Utah 6-foot-6 forward Timmy Allen’s 6-6-6 game in points, rebounds and assists in his college basketball debut last season established him as a mature, multidimensional player who would blend smoothly into the team. He went on to make the Pac-12′s All-Freshman Team as one of the Utes’ most consistent performers.
Allen is Utah’s leading scorer through six games of his sophomore season, but coach Larry Krystkowiak wants more of his well-rounded ability to resurface. That evaluation is part of the fallout from the Utes’ disappointing performance in the Myrtle Beach Invitational in South Carolina, where they were routed by host Coastal Carolina in their first game and lost a lead against Tulane by going scoreless in the last 4½ minutes of their third contest.
Allen was not the only Ute who had rough moments in the tournament, but expectations are higher for him this season as one of few experienced players. The cover of Utah's media guide features the team's four so-called veterans: three sophomores and redshirt freshman Lahat Thioune.
So when Allen committed seven of his team's 20 turnovers, including two in the late stages of that 65-61 loss to Tulane, his mistakes were noticeable. So were the fades of sophomores Both Gach and Riley Battin, who scored three points each.
UC DAVIS AT UTAH
At the Huntsman Center
Tipoff: Friday, 7 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Networks.
Radio: ESPN 700.
Records: UC Davis 2-6; Utah 4-2.
Series history: Utah leads, 3-0.
Last meeting: Utah 69, UC Davis 59 (2018).
About the Aggies: UC Davis coach Jim Les played in all 82 games for the Jazz as John Stockton’s primary backup in 1988-89. … Les is 122-141 is in his ninth season , after coaching for nine years at Bradley. … The Aggies lost 72-66 at California on Tuesday, shooting 37.7% but staying in the game by making 11 3-pointers and committing only four turnovers to Cal’s 15. … UC Davis is picked to finish eighth in the nine-team Big West Conference.
About the Utes: Utah will celebrate 1944 NCAA championship team member Wat Misaka, who died last week at age 95, by distributing posters to the first 1,000 fans. … Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak was ejected in the first half of UC Davis’ last visit, a first-round game in the 2018 NIT. Utah trailed by five points at the time and won by 10. … Utah is launching a three-game homestand and won’t play a true road game until the second week of the Pac-12 schedule in January. ... Scholarship guard Brendan Wenzel will redshirt as a freshman, Krystkowiak confirmed.
Krystkowiak avoids publicly criticizing individual players, but he couldn’t help mentioning someone’s 21 turnovers and 10 assists in six games. That’s Allen.
“I've never had a seven-turnover game in my life, so I don't expect to have another one, but that's in the past; I'm just looking to move on,” Allen said.
“He's got to be better, he knows it, on both ends of the floor,” Krystkowiak said, as the Utes (4-2) prepare for Friday's game vs. UC Davis at the Huntsman Center. “We are going to need him to be a facilitator and and probably mature in his game and take it to a level it's never been to.”
Allen showed passing skills last season, with three five-assist games that followed his six assists in the opener against Maine. His high this year is three assists against Tulane. He’s a strong driver with a knack of getting fouled, but it is evident that he’s sometimes trying to do too much on his own.
“I try to make the play that's there,” Allen said. “I'm not trying to force [anything]. … As long as I make the right play, it shouldn't be an issue.”
Krystkowiak is challenging Allen to pursue a statistical triple double. He is Utah’s leading scorer (19.3) and rebounder (8.3), leaving only assists (1.7) as a deficiency.
“We don't need him to be our leading scorer every time,” Krystkowiak said. “And I think this is kind of new territory for him to be in, so it's all kind of a learning process. I've got to learn some stuff about our team, Timmy's got to learn to navigate his way with our team, everybody else … there's not one person on our team or our staff that can't improve something.”
Allen played 38 minutes against Tulane despite a sore ankle and is among some players who have missed practice due to injury this week. The Utes will hope to be reasonably healthy Friday and especially so for Wednesday’s game against BYU.
