The sophomore did exactly that. Loveridge scored 16 points in the second half and a career-high 25 for the game as Utah outlasted the Tigers 71-57. Loveridge also pulled down nine rebounds.
“They were just saying, ‘these guys can’t guard you, just attack,’ ” Loveridge said. “My team told me they needed me to, so I just did what they needed.”
With the victory, Utah finished the Global Sports Hoops Showcase a perfect 3-0 and improved to 5-0 on the season.
Through their first four contests, the Utes had used their transition game to display their athleticism and overwhelm their opponents. Whether it was because of tired legs or Savannah State finding a way to stop it, Utah had a hard time getting out and running Saturday. This allowed the Tigers to remain within striking distance for the majority of the game.
But in the final minutes, Loveridge answered his team’s call by becoming more aggressive. Whether it was driving down the lane or hitting a timely jump shot, he found a way to keep Savannah State at bay.
Even with Loveridge making play after play, the Tigers didn’t fold. In the second half, Savannah State forward Joshua Montgomery hit back-to-back threes to answer Loveridge and keep his team alive. Tigers’ center Hikeem Champaigne made athletic plays on both ends of the floor, including a highlight reel alley-oop, but it wasn’t enough.
Krystkowiak said his team had a number of defensive breakdowns throughout the contest, but he mainly blamed those setbacks on the fact that Utah had to prepare for three opponents during the weekend.
“I don’t want to make excuses for our guys, but it’s a lot of stuff in the last three games to comprehend,” he said. “You know when it’s hard for coaches to fail in the game plan it’s going to be tough for the players.”
The Utes also struggled to find their shot Saturday. As a team, Utah shot 40 percent from the field and only 18 percent from three. Krystkowiak hopes that the poor shooting performance was the result of fatigue more than anything else.
Loveridge credited the Tigers’ aggressive and physical style for taking the Utes out of their offense.
“Those guys played hard all weekend,” he said. “They played everyone down to the wire. Third game against a team that plays hard and physical, it’s going to be tough.”
A particularly bright spot for Utah throughout the weekend was the play of freshman forward Princeton Onwas. During training camp, coaches tried using him at power forward when big men Dallin Bachynski and Marko Kovacevic got hurt. Krystkowiak chose during the Showcase to only play Onwas at small forward. He finished Saturday with 14 points and was very active in driving to the basket.
“We forgot the fact that he was new to our program and still trying to figure out the [small forward] and probably put a little too much on his plate,” Krystkowiak said.
The Utes will return to action on Wednesday when they face Ball State at the Huntsman Center.