This Saturday’s game between Utah and Colorado will be the Runnin’ Utes’ final home game of the season.
Utah is currently riding a six-game winning streak, with its most recent win coming last weekend against then-No. 9 Arizona. While this game certainly provided the team with a special lift, senior Brandon Taylor knows it is important to look forward instead of focusing on the past.
With this being Taylor’s last game as a Ute in the Huntsman Center, he hopes the team is just as prepared as it has been in recent outings and that it keeps aiming for the bigger picture.
“It’s easy to keep riding the wave — the challenge is to keep moving forward after that type of excitement and joy,” Taylor said. “The key to our success is to move forward. Continue to get better and don’t get complacent. It was one hell of a week for us, but we still got Colorado to look forward to, the Pac-12 tournament and the NCAA tournament.”
While Saturday’s game will be dedicated to saying farewell to the seniors, however, head coach Larry Krystkowiak doesn’t think it will be too big of a distraction. He’ll prepare his players the same way he has been doing all season long, and they should be able to keep their emotions in check.
Since all three seniors have been around to witness three other senior days, they should not only know what to expect out of their family, friends and fans but, most importantly, out of themselves once the ball is tipped off.
“I’ve talked about playing each game as if it’s your last game,” Krystkowiak said. “That’s how we coach and try to prepare, and hopefully it’s not this crazy ceremony, out-of-body experience because we try to get that elevated intensity [every game].”
Utah is sitting in second place in the Pac-12 standings, and Colorado isn’t too far behind, sitting in fifth. The first time these two teams met in Boulder, the Utes pulled out a close 56-54 win thanks to Lorenzo Bonam, who nailed a shot in the closing seconds of the game.
With this being the lone game for the Utes this week, they have had plenty of rest, but most of the prep work remains the same. The team got in a couple of good practices on Monday and Tuesday, including a scrimmage. On Wednesday, the players took some time off and watched film, and Thursday and Friday were dedicated to the normal work they do for any opponent.
Since that first go-around, Utah’s outside shooting has improved, but, like it has been all season-long, defense is the top priority. The Utes are expecting to play a tough game against the Buffs and know they’re going to have to stand their ground against this team. Their own perimeter defense needs to step up, and they also need to hone in on rebounding so they don’t allow Colorado — led by big man Josh Scott — to get second or even third chances at scoring.
“We got to be ready for a big physical presence from Colorado,” Krystkowiak said. “They’re playing really well. It’s still very much of a grind, and we’ve got one more home game before we head to Vegas and we’re not going to change our mindset of really doing anything different from what we’ve done all year.”
Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
@kbrenneisen