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SALT LAKE CITY — After a disappointing road trip to Southern California, the Runnin' Utes return home to the Huntsman Center Thursday night where they will take on Oregon.
It will be the 16th time the two programs have met with Utah leading the all-time series 8-7, including 4-1 on its home floor. The last time the Utes and Ducks met, Utah won a 95-81 decision in the Huntsman Center in 2008.
Interestingly, the Utes haven't scored that many points in a game since. In fact, they're currently averaging nearly 40 points less, at just under 56 points per game.
Utah's roller-coaster season —including injuries and dismissals that left the team without an active senior on the roster — with embarrassing defeats and miraculous victories just hit another low point.
The Utes took a 64-43 victory over Arizona State in perhaps their best all- around performance of the season, and seemed confident going into Los Angeles that they would land their first road win of the year.
Two blow-out losses later — by a combined margin of 44 points — set Utah back to square one. The team that had made so much progress over the previous three or four weeks appeared much like it did when struggling mightily on both ends of the court early in the year. Allowing last-place USC its first conference win of the year became a new low for the Utes' season, joining embarrassing 30-point plus losses against Cal State Fullerton and at Fresno State and Colorado.
But Utah (5-16, 2-7) keeps finding a way to bounce back, even if in the smallest of ways, and will look to do the same Thursday night against Oregon (15-6, 6-3).
Utah is led by junior center Jason Washburn, who is scoring 10.4 points and grabbing 6.1 rebounds per game. Freshman guard Kareem Storey leads the team in assists, dishing out 2.6 per contest.
Junior guard Chris Hines is averaging 11 points per game in conference play, scoring in double digits in four Pac- 12 contests, including each of the last three. Hines has been a threat from the outside with 70 percent of his made field goal attempts this season have come from beyond the arc, and he ranks second in the Pac-12 for 3-pointers made per game during league play (2.5).
A lot of players who weren't playing much earlier in the season have had to step into more significant roles lately, such as freshmen Anthony Odunsi and Alex Mortensen.
We're going to play who's producing. Some of the guys that were in that rotation before, I didn't think played really well, and so you're looking for the next guy.
–Larry Krystkowiak
"We’re going to play who’s producing," Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. "Some of the guys that were in that rotation before, I didn’t think played really well, and so you’re looking for the next guy. You need energy.
"At the USC game, we just didn’t have a great effort, where guys were into the game and really fighting and scratching like we’re used to, so it was time to give the other kids a chance to play. That’s what we’re going to reward at this point in the season, is guys that are willing to play hard."
"Maybe some guys didn’t expect to play the minutes they’re getting now, we’ve had injuries, we’ve had guys leave, we’ve had every scenario you can think of," Washburn said of the up-and-down season so far. "You hear the story all the time: something happens to the starter, and it’s your time to shine. Those whose time has come that didn’t expect to play got to step up, and us vets and guys who have been playing this season got to lead and take control."
Despite the Utes' lopsided record, they are actually a .500 team on their home floor this season, going 2-2 in conference play and 5-5 overall. They have managed to compete in five of their last six home match-ups, winning four of them.
Needless to say, the Utah players are relieved to be home, including Washburn.
"A lot of times, we’ll go play like that on the road, and we’ll come back to the Huntsman and give an amazing display, win or lose, just playing really hard and executing, and guys doing what they need to do," he said.
Utah will look to continue to stay competitive at home, while hoping to rise above .500 in the Huntsman Center against an Oregon team that will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing loss of its own.
Oregon has three players averaging double digits, led by senior guard Devoe Joseph, who is scoring 15.4 points per game with 2.7 assists. Junior forward E.J. Singler averages 13 points and five boards, while senior guard Garrett Sim scores 12.2 points on over 51 percent from the field.
"Their top-3 scorers are all in the backcourt, one, two, and three, and those three guys shoot an awful lot of free throws at over 80 percent," Krystkowiak said of the Ducks. "They’ve got some guys inside with some size as well. It’s a high-powered machine for sure. They’ve got some guys that can put it in the basket."
The Ducks went 9-3 in non-conference play with their only losses coming at the hands of Vanderbilt, BYU, and Virginia. After Pac-12 losses at Washington and to Cal, Oregon had rattled off four straight wins before a tough home loss to its rival, Oregon State.
"Everyone talks about how aggressive (the Oregon defense) is, and they’re just all around flying," Washburn said. "We’ve got to be ready to handle the pressure."
The 7 p.m. tip-off will be broadcast on the radio at 700AM.
