Utah’s disappointing 75-71 loss to No. 20 TCU on Wednesday night at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City stung mightily for coach Craig Smith’s crew in front of a raucous and festive crowd of 7,202.
It might hurt even more in early March.
Chalk up this setback to one of the best and most well-connected clubs the Runnin’ Utes will face this season as an opportunity lost. It was there for the taking, but in the end the local team committed too many turnovers, failed to make the critical plays down the stretch and misfired a few too many times at the free-throw line.
“I mean, we got the No. 20 team in the country coming into our city — it is a neutral site, but yeah obviously it is tough to lose two in a row like that. Yeah, it would have been a good one to get.” — Utah guard Gabe Madsen
“We had a great opportunity for a Quad 1 win, just couldn’t quite figure it out,” Smith said. “But we will keep growing and we will keep getting better.”
The Utes dropped to 9-3, suffering another loss that senior wing Marco Anthony called “devastating” a few days after stumbling 75-66 to BYU in Provo. But this one felt different; Utah played better, but it was facing a better team, one that should contend for a championship in arguably the best conference in college basketball, the Big 12.
“I mean, it sucks because we know that we are better than that,” Anthony said. “There were a lot of times that we fell out of the connectivity we play with. I feel like at the end of the day that is the biggest thing for us. We gotta trust all five on the court and we gotta keep that connectivity all game, and then we will be fine.”
At full strength finally, TCU improved to 10-1 and simply had an answer every time the Utes threatened to pull in front in the second half, every time the pro-Utah crowd that nearly filled the lower bowl at Vivint got behind its team.
“If we play the basketball we have been playing, that should have been a win for us,” Anthony said. “But again, TCU is a great team.”
In the end, TCU’s stars outplayed Utah’s stars, which was the difference. That and Utah’s 19 turnovers, a bit forgivable considering the Horned Frogs get 17 takeaways a game.
“That is an elite number,” Smith said.
On a chilly night in Salt Lake City, the Horned Frogs took the ball inside, outscoring Utah 46-28 in the paint. Emanuel Miller and Mike Miles combined for 39 points for TCU and the Frogs overcame 12 of 19 free-throw shooting to get the hard-fought win as 1.5-point underdogs.
“We know that Utah has a great team,” said Miller, who had 21 points on 9 of 14 shooting. “We saw what they did to Arizona and we knew we couldn’t come in here and underestimate them. As a team collectively, we did a great job of executing.”
And Utah didn’t.
Smith rightfully rued that Utah probably lost this game in the first half when it allowed TCU to go on a 12-2 run midway through the period, but failures down the stretch are what will stand out upon review.
Branden Carlson banked in a 3-pointer with 5:47 left to trim the deficit to 60-59, but Utah relaxed defensively on the other end and Chuck O’Bannon drilled a triple.
The Utes then committed their 16th turnover, and Damion Baugh scored a basket and got to the free-throw line. After another Utah turnover with around four minutes remaining, Baugh made his only triple of the game and the Frogs were out of the woods.
“Turnovers (were costly),” said Utah’s Gabe Madsen, who made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points. “I had five myself, so that is obviously the No. 1 thing. We lost a lot of possessions, didn’t get shots up, and lost a lot of turnovers.”
Indeed, TCU got up 11 more shots than Utah (65-54) and were plus-16 in that category in the first half.
“Definitely (a blown chance),” Madsen said. “I mean, we got the No. 20 team in the country coming into your city — it is a neutral site, but yeah obviously it is tough to lose two in a row like that. Yeah, it would have been a good one to get.”
Utah played more physically and was tougher than it was against BYU, at least in the first half. After falling behind 5-0 early, Utah scraped back and had a couple leads six and eight minutes into the contest.
But the turnover bug bit again, and Utah started getting sloppy on offense. The result was the 12-2 run that gave TCU a 27-17 lead with seven minutes left in the first half.
The Utes finished with 11 first-half turnovers, which TCU turned into 10 points. TCU also outscored Utah 24-14 in the paint in the first half, and was plus-5 in the rebounding battle.
“We lacked some grit in the last 12 minutes of that first half,” Smith said. “… I thought the game flipped in that second half. … That is the team that we can be, and that we need to be.”
Anthony added 15 on 6 of 8 shooting, and Branden Carlson had 14 points on 5 of 5 shooting, along with eight rebounds and three blocks, acquitting himself well with some NBA scouts in attendance at the NBA arena.
“Carlson hurts us inside more than he did on the perimeter,” said TCU coach Jamie Dixon. “We worried about the 3s (from Carlson). We felt if he hit 3s, that is how they could beat us. The Arizona game he had five. Didn’t him them against us.”