After a close 74-70 win over the Washington State Cougars, the University of Utah men’s basketball team is hosting another home game on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against the Washington Huskies.
The last time the two teams met Utah won 94-72 on the road in Seattle. Washington is coming off of an 81-66 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes. Markelle Fultz was sidelined during that game on Thursday night, and his status against Utah is questionable.
Following a somewhat disappointing win against the Washington State Cougars, head coach Larry Krystowiak wants to see his guys be focused the entire 40 minutes. Krystkowiak thinks his team has a tendency to take their foot off of the gas pedal, and he doesn’t like seeing his team blow leads. However, the team has typically been on the losing end of close games, so with the close win on Thursday night Krystkowiak does appreciate how a few players came up clutch.
“You need closers in the game — it’s like in baseball,” Krystkowiak said. “You want to get to that last four minute segment and figure out a way to close the game.”
Junior Kyle Kuzma failed to score in the first half of Thursday’s game, and although he finished in scoring digits, he was not happy with his shooting performance. The forward even stayed in the Huntsman Center after the fans had left and he finished with postgame interviews to put up a few more shots, and Kuzma is eager to rectify that performance in the Utes’ upcoming game.
“Probably didn’t have the right mindset, but I just didn’t play well,” Kuzma said. “That’s just what it is, and I can’t wait for Saturday. I don’t think I forced anything, just had a bad game. Everybody has bad games, nobody is Superman.”
However, while Kuzma thinks he needs to make a few adjustments to his game, Krystkowiak is glad that the rest of the team was able to help step in and shoulder a bit of the load. Krystkowiak thinks his guys have been playing a little selfishly as of late, so he wants to see them spread the ball more anyway.
“Communication wise guys are starting to grow up,” Krystkowiak said. “Guys are starting to figure out what’s important in the game.”
Although a win is always the preferred outcome of a game, the team wants to leave the court on a high note since it will be traveling to Eugene next week to take on the Oregon Ducks. But it’ll remain a game-by-game mentality for now, and the Utes won’t be looking ahead to that matchup until Saturday afternoon’s game is in the books.
Tipoff against Washington is set for 2:30 p.m.
@kbrenneisen