Runnin’ Utes ‘can’t sit and sulk’ with a bout against No. 3 Iowa State looming

Craig Smith looked down at his stat sheet and scratched his head.

He then gathered himself for an opening statement to, once again, address what went wrong for the Runnin' Utes in a third-straight loss, their fifth of the 2024-25 season.

“Good teams and good players know how to make plays when the chips are down,” Smith said on Saturday night, following a 93-65 blowout loss to Texas Tech. “In the second half, we struggled on the offensive end. I thought we pressed a little bit on that end and didn’t finish enough plays.

“They made us pay for that stuff, so (it was a) disappointing night for the Utes.”

Down 0-2 in conference play, the grueling reality of the Big 12 has quickly set in for the Utes. Utah is reeling after back-to-back blowout losses at the hands of Baylor and the Red Raiders.

Now Smith and Utah will have to pick up the pieces on the road against No. 3 Iowa State at 6 p.m. MT on Tuesday in Ames. And, if the Runnin’ Utes play anything like they have in the last two contests, the Cyclones will make quick work of them in the Hilton Coliseum.

It will be a test of mental toughness, surely.

But it will also be a chance for Utah’s offense to find a rhythm for the first time in three games.

“We don’t have a choice,” Smith said of having mental toughness in the Big 12. “We need to develop it, and we’re going to play the guys that have it. That’s the bottom line. You always have to look at everything, I’ve said it many times. Is it scheme, is it how you’re teaching or is it personnel? Probably a little bit of all three.

“I’m not a happy guy, and no one is right now. That locker room is hurting.”

ISU is coming off a dominant, 19-point victory over Baylor. It held the Scott Drew-led Bears to a season-low 55 points and a 30% shooting night. The Cyclones' defense currently ranks fifth in the conference, holding opponents to 65 points per game and a 40.9% shooting clip.

For Utah, offense has been hard to come by in its new conference. In the last two games, the Runnin’ Utes have shot just over 36% from the field and 24.5% from 3-point range. Senior guard Gabe Madsen — the team’s leading scorer, averaging 16.5 points per game — has been held under 10 points in the last four contests.

Smith chalked it up to finishing plays on both ends of the ball.

“We have to be able to finish possessions,” Smith said. “There were a lot of possessions offensively, especially in the second half as well, that I thought we didn’t finish. We had point-blank shots at the rim, and it was a little bit of everyone. We had one late in the first half too. … You have to be on point and know what’s going on.

“That’s been a bit of an issue for us. Some of our offensive players aren’t as good defensively. Some of our better defensive players aren’t quite as good offensively.”

In Smith’s mind, the next step is digging in. The road ahead won’t be easy, as it is for every program in the Big 12, but with every next game comes an opportunity to earn a statement win.

Utah currently ranks at No. 89 in the NCAA’s NET Rankings, with a combined 0-5 record against Quad 1 and Quad 2 teams. If the Utes have any hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, stealing a victory from the Cylcones would be a start.

Smith is now in his fourth season in Salt Lake City. After missing a berth into March Madness the last three seasons, the 2024-25 regular season could be a make-or-break year for Utah’s head coach.

“You can’t sit and sulk,” Smith said. “You have to dig in. You got to dig in, man. You have to fight for this and you have to earn this, because no one is going to hand you anything.”