The Runnin’ Utes have to move on quickly — they’ll play three games in seven days, including a two-game homestand that features a matchup Saturday against Baylor and a contest against Cincinnati on …

It’s probably a good thing Utah won’t have much time to reflect on its 34-point loss at No. 7 Houston on Wednesday.
The Runnin’ Utes have to move on quickly — they’ll play three games in seven days, including a two-game homestand that features a matchup Saturday against Baylor and a contest against Cincinnati on Tuesday.
While the Big 12-leading Cougars are a headache for every opponent, particularly when they play at home at the Fertitta Center, Houston forced the visiting Utes into countless mistakes.
The result was a 70-36 Utah loss that extended the Cougars’ home court winning streak to a nation’s-best 33 games.
While the loss wasn’t surprising, it was how the Utes fell that disappointed head coach Craig Smith.
Prior to Wednesday, Utah had been on a three-game winning streak during which it had shown a physicality and assertiveness that gave the Utes hope they could be competitive in the Big 12 Conference after a dismal start to league play.
“I hoped we would have performed better than we did. We’ve just got to learn from it and grow from it,” Smith said. “You know, we did have a nice little run there with the three-game winning streak and all good things must come to an end. But we’ve got to learn and grow.”
Now, the Utes (11-7, 3-4 Big 12) will try and bounce back against another Big 12 power — Baylor.
The Bears will visit the Huntsman Center on Saturday (2:30 p.m. MST, ESPN2) in a rematch of the Big 12 opener, when Baylor beat Utah by 25 in Waco, Texas.
There were some similarities in how the Utes lost at both Baylor and Houston.
Utah’s two worst shooting days of the season thus far have come at Baylor (31.8%) and Houston (30.2%).
The Cougars are best known for their physicality and defensive pressure, which often forces opponents to rush things and lose their poise.
“It’s hard to replicate their speed, their athleticism, their length, that’s the thing. Their big guys can really move, and they’re super long and twitchy,” Smith said.
Turnovers were also a major issue.
The Bears turned 17 turnovers into 22 points, while Houston forced the Utes into a season-high 26 turnovers and converted those into 29 points.
“Taking care of the ball is going to be a premium,” Smith said.
Baylor has a stable of veteran guards — Jeremy Roach, Robert Wright III and Jayden Nunn — that will challenge the Utes again, while Miami transfer Norchad Omier anchors the front court. He had 15 points and 14 rebounds when Utah and Baylor met earlier this year.
Then there’s true freshman VJ Edgecombe, a projected lottery draft pick, who is averaging a team-high 16.9 points per game in Big 12 play.
“Their perimeter is very athletic, similar to Houston that way. They’re not like crazy trapping and going out, but they’re going to switch one through five,” Smith said. “There’s going to be times their five is going to be guarding our point guards, and their point guard is going to be guarding our five man, and we’ve got to be able to handle that switching defense better than we did last time.”
From a purely athletic standpoint, both Baylor and Houston have among the toughest rosters to match up against in the Big 12.
While matching up athletically with teams like Baylor and Houston won’t be easy for Utah, given the limitations of their roster, there are ways — mainly effort and a tough mindset — to try and counteract that.
“We’ve got to be tougher. You’ve got to have physicality. You got to get your work done early,” said Smith, who noted that when Houston set the physical tone, some of his players struggled to deal with that.
“It’s a mindset. You’ve got to be worried about the process, do things the right way, but also you have to have an elite mindset and a warrior spirit and a competitive spirit. It’s easy to talk that out, but you’ve got to crave that when things aren’t going.”
Source: Utah News