Utah, as the No. 11 seed, will face 14th seed UCF in Tuesday’s first round of the Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+.
Ezra Ausar and Miro Little almost said the answer in unison.
“We owe them one,” Ausar said first when the pair was asked about Utah’s Big 12 tournament first-round opponent, UCF.
“Yeah, we owe them one, so get the win. Simple,” Little quickly quipped.
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That moment of decisiveness from the two Runnin’ Utes is a microcosm of the togetherness this current group of players and coaches is trying to finish the season with.
Since Craig Smith was fired as head coach almost two weeks ago — one day after Utah’s loss at UCF in the two schools’ only other matchup this year — those who make up the current program have rallied around each other.
Thus far, it’s resulted in a 1-3 record, with all three losses coming against NCAA tournament caliber teams. The latest was an 85-74 setback against No. 23 BYU Saturday at the Marriott Center, and after that loss, the conversation for Utah revolved around several topics, including the Utes’ next opponent and how this team can rally around each other heading into the postseason.
Even with the struggles — and knowing there will be a new era of Utah basketball in the future, with Alex Jensen already having been announced as the program’s 17th head coach — Utah wants to finish the year the right way.
Utah, as the No. 11 seed, will face 14th seed UCF in Tuesday’s first round of the Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. The game tips at 7:30 p.m. MST and will be streamed on ESPN+.
The winner of that game will take on No. 6 seed Kansas in the second round, and beyond that, No. 3 seed Arizona awaits the winner of Tuesday’s second-round matchup.
It’s a daunting potential road in the Big 12 tournament bracket, though with the overall strength of the league, almost any path is going to have multiple difficult contests on the way to next Saturday’s Big 12 tournament championship game.
When Utah and UCF met two weeks ago, the Knights got the better of the Utes in Orlando. The matchup came down to the final minute, but UCF prevailed when Darius Johnson hit the game-winner to snap a 72-72 tie with 2.8 seconds to play.
Utah then turned the ball over on the inbound for its 19th turnover of the game. Turnover issues have been a common theme for the Utes this year — it happened again Saturday against BYU — and in that first contest against UCF, the Knights held a 20-8 advantage in points off turnovers.
Less than 24 hours after that loss to UCF, Smith was no longer the head coach of the Utes, and a transition to the future became a reality.
That’s left the current staff and players in a bit of limbo, knowing that changes are coming.
Ausar helped put the situation in perspective.
“I think mentally, (the goal is) staying focused and learning how to move on to the next because you can’t get time back. You know, that’s just life in general,” he said.
“You’ve just got to accept it, because it ain’t nothing we can do about it as teammates. Just accept the moment and try to build from it, stay encouraged and keep encouraging each other off the court, on the court, I just think moving on from things and continue to motivate each other.
“We’ve still got a chance to win the conference tournament, so I think that’s the main focus right now.”
So, who might emerge victorious in Tuesday’s first-round game?
ESPN Analytics and KenPom both give Utah a slight edge in the neutral-site rematch. Since that first matchup, Utah has lost to Arizona, West Virginia and BYU, with a 26-point home over Arizona State.
UCF has gone 2-2, with home victories over Kansas State and Oklahoma State, combined with losses at TCU and West Virginia.
Utah interim coach Josh Eilert missed that first matchup with UCF, as he stayed at home with a 104 degree fever.
“It’s pretty fresh in our mind. They got us on the last-second shot, their late last possession,” Eilert said. “I think our guys will be amped and ready to go. I think we had a pretty good game plan.”
That game plan will be tested again when Utah and UCF meet in the fourth and final first-round matchup of the Big 12 tournament’s first day.
Eilert, like he’s shown time and again in his short time as Utah’s interim coach, showed confidence his team will rally to face the opportunity.
“They know what they’re playing for,” he said. “They’re playing for each other, and I keep on preaching that. There’s a lot of seniors in the locker room that the coaching change really has no effect on them, so they’ve been good about it and leaning on each other.”
Source: Utah News