After an underwhelming win over SUU on Friday, Utah is back on the court Monday night playing host to San Diego State.
The Utes had a lot to work on over the weekend after the sloppy game against the Thunderbirds, as it was a tight match the entire 40 minutes. Head coach Larry Krystkowiak was not satisfied with his team’s defensive efforts and hopes this is not a trend for the rest of the season.
“We’re getting beat off the dribble,” Krystkowiak said. “We’re trying to guard people too close and we were opening up driving lanes. Division I players are going to put their head down and get to the rim and we didn’t do a very good job. We’re going to fix the things that we didn’t do well.”
Although the guards could not get going against SUU — Brandon Taylor and Isaiah Wright shot a combined 0-for-16 from the field — Krystkowiak hopes his team understands that one bad game is not going to determine everything. This applies especially to players who didn’t see as much playing time as they may have liked.
Each player needs to continue working hard because they never know when they’re going to have to step up.
“This is a marathon and we just got through the first game and everybody’s gotta keep grinding and know that they’re going to be called on sometime,” Krystkowiak said.
Last season when the Utes and the Aztecs met in San Diego, the Utes suffered a close four-point loss and they hope the same thing won’t happen this time around.
Jakob Poeltl set a new career high in points on Friday night with 26, and although he was able to use his size advantage then, he knows he’ll have to move forward with a better mindset against San Diego State.
“SDSU is a very good team, a very physical team so we’ve got to be prepared for that,” Poeltl said. “They’re definitely going to punish us for our mistakes on defense.”
Overall, Krystkowiak believes his team is up for the challenge Monday night and expects to see a revitalized team step out onto the Huntsman Center floor.
“We got a heck of an opponent coming in here on Monday,” Krystkowiak said. “I’ve got a lot of trust in our guys that they’re going to bounce back.”
@kbrenneisen