This weekend, the Runnin’ Utes are heading to Kansas to face Wichita State. Last season when the two played against each other in Salt Lake, Utah won in overtime 69-68, and the Utes hope to close out this home-and-home series with a win on the road.
Last year, the Utes did not get off to the best start and found themselves in an early hole, down 10 points to start the game. Utah came back, however, and held its own 10-point lead with a couple minutes left to play, before the Shockers made a run of their own to force overtime.
Head coach Larry Krystkowiak thinks the way his team played to open the second half against BYU is how it played against Wichita State towards the end of that game last season. He understands the team cannot make the same kind of mistake this go around and expect the same result.
“Wichita State’s a team that does press, and we got to be ready to handle that,” Krystkowiak said. “The turnovers are a huge key in comebacks. It’s really an Achilles heel if you’re going to turn the ball over. That happened last year, and it can’t happen at any point this year.”
Playing in a hostile environment
Right now, the Shockers have a 3-4 record, and although this does not look good on paper, Krystkowiak is certain the team is much better than those numbers may tell.
All of Wichita State’s losses have been on the road, so Krystkowiak is readying his team to play not only against a tough squad, but a tough crowd. He hopes his team will be able to drown out the noise and focus on beating a team that typically does not lose at home.
“If you’re going to be a high-caliber team, then you need to protect your home court,” Krystkowiak said. “It’s going to be a huge goal for us this weekend to go out in a real hostile environment, have a road mentality and know you’ve got to be tougher in a lot of areas, maybe a little more disciplined, and you got to have a mindset that the crowd doesn’t come into play.”
Defense is the priority
Despite low shooting percentages for several of the Utah players, Krystkowiak thinks the offense is functioning just fine. The Utes are scoring enough points to beat their opponents, but what he wants to see improve is the defense, something he has been harping on all season long.
Since the team only has one game this week, Kryskowiak told his players they better be ready to turn up the intensity in practice. They won’t be taking anything easy, and although they are going to dedicate Wednesday’s and Thursday’s practice to what Wichita State can do, the Utes will be be cleaning things up on their side early in the week.
Krystkowiak’s also working on making sure everyone is aware that good offense stems from good defense. If they do a decent job protecting the basket, then that will open up more possibilities for them on the other end of the court.
“We got to fix a few things that are broken from the defensive mindset,” Krystkowiak said. “I truly believe we got some guys on our team that are probably thinking a lot more about offense than they should be. If your mind’s not on the right things, in terms of getting down and guarding somebody and having your priorities in place, then a lot of times the basketball comes up and bites you in the butt and you end up shooting 20 percent.”
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