The upcoming Arizona-Utah game took on an extra element of drama Monday when the Utes announced that fourth-year coach Craig Smith was relieved of his duties.
Assistant coach Josh Eilert takes over as interim head coach for the Utes (15-12, 7-9 Big 12), beginning with Wednesday night’s matchup against No. 22 Arizona (18-9, 12-4) in Tucson, Ariz.
“After evaluating our program under Craig’s leadership, I believe a change is needed to get us to where we want to go,” Utah athletic director Mark Harlan said after the surprising move. “The time is now to begin that process, and we will surround Coach Eilert, the staff and our student-athletes with support as they continue with their season.”
Although they are coming off of a 76-72 loss at UCF on Sunday, the Utes actually are performing better this season than was predicted in the preseason Big 12 poll in which the program was picked dead last in its new league.
The Utes had won two in a row before Sunday’s setback, beating then-No. 17 Kansas 74-67 and Kansas State 74-69 at home the previous week. Utah also notched a nice win over rival BYU earlier this season.
The program never reached the NCAA Tournament and posted a 65-62 mark under Smith’s leadership. He coached at Utah State before leaving to coach the Utes.
Utah still owes Smith $5 million from his fully guaranteed six-year contract, which began in 2021, according to ESPN.
The Utes shouldn’t expect to get any mercy from Arizona, which is coming off a frustrating last-second home loss to BYU on Saturday. It was the Wildcats’ third loss in four games.
Caleb Love scored the final two of his game-high 27 points against the Cougars from the free-throw line with 13 seconds remaining. That gave Arizona a short-lived one-point lead, which was erased after BYU’s Richie Saunders hit two game-winning free throws with 3.2 seconds left after being sent to the charity stripe on a controversial call.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd disagreed with the call, but didn’t fully blame the referees for the loss.
“It’s the Big 12. That’s what I’m told,” Lloyd said. “And the guy who called it is one of the best refs, so we’ve got to live with it.
“But step back. They scored (94 other) points on our home court — that’s the problem. Me and my staff, my players, that’s the problem — not the officials. It would’ve been great to steal a victory if they don’t call that. But still, don’t put yourself in that position — that’s the problem.”
With four games remaining in the regular season, Arizona remains in good position to finish in the top four of the Big 12. That’s important because those four teams receive two byes in the league’s postseason tourney. Arizona is one game ahead of fourth-place Iowa State and two ahead of BYU.
Love leads the Wildcats with 16.2 points per game.
Paced by Gabe Madsen’s 15.8 points per game, the Utes are in a three-way tie for ninth place.
–Field Level Media
