Utah guard Both Gach, left, shoots against Oregon guard Will Richardson (0) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Alex Goodlett)
Late in the second half on Jan. 1 at the University of Oregon, this season began getting away from the University of Utah basketball team.
On that night, a six-point halftime lead was followed by yielding a 50-point second half as part of a 79-66 loss in Eugene. Since then, things have not gone well. Certainly not well enough to win games.
Speed ahead to Saturday night. The Utes were down 14 with 5:26 to play, but kept coming, cutting the deficit to one late before falling, 80-77, at the Huntsman Center.
No matter how one wants to view moral victories, Utah has continued to play hard under Craig Smith and, in many cases, played up to its competition. That latter factor has made the last five weeks all the more harder to stomach.
The Utes were up 14 vs. Washington before falling by six on Jan. 6. An 18-point loss at Arizona belies the fact Utah was down just six with 12:00 to go in Tucson. One play away at Arizona State. One play away against UCLA. One play away in a double-overtime loss at Washington. Brutal outcome after brutal outcome is not making this situation any easier.
“We’ve made a lot of improvements in a lot of ways, and I don’t want to be a broken record, I know nobody wants to hear it,” first-year Utes head coach Smith said. “How many games have come down to the last possession or two? We’re right there.”
With a transfer-heavy core and a high-end backcourt, Oregon started this season out rough. It got blown out by BYU in Portland and lost two out of three games at the Maui Invitational, but the Ducks, as they tend to do once February rolls around, are beginning to have a look about them. They walked into the Huntsman Center on Saturday night as winners of eight of nine and in a reasonable position as far as the NCAA Tournament bubble goes.
The aforementioned two things Utah (9-15, 2-12 Pac-12) has continued to do in the middle of all this, play hard and play up, occurred for much of Saturday’s contest, but the Ducks had answers, finding a different gear on multiple occasions, showcasing the difference between merely punching above your weight class and getting over the hump, which the Utes could not.
A Riley Battin free throw cut the Utah deficit to four with 10:50 to go? Quincey Guerrier for 3. The lead is back down to five? Will Richardson for 3. Credit Utah, though, because a 14-point deficit was whittled down to five, down to three, and ultimately to one, but Oregon had one more answer.
With Oregon up one and inbounding under the Utah basket with seven seconds to play, Smith inserted Eli Ballstadet in place of a hot-shooting Gabe Madsen to guard the inbounder. Eric Williams hit a home run pass to Richardson, who had gotten a step on Rollie Worster. Richardson laid it in, while Utah, with no timeouts, got the ball in and up the floor as Both Gach found Ballstaedt for a clean, albeit long look for the tie, which was off at the horn.
Utah has lost 11 of 12 games. Of those 11 losses, five of them are by six points or less. If you’re in on moral losses, the Utes are fighting. They are right there, but not all the way there. A small handful of plays would have made a huge difference in at least half of the 11 losses since Dec. 30.
“Our guys are really galvanized, quite frankly, here, and we’re playing really connected,” Smith said. “We’ve shown up and I think they can see how much we’re improving and that we’re not knocking on the door on so many occasions. It’s hard to do, but these guys have just done it, shown up, taken constructive criticism, taken coaching, and they’ve taken the good, too.
“Something is going on with this team in the way we’re playing, the way we’re approaching and the way that we’re growing together. I’m proud of them, but we know it’s a bottom-line business.”
