Senior Day often gives fans an opportunity to honor a group of players who have competed their entire careers at the same school.
But this year, the five Runnin’ Utes who will play their final games at the Huntsman Center this week are a unique group in that regard as just one has played out his entire eligibility at Utah.
Though big men Jason Washburn and David Foster have been at Utah since before Larry Krystkowiak took over as head coach in 2011, only Washburn has played for four years, as Foster was forced to sit out the last two because of foot injuries.
On the other end of the spectrum, forward Cedric Martin and guard Alex Mortensen became Utes prior to last season when Krystkowiak was merely trying to assemble a roster. Finally, Jarred DuBois transferred to Utah this season after graduating early from Loyola Marymount.
Despite the fact that each player has had a different experience in arriving at their final collegiate home game, Krystkowiak said they all have played an important role in helping rebuild the program.
Though Thursday and Saturday will mark the group’s final home games, Krystkowiak is more focused on winning the game than honoring the quintet’s accomplishments.
“You want all those kids to do well, but you still have to kind of approach the game the same way,” Krystkowiak said. “I don’t think we want to blow it up and put any pressure on any of our seniors to have an extraordinary type of performance. Just keep things simple and focus on what we can control.”

Back to the basics

After watching film of his team’s big loss against Stanford on Sunday afternoon, Krystkowiak said he didn’t feel as though the loss was because of the Cardinal-posed matchup problems. Rather, Krystkowiak said his team needs to return to playing the fundamentally sound defense that has become its calling card throughout the season.
After giving up 84 points to Stanford on Sunday, the Utes dropped to second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense. They are now surrendering 63 points per game. Oregon is top in the league, giving up 62.9 points per contest.
“It really was an indication, kind of an eye-opener for me watching it, that we’re just not doing the simple, the close-outs and the jumping to the ball and the finishing it with the block-out,” Krystkowiak said. “We have to revisit that and get back to some basic stuff.”
Krystkowiak said when his team began the season playing well defensively, attention in practice turned to improving the offense, which has struggled throughout the season. As the season concludes, Krystkowiak said a return to focusing on defense in practice will take place.
“We’ve got some young kids, and you got to get back to fundamentals,” Krystkowiak said. “Part of it’s been how we’ve evolved as a team, and maybe we’ve lost sight of the fact that that’s the most important thing, some of the basics.”

Jockeying about

The fight for seeding in next week’s Pac-12 Tournament is still in full force. Since all 12 teams have at least one regular season game remaining, four teams are still mathematically in contention for the top seed.
In the middle of the conference, five teams are within a game of one another. At the bottom of the conference, Oregon State, Utah and Washington State are in a fight to determine the 10-12 spots.
“Everybody in our league is trying to improve their position,” Krystkowiak said. “Whether it’s feasible in terms of moving from fifth to sixth or becoming a team that’s playing better basketball heading into the tournament, the goal is kind of the same.”