Utah has little time left to revive its NCAA Tournament pitch, with the Bay Area schools visiting the Huntsman Center
Utah hasn’t been the same team since the calendar year turned over to 2024.
The Runnin’ Utes went 11-2 before the new year, a stretch that included the team’s three Quad 1 wins to this point — at home vs. BYU, on the road at Saint Mary’s and in a neutral setting against Wake Forest.
Since then, though, Utah has gone just 5-9 and sits at 7-9 in Pac-12 play heading into the team’s final home stand of the regular season. Stanford will visit the Huntsman Center on Thursday (6:30 p.m. MST, Pac-12 Network), followed by California on Saturday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
“The beauty of this whole thing is we control it — our attitude, our effort, our execution. Are we a perfect team? No, we have some limitations, but we have some real strengths, too, and we got to do a better job of playing through those.”
Utah coach Craig Smith
Utah is coming off a humbling loss, a 24-point setback at Colorado in a matchup of two teams on the NCAA bubble. The Buffaloes led almost the entire way.
Utes coach Craig Smith said the team “had a tremendous practice” on Monday, but he stressed the Utes have to go out and prove they can reach their potential.
“The beauty of this whole thing is we control it — our attitude, our effort, our execution. Are we a perfect team? No, we have some limitations, but we have some real strengths, too, and we got to do a better job of playing through those,” he said.
Until the Utes’ most recent home swing, Utah had been unbeatable at the Huntsman Center, going 12-0 at home before Arizona and Arizona State beat them in back-to-back games.
Utah will try and rediscover that Huntsman Center magic this weekend, before finishing up the regular season next week at Oregon State and Oregon.
These next three games will all be Quad 3 contests, and the Utes can ill afford another Quad 3 loss after picking up one earlier with the home loss to ASU.
Stanford, which edged Utah last month in California, comes into Salt Lake City as a team that’s been struggling even worse than Utah in recent weeks.
The Cardinal have lost four straight and eight of 11 since beating Utah.
Stanford has hit 3-pointers in bunches in many of its victories.
The last time these two teams played, the Cardinal made 10 in a 79-73 win over Utah. Stanford also hit 16 3s in an upset victory over Arizona and 19 in a 31-point win over USC.
“They have the ultimate neutralizer because most times on the floor, they have five guys that can make threes. You don’t have to be perfect defensively, but you really got to be on point with your positioning,” Smith said.
“You got to know personnel, you got to make sure they feel you because once they start seeing that ball go in the hole, like any team, good shooting is contagious. Bad shooting is very contagious.”
When Stanford and Utah last played, center Lawson Lovering was lost to an injury less than four minutes into the game.
Point guard Rollie Worster was also missing when they played at Stanford due to his own injury — that was the first game he missed this season — and Worster has yet to return to action. Smith said Worster’s recovery has been “going slower than we had wanted.”
This time around, though, Lovering’s presence for a full contest could provide the Utes with a much-needed defensive spark, something they lacked the last time these teams met. Utah couldn’t get enough defensive stops down the stretch to rally for a victory.
“He’s an excellent post defender. He’s a massive human being. He’s a legit 7-1, very long, incredible instincts,” Smith said of Lovering.
“... Rollie is our best communicator, but Lawson is our best communicator of the guys that are playing and when your five man can be an elite communicator, like they’re the air traffic controller.”
Heading into Thursday’s action, only 2.5 games separate six teams in the middle of the Pac-12 standings, from the No. 4 to No. 10 spots.
The Utes are in the middle of that — their 7-9 league record is currently eighth, but they’re only a game back of sixth.
Smith understands that a lot can change over these final two weeks before the Pac-12 tournament takes place March 10-13 in Las Vegas at T-Mobile Arena.
“There’s still gonna be a lot of, I don’t know if this is the right word, but juxtapositioning within the league. I just think a lot of things can change. Most teams have four games left, some have three,” Smith said.
“That’s how tight everything is, and things can flip pretty quickly for the good or the bad. There’s a lot to play for. It’s never too late.”
