First-year Utah coach Alex Jensen took one look at the stat sheet Saturday after a 73-60 Big 12 Conference loss at Arizona State and found a reason why his team came up short again.
“It’s hard to win when you have a 1-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, especially on the road,” Jensen said. “I think it’s one of the more selfish games we’ve had as a group this year. Our lack of passing led to letdowns on the defensive end.”
The Utes will try to fix those issues on Tuesday night when they welcome Colorado to Salt Lake City for their final home game of the season.
In addition to inconsistent ball movement, Utah (10-19, 2-14 Big 12) experienced other problems. The Utes made only 23 of 59 shots from the field and allowed 49.1% shooting by the Sun Devils, including 9 of 17 from the 3-point line. It added up to the Utes’ 10th loss in 11 games and third in a row since a 61-56 upset at West Virginia on Feb. 18.
Terrence Brown leads Utah’s attack with 19.7 points per game and Don McHenry, one of two seniors who will be honored before tipoff, scores 17.1.
Meanwhile, the Buffaloes (16-13, 6-10) will attempt to bounce back from being humiliated 102-62 at then No. 5 Houston on Saturday. After starting the game with a 10-2 burst, Colorado trailed 55-29 by halftime and permitted the Cougars to shoot 59.6% from the field on the day.
Colorado coach Tad Boyle at least didn’t have to witness most of it. He drew two technical fouls and was ejected from the game with 3:06 left in the first half.
“I liked the way we started the game but we couldn’t sustain it,” Boyle said. “It’s a great learning opportunity for our young guys to see what a top-five team in the country looks like.”
Freshman Isaiah Johnson leads Colorado in scoring at 16.4 ppg, while Barrington Hargress adds 13.9.
The Buffs earned an 85-73 home win over Utah on Jan. 7 behind 19 points from Sebastian Rancik, plus 16 points and 12 rebounds from Bangot Dak.
