Utah outscore Xavier in the paint (44-39) in the game. Kuzma had his fourth straight double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Utah's centers Jayce Johnson (six points) and Tyler Rawson (three points) struggled against the Musketeers' bigs, forcing the guards to create action inside. It underscored that Utah will be bringing in an expected post scoring threat, transfer David Collette, perhaps as soon as next game when it plays Prairie View A&M. Guard Sedrick Barefield, who could help up Utah's assist totals, is also expected to be eligible.

But for the group who left Cincinnati with some lessons learned against a top-15 opponent, Krystkowiak said he was "pleased" with how his team didn't let the game run completely away from them.

"Guys have to just keep learning, lifting their levels and be more consistent," he said. "We'll learn from it."

kgoon@sltrib.com Twitter: @kylegoon —

Storylines

R Xavier hits its last 10 free throws in the final minute.

• Xavier's Rashid Gaston has 11 points and 14 rebounds, with eight offensive boards.

• Devon Daniels scores 19, Lorenzo Bonam adds 18 for Utah.