Runnin' Utes focus on effort, rebounding heading into final road trip

BERKELEY, Calif. — Just four games remain in the Runnin' Utes' 2012-13 regular season — this week's northern California road trip, followed by two more home games next week. Utah looks to end the season strong with hopes of making an impact in the Pac-12 tournament March 13-16.

"I’m convinced that somebody is going to have an impact in that tournament," said Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak. "We’re trying to get the ship sailing in the right direction for that tournament. I’m convinced this season, with the way it’s gone, that any team can beat any team. That’s the one thing our league has shown us over the course of the year. There’s no ‘punch your ticket and move onto the next round’ kind of deal in our league. So that’s what we’re trying to prepare ourselves for."

Before they can get too caught up thinking about the postseason, the Utes will focus on their Bay-area road trip, where they face rematches with Cal (18-9, 10-5) and Stanford (16-13, 7-9).

Krystkowiak is stressing effort and toughness to his young team as the season winds down.

"Top of the list is going to be our effort," he said. "At this point in the season, I don’t know what much more skilled we’re going to get. We’re talking about playing every possession as if it’s our last one."

The effort has been there on the defensive side of the ball, where the Utes are allowing a conference-best 39 percent shooting from the field this season, a statistic that ranks No. 33 in the nation. Utah also leads the Pac-12 in points allowed per game, giving up just 62.2 so far during the 2012-13 campaign.

Offense is another story, although the Utes are doing some things right. They lead the league in 3-point shooting percentage, hitting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc, as well as free throw shooting percentage, knocking down 75.1 percent from the foul line. Additionally, Utah is tops in the Pac-12 and No. 17 nationally in assisted basket percentage at 63 percent.

But the Utes rank No. 254 in scoring offense, scoring just 64.2 points per game. They also rank No. 154 in rebounding margin — logging a -41 on the glass over the past five games — as well as No. 162 in turnovers per game, coughing the ball up 13.2 times per contest.

Those are the elements of the game Utah will focus on improving as it closes out the season, while maintaining its admirable effort on defense.

Speaking of defense, the Utes have limited several scorers this season to below their season averages — Jahii Carson (twice), Shabazz Muhammad, and C.J. Wilcox are a few examples — largely due to the defensive expertise of senior guard Cedric Martin.

One scorer that Martin and the Utes couldn't hold below his season average was Cal's Allen Crabbe, who will be on the court Thursday night at Haas Pavillion.

Crabbe, the junior guard who averages 19 points and 5.8 rebounds, scored 23 in the Golden Bears' 62-57 win in Salt Lake City on Jan. 24.

"I give that to him," Martin conceded. "(Crabbe's) offense was better than my defense, to be honest with you. I’m not using that as an excuse to not play hard on defense because of a good offensive player, but he read the defense that day. If I want to shoot the gap, he’ll flare. If I try to trail, he’ll curl. He knows how to read the defense."

“We had breakdowns in our game here, some ‘X-and-O’ errors in how we were guarding him and how we were guarding screens," Krystkowiak said. "At the end of the day, they’re talking about the kid being a lottery player. He’s hard to take out because if you restrict movement going one direction, he’s really good at going the other direction. You almost have to play straight up and not try to take anything away and just try to be engaged with him wherever he decides to go. That’s what makes him so hard to guard."

This time around, Martin and the Utes plan on making things tougher on Crabbe.

"I think we need to be a lot more physical with him, make him not want to do anything anymore when he sees it won't be so easy," Martin said. "I’d do anything to help this team. Not hurt him or anything, but just enough to let him know we’re here."

In addition to Crabbe, fellow junior guard Justin Cobbs scores 14.9 points with 4.6 assists per game for a Cal team that has won five straight and is looking to cement its bid for the NCAA tournament.

"Cal is firing on all cylinders, offensively," said Krystkowiak. "A lot of guys are producing for them."

After facing the Golden Bears, Utah will head south down U.S. 101 to Palo Alto to face Stanford on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinal, led by junior forward Dwight Powell's 15.4 points and 8.3 rebounds and sophomore guard Chasson Randles' 13.7 points, have lost four of their last five, including a two-point heartbreaker to Colorado on Wednesday night.

The Utes will be out to avenge their worst loss of the season, when they took an 87-56 beating on Jan. 27 in Salt Lake City — tying the worst margin of defeat at the Huntsman Center in Utah's history.

“Stanford was, in my opinion, our worst game of the year," Krystkowiak said. "We weren’t ready from the opening bell. They punched us in the mouth and we never really responded.

"(Stanford) is really good across the board. They have a number of guys who can hurt you, and they pose some problems rebounding. They do a really good job on the glass. That’s where they really killed us last time, offensive rebounding."

"It was just one of those games," said Martin. "We didn’t play with anything. We just came out sloppy and tried to play too late. We need to get them right off the bat with all the energy we can. The main thing is rebound the ball and limit our turnovers."

Senior center Jason Washburn, who is closing in on 1,000 career points for the Utes, has been banged up with injuries but will play Thursday night. Washburn needs just 16 points to eclipse the millenium mark, having averaged 17 points over the past three contests.

Freshman wing Dakarai Tucker has played well recently, providing a spark off the bench in limited minutes over the past two games.

“Probably," Krystkowiak said when asked if Tucker will see an increased role going forward. "I would anticipate seeing him in the mix a little more going forward. I really like the way Dakarai’s been playing."

Only once this season have the Utes lost more than two consecutive games, and they will look to avoid doing it for a second time Thursday night in Berkeley.

That game against Cal tips at 7 p.m. MST on ESPNU, while Sunday's matchup with Stanford gets started at 3 p.m. on Pac-12 Network.

Tyson Maddy has covered the University of Utah football and men's basketball teams as a contributing writer for KSL.com Sports since 2011. Follow his Utes coverage on twitter @Tyson_Maddy

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