The Runnin’ Utes have won four games in a row and are looking to add another one to that streak against Stanford this Saturday afternoon in the Huntsman Center.
The first time Utah faced Stanford in Palo Alto, the Cardinal outlasted the Utes in an overtime game where Utah missed four late-game free throws in regulation. Although head coach Larry Krystkowiak wouldn’t necessarily say this is a revenge game, all the players are eager to get back on the court and try to get another win.
“The biggest part right now is garnering how much we’ve improved, and that’s what we’re going to try and bring to the table,” Krystkowiak said. “We’re not necessarily talking about rematches and getting the taste out of our mouths. It’s just consistently staying the course and making teams take tough shots.”
Wednesday night, the team beat Cal 73-64 after dropping a game to the Golden Bears earlier in conference play. The team has been working on coming into each and every situation with a better attitude, and because of that, they have been starting games more focused, compared to the beginning of the season, when they would get off to sluggish starts.
The Utes learned a lot of what they could fix against Cal by watching film and will be doing the same to prepare for Stanford.
Jakob Poeltl hopes to continue his overall dominance after finishing with 21 points against Cal. Lately, he’s getting to the basket with ease, and when he is unable to power his way to the hoop, he can just as easily kick the ball out to an open teammate for a shot.
“I’m going to try and do whatever the defense gives me or us as a team, and I think we’re a very balanced team,” Poeltl said. “If I feel like I have to take over, I’m going to do that and call for the ball.”
However, while free throws have not been much of a problem this season, Poeltl was 7-of-14 — nowhere near his 68 percent season average— from the stripe against Cal.
“Second half was weird,” Poeltl said. “They all felt good, but they bounced off, but I’m not really mad because we won, but I’m going to get back to it.”
As a team, the Utes were 18-of-28 from the line. With several misses against Stanford the first go-around, Krystkowiak will be expecting those shots to go in this time after all the energy spent on it in recent practices.
“For the most part I thought we shot our free throws well, with the exception of Jakob’s performance,” Krystkowiak said. “They weren’t bad misses. He just has to get back and dialed in again.”
Kyle Kuzma gave the Utes a big boost Wednesday night against the Golden Bears. He only had two points in the first half but came to play in the second, scoring 13 points in the final 20 minutes for a total of 15 points. His play in the second half was necessary for the team’s win because it was in the second half that Cal really started to challenge the Utes, and even took the lead for a brief moment.
Although having guys step up on offense is certainly great, Krystkowiak will be relying on his team’s solid defense against the Cardinal.
“We’re really defending, and it’s carrying us,” Krystkowiak said. “Getting stops and getting out and running in our building is important and making teams earn some things. Our guys like playing defense, and they take pride in doing so. They’re buying in.”
Game time is at 3 p.m. MST.
@kbrenneisen