In Utah’s narrow 53-49 loss at No. 16 San Diego State on Tuesday, the Runnin’ Utes shot just 16-for-50 from the field, with half of those shots being from three-point range. Thanks to a disruptive SDSU defense and a hostile crowd, the offensive game plan Utah originally had went out the window.
Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak couldn’t pinpoint a single phase of the game that doomed the Utes on offense, but he did mention how he believes multiple elements can lead to a downfall.
“It takes one element for the entire ship to sink,” Krystkowiak said. “On one play, if one guy decides that he doesn’t want to be in the right spot to run that play, then it doesn’t work.”
In addition to the poor shooting, the Runnin’ Utes turned the ball over 18 times. Much of that should be credited to the length and athleticism of the Aztecs, but point guard Brandon Taylor knows he and his team need to do a better job holding onto the basketball.
“You’ve gotta take care of the ball so you can be competitive in the game,” Taylor said. “There’s no way we should have 18 turnovers. We take pride in taking care of the ball in practice, so we just gotta make it correlate towards the game.”
On the flipside, Utah played a great defensive game of its own on Tuesday, forcing SDSU to shoot just under 33 percent from the field. Additionally, the team recorded 10 blocks on the night to go along with its 38 rebounds, out-rebounding an Aztec squad used to dominating the glass.
While some teams may crumble or collapse after an early-season loss like this, Utah knows there is a long season to play.
“I thought it was a hell of a game,” Taylor said. “It stung us, but it’s definitely not going to hinder us or keep us from moving forward. We learned our lesson … Now, we just take it on forward with the season. It’s definitely not something that’s going to stagnate us or keep us stationary.”
Utah returns to the court against UC Riverside on Friday in the Huntsman Center. On paper the Highlanders are clearly an inferior opponent, but Krystkowiak refuses to take any team lightly.
“It’s a little hard to get a read on a team this early in the season,” Krystkowiak said. “But I know they’ve got some talent … It’s a good team and they’re running some great stuff. We’ve gotta be dialed in and ready defensively.”
The Utes and UC Riverside are scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. MT.
 
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