Utah’s first season in the Big 12 Conference has not gone entirely well, but the Utes have another chance to notch a quality win Saturday night when an inconsistent Kansas team comes to Salt Lake City.
The 17th-ranked Jayhawks (17-7, 8-5 Big 12) have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games. Coming off a 71-59 home victory over Colorado on Tuesday, Kansas is out to end that trend.
Coach Bill Self has a simple solution.
“I think we should make more, turn it over less and rebound better,” he said. “I think if we did those three things offensively, we’d be much more efficient.
“We went 6-of-21 (from 3-point range against Colorado), and we counted between eight and 10 wide-open looks that we turned down. Do we want to shoot those shots? Absolutely. We want to take whatever the defense gives us, and we think our guys are good enough to that.”
The Jayhawks certainly have the talent to validate their coach’s belief, as Kansas ranks in the top 50 in Division I in field-goal percentage (47.8) and rebounding margin (plus-4.9).
Hunter Dickinson leads the Jayhawks in both scoring (16.6 points per game) and rebounding (9.6 per game). He paced Kansas with 19 points and nine boards in Tuesday’s win.
Zeke Mayo adds 15.0 points per game, while Dajuan Harris (9.6 points, team-high 5.8 assists per game) and KJ Adams Jr. (8.5 ppg) also contribute.
Utah (13-11, 5-8) lost its second straight game Tuesday at Cincinnati, falling 85-75. Gabe Madsen tied his season-high with 28 points, just three shy of his career high. He started 8-of-15 from 3-point range before going 0-of-7 in the final 8:13.
Madsen led the charge in the second half as Utah tied the game at 68-68 with 7:27 left. But Cincinnati pulled away, as Utah hit just three of its final 12 shots, including 1 of 9 attempts from 3-point range.
Madsen leads the Utes at 15.2 points per game, followed by Ezra Ausar at 11.0. As a team, Utah is ninth in the 16-team conference at 75.4 points per game. On the defensive end, the Utes allow 70.8 points per game, which ranks 12th.
Utah has squandered multiple opportunities to chart a ranked win this season.
The Utes have lost all eight games against teams that were ranked or receiving votes at the time of the game. Only the first two of those defeats were decided by single digits. Their latest such setback came in a 72-61 loss at West Virginia last Saturday.
“In our wins, we’ve defended and we’ve made a lot of plays late in the game,” Utah coach Craig Smith said. “But in our losses, it’s just been a (bad) play here or there.
“You’ve got to be able to finish possessions. You’ve got to be able to finish games. The margin for error in this league is very minimal. Can you make that play?”
–Field Level Media
