The University of Utah men’s basketball team is preparing for its final road conference game of the season against the Colorado Buffaloes.
The Utes are riding a two-game losing streak heading into Thursday night’s matchup in Boulder. Although the team has more than likely missed out on its chance of the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament, it is hoping to end the season on more of a high note.
With under a minute left to play against the Beavers this past Sunday, the Utes held a three point lead. That lead, however, was squandered away due to a couple of mishaps — one was an inbounding five second violation and the other was a Lorenzo Bonam travel — and the Utes went on to drop its seventh game in conference play. That’s in the past, according to head coach Larry Krystkowiak, and the team has to work to stay focused on what’s ahead.
The team has been working with three mottos all season long and they’ve even hung them up above the court in the basketball facility. One is “play hard”, the other is “play smart”, and the last one is “play together.” So far this season, Krystkowiak thinks the team is often missing one of those three elements. He thinks his team puts up a good effort for the majority of the time, but with the amount of turnovers they have given up this season — the Utes are averaging 13.8 per game — Krystkowiak needs to see a better mentality from his players.
“It’s become apparent that you’re only as strong as your weakest link,” Krystkowiak said. “We got to figure out a way to get all five guys on the same page, give ourselves a chance. If we don’t start bringing our brain to the game plan and offensive execution and being more poised and not having as many turnovers, I don’t know that we have a chance.”
Krystkowiak has been toying with the starting lineup all season long, and it is something he will continue to do as he finds it necessary. He has been awarding the guys who show up on a consistent basis not only in games, but in practice. Even though the team may struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Krystkowiak isn’t going to give up on his players, and he hopes they don’t give up on the team as a whole.
“I’m going to go down swinging. I’m not going to give up until the last bell,” Krystkowiak said. “I’m pretty confident that we can catch a little magic here, a little lightening in a bottle but it’s going to take everybody being on the same page.”
The first time these two teams squared off against each other, Utah got the better of Colorado in Salt Lake City as the Utes earned a 76-60 win. Despite that large margin of victory, junior Kyle Kuzma is sure the Buffs are going to be better prepared this go around. He knows the margin for error is going to have to be slim playing on somebody else’s home court.
“They’re a lot different team from when we first played them, they’re clicking,” Kuzma said. “We’ll get a better grasp of what they do now than [in the first game].”
Thursday’s game time is set for 9 p.m.
@kbrenneisen