The University of Utah men’s basketball team dropped their second straight game late Thursday night in a blowout against the UCLA Bruins. The loss followed a typical formula for the Utes, where their defense came to play but the offense never joined the party.

Branden Carlson was a late scratch for Utah as he was out sick tonight. Lazar Stefanovic started in his place.

Utah scored just 49 points on Thursday, tied for their lowest in a game this season. The last time was in a November loss to Mississippi State, but that time the defense held the opposition to 52 to keep it close. UCLA got to 68.

The Utes simply have to find a way to get more consistent on the offensive side of the ball if they want to keep up any hope of making the NCAA Tournament. In the half-court, the team too often devolves into bad isolation plays, contested midrange jumpers or contact-filled drives to the hoop in the middle of the trees, ending in layups that aren’t even close. 

Utah doesn’t have enough offensive firepower to keep up with what the defense is producing. To my eyes, the entire team, with two exceptions (Gabe Madsen and Stefanovic), are too hesitant to take the open three-point shot when the ball swings their way, which is antithetical to the approach of most modern basketball teams. Players pass up the open look to drive right into traffic, where the opponent knows all they have to do is stand in the paint, and the shooter will come to them.

Craig Smith, searching for answers, threw Mike Saunders out there tonight. Saunders hadn’t played since Dec. 13. He did okay in limited minutes, and can maybe be an option off the bench to ease the load on Rollie Worster. Smith knows Saunders isn’t ready for heavy minutes, hence his lack of playing time, but perhaps his chance is coming up. It could give them a jolt.

This latest loss wipes clean the memory of many fans who were anticipating a tournament berth after the upset of Arizona. UCLA is a very good team, but it’s very clear that Utah is not as talented as the top teams in this conference.

That’s okay, as not much was expected this season anyway, but things are slipping from great to “just fine” quickly. They have USC coming up on the road in a few days, followed by a red-hot WSU coming off their own upset of the Wildcats. Nothing easy.

The sky is not falling, but it’s time for Utah fans to recalibrate expectations. This is, at best, a fringe bubble tournament team with a good shot to make a run in the NIT if they don’t get in the big dance. That’s still a step above where they were supposed to be in the preseason, and with the young talent on this roster they will only improve year to year. If they can get higher quality shots on offense, everything changes, but at this point in the season, this is who these Utes are, for better or worse.

They’ll face USC on the road on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. MST.

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