The University of Utah men’s basketball team has dropped back-to-back games, one to California in double overtime this past Thursday night with a final score of 77-75, and one to Stanford this past Saturday afternoon, 81-75.
The Runnin’ Utes have not always fared well in the Bay Area, in fact they have yet to win a game in Maples Pavilion — Stanford’s home arena — since Krystkowiak took over the team. And Cal has always presented its own unique set of problems, this year just proving to be too much handle down the stretch.
Utah did not face too many notable teams in the preseason, and it dropped games to opponents like Butler and Xavier in addition to a slip up in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. The Utes let possible wins slip against highly ranked opponents like then No. 17 Arizona, then No. 4 UCLA and then No. 10 Oregon, and its hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the this straight year look slim if they do not end up winning the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas in about a month.
Head coach Larry Krystkowiak, and the rest of the Ute squad for that matter, like to take things on a game-by-game basis, and they don’t like to get too ahead of themselves. However, they have all mentioned that to some extent tournament hopes are always pressing at the back of their minds. As the games become fewer as tournament season seems to be just around the corner, most people think Utah is going to be on the outside looking in.
According to an article posted on SB Nation on Jan. 27, Utah would be among those in the first four out, and that article was published before Utah went on to lose back to back games.
The Utes were picked to finish eighth overall in the Pac-12, and they weren’t happy with that. The players thought people underestimated their abilities mainly because it is a young team. However, that inexperience could be what is hurting the Utes as of late.
In those two road losses, the Utes turned the ball over 19 times at Cal and 17 times at Stanford. Both times it account for 17 points in favor of the home teams.
“We didn’t play as smart as we needed to,” said assistant coach Andy Hill on ESPN 700 following the loss to Cal.
Although a new mantra Krystkowiak has mentioned a few times this season is that “there are no little things,” turnovers often fall into that category, as does free throw shooting.
The Utes shot better from the line than in recent outings against Cal as they were 70.8 percent from the stripe, but against Stanford they were just under 60 percent, finishing at 59.1 percent for the game. Krystkowiak was hoping to get a little more “creative” with free throw shooting scenarios ahead of the Bay Area road trip, but that double overtime loss to the Bears seemed to take its toll when Utah took the floor against the Cardinal.
“It’s a quick turnaround for an afternoon game, but it’s still not an excuse for mental mistakes,” said junior guard Tyler Rawson on ESPN 700 following the loss to Stanford.
As the Utes look to get back on track, they’ll play host to Washington State on Thursday night, and Washington will pay a visit to SLC on Saturday afternoon.
@kbrenneisen