LAS VEGAS — Perhaps a different venue will make a difference for the Utah basketball team when it plays Kentucky Wednesday night.
Since 1993, the Utes have played the Wildcats all over the country from Minnesota to California to Tennessee to Texas as well as a couple of times in Kentucky, and the result has always been the same — a Utes loss.
Eight times in a row.
This time, the 8-2 Utes and 8-1 Wildcats will square off in a new place, the T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip at 9 p.m. (MT) on ESPN2 as part of the Neon Hoops Showcase, benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Some of the Utah losses to Kentucky have been terrible, the 21-point defeat in Nashville in the NCAA Round of 32 in 1993, the 31-point beatdown in the 1996 Sweet 16 in Minneapolis, the 20-point loss again in Nashville in the NCAA second round in 2003 and last year’s 27-point whipping in Lexington.
Some have been closer, a 13-point loss in the Elite Eight game in San Jose in 1997, the nine-point loss in the NCAA finals in San Antonio in 1998, an eight-point setback in a Preseason NIT contest in Lexington in 1999 and a 10-point defeat in the Sweet 16 in Austin in 2005.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak believes previous history between the two teams makes little difference to this year’s game.
“No matter what’s taken place in the past, there’s been a lot of great players who have played on our team and on their team, different guys with different storylines,” he said.
Even though the Wildcats are ranked No. 6 in the country, after being No. 1 following an early win over then-No. 1 Michigan State last month, Krystkowiak says his team won’t be cowering when it takes the floor Wednesday night.
“It’s not insurmountable,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that we can win the game and compete and ‘believe’ is one of the code words of our program. I believe we can win and everybody on our staff believes we can and everybody on our team believes we can win.”
“It’s not insurmountable. I’m a firm believer that we can win the game and compete and ‘believe’ is one of the code words of our program. I believe we can win and everybody on our staff believes we can and everybody on our team believes we can win.” — Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak
In recent years, the Wildcats have been famous for fielding teams of mostly freshmen, many of whom go on to play in the NBA, but this year, the Wildcats will be playing a team younger than them.
Kentucky’s leading scorer is 6-foot-11 junior Nick Richards, who averages 13.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. He’s followed by sophomore guard Ashton Hagans, who averages 13.7 ppg and leads the team in assists at 7.0 per game.
Other likely starters are freshman guard Tyrese Maxey (12.3 ppg), sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley (12.3 ppg) and sophomore E.J. Montgomery, who averages 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
That’s just one freshman in the starting lineup, while the Utes are expected to start two freshmen, guard Rylan Jones and center Branden Carlson, along with three sophomores, Timmy Allen, Riley Battin and Both Gach.
“This is one of the few times Kentucky is probably playing a team that is younger than them so there will be a lot of youth running around on the court and with that comes a lot of exuberance and excitement,” said Krystkowiak.
The Wildcats haven’t been overpowering so far this year, outscoring their opponents by 17 points per game. They suffered a home loss to Evansville by three points and were taken to the brink by Utah Valley in an 82-74 victory.
Krystkowiak’s biggest concerns are not letting the Wildcats get out in transition — they scored 38 points on 18 Utah turnovers last year — and keeping them off the free-throw line as the Wildcats are sixth in the country in free-throw percentage at 79.8 percent with three starters averaging above 88 percent.
Krystkowiak said he recently heard one of his fellow coaches, Chris Beard, say something that impressed him and he repeated the essence of it Tuesday.
“We may not be better than Kentucky, but the key is to be better than Kentucky for 40 minutes,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to do, stay in the moment and not get caught in a lot of the external excitement. We’ll try to stay in the ball game and try to shake it up a little bit.”
GAME NOTES: Jones, who leads the Utes in assists, 3-point shooting and free-throw percentage, missed the last game because of a rib injury sustained against Central Arkansas. He has practiced this week, but may be a game-time decision. ... The Utes played in Lexington last year and the Wildcats wanted a return game at Madison Square Garden, but the Utes opted for T-Mobile Arena, where the Pac-12 Tournament is played. ... Kentucky will stay in town for another game Saturday night against Ohio State, also at T-Mobile Arena. ... The Utes move on down to Los Angeles for a game against unbeaten San Diego State (10-0) at the Staples Center as part of a doubleheader that will include USC and LSU.