Utah will play Oregon State on Thursday at home, where it is 9-0 and coming off a 46-point win over UCLA last week.
The Utes (12-5, 3-3 Pac-12) have lost three of their last four games on the road against Arizona State, Arizona and Stanford, sandwiched around the 90-44 win over the Bruins on Thursday.
The Beavers (9-7, 1-4) have yet to win away from Corvallis, Ore. They are 0-5 with three losses on neutral courts and two defeats in true road games.
Utah is coming off a Sunday’s 79-73 road loss against the Cardinal, a game in which the Utes’ Deivon Smith, a two-time transfer from Mississippi State and Georgia Tech, achieved a triple-double (16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists).
It was the fifth triple-double in Utah history and the first since 2019.
Smith started in place of senior captain Rollie Worster, who was out with a lower-leg injury.
“When you lose a guy like Rollie, who has all that experience and veteran leadership and is just kind of a rock for us, I thought Deivon stepped in and played a really great game,” Utah coach Craig Smith said.
Worster, who wore a boot on his left leg, is questionable to play against Oregon State. Lawson Lovering was injured in the Stanford loss, and his status for Thursday’s game is unknown.
Deivon Smith said he is ready to perform well again in Worster’s place, if necessary.
“I feel great; they love playing with me and I love playing with them,” he said of his teammates. “Now, we’ve just got to figure out how to get these wins.”
Oregon State’s last game was also a loss to Stanford, 88-84 in overtime on Jan. 11 at Corvallis.
The Beavers allowed Stanford to shoot 52.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range. Oregon State also committed 17 turnovers.
Most of the miscues were in the second half against Stanford’s press.
“We didn’t need to play chess with them. Tic-tac-toe would have worked,” Oregon State coach Wayne Tinkle said. “(Stanford) went to tic-tac-toe in the second half and we cowered. We just got on our heels, made uncharacteristic turnovers, panic set in, driving into traffic.”
Jordan Pope scored 21 points for Oregon State, reaching the 20-point mark for the fourth straight game. Pope leads the Beavers with 18.1 points per game and 3.7 assists per game.
–Field Level Media
