Break in schedule comes at a good time for Runnin’ Utes and their postseason hopes

Utah’s men’s basketball team picked up some much-needed momentum Sunday afternoon, waxing Cal 61-46 in front of an announced crowd of 6,731 at the Huntsman Center.

Now comes the hard part. The Utes (16-9, 9-5) are clinging to fourth place in the Pac-12 standings heading into the most difficult part of their 2022-23 schedule.

“It was good to get back on the right side of the win-loss column, and hopefully we can carry some momentum here going into the bye week. Honestly, we need a bye. ... We just gotta get our legs back under us, and get some recovery here as we go into the home stretch.” — Utah coach Craig Smith

They host seventh-place Colorado (14-11, 6-8) Saturday, which should be a close, competitive game, before the opportunity comes to get four Quadrant 1 wins. It is exactly what the doctor ordered for a team outside the NCAA Tournament bubble with a NET ranking of 56.

But first, the Utes get a midweek bye, a break in the schedule that coach Craig Smith says is welcomed with open arms.

“It was good to get back on the right side of the win-loss column, and hopefully we can carry some momentum here going into the bye week,” Smith said after Utah completed a season sweep of the Bears for the second straight year. “Honestly, we need a bye. It is kind of a weird year. We are (this late) in the season and it is our first bye week. I mean, we need it. We just gotta get our legs back under us, and get some recovery here as we go into the home stretch.”

And what a home stretch it is.

A week from Thursday, Utah plays at No. 4 Arizona (21-3) and then travels up the road to Arizona State (16-8), which is 9-4 at home.

Seventh-ranked UCLA visits Feb. 23, followed by USC (17-6) on Feb. 25.

Of immediate concern for the Utes is holding on to their fourth-place standing in the league, because the top four teams get first-round byes in the Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. 

“I mean, five of our (next) six games are Quad 1. So we have a big opportunity ahead,” said senior guard Jaxon Brenchley, who had a season-high 10 points off the bench against Cal. “We can’t feel bad about losing two, or feel bad about losing (any games). We got big opportunities to try and make a push. That’s why we gotta stay positive and stay locked in.”

The Utes have almost certainly locked in an NIT bid, barring a complete and utter collapse. But they clearly want more in Smith’s second season, even though playing the next three weeks, at least, without second-leading scorer Gabe Madsen (right foot injury) will be difficult for a team that isn’t getting a lot of contributions from its bench.

“Yeah, everything is still in front of us, the Pac-12 tournament (to get the NCAA automatic bid) as well,” Brenchley said. “So there is no negativity, there is no sense of loss of hope. We are still together and still ready to go.”

Utah is currently 1-5 in Quad 1 games and 2-3 in Quad 2 games. The puzzling 78-72 loss to Stanford last Thursday was its only Quad 3 (3-1) or Quad 4 (10-0) loss. That setback to the Cardinal — which was walloped 84-62 at Colorado Sunday — could very well keep the Utes out of the Big Dance if they don’t string together a late-season run against the league’s best teams.

“The beauty of our schedule coming up is everything is still in front of us,” Smith said. “We are probably going to have four Quad 1 games in a row, most likely, and then we will see where Colorado is (for the regular-season finale March 4 in Boulder). If they knock off some people, they may be Quad 1.

“But it is going to be tough. It is our toughest stretch of the season right now, coming up. So we had to take care of business (against Cal), and gain some momentum.”

Smith said doctors and trainers haven’t said anything regarding a timetable for Madsen’s return other than the 4-6 weeks assessment they issued at the beginning of the month.

“They are firm on that,” he said. “But Gabe is relentless with recovery and rehab and getting in the gym, and he will do every possible thing because he is so disciplined and he loves to play and compete. He will be back as fast as humanly possible for him. But we gotta operate on the 4-6 weeks (timetable), and if it is quicker, then it is quicker.”

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