EUGENE, Oregon — Any long shot NCAA Tournament chances for the Utah basketball team, outside of a Pac-12 tournament title next month, will be decided at Matthew Knight Arena when the Utes take on No. 17-ranked Oregon Sunday in a 7 p.m. MST game.
This may be the last chance on the Utes’ schedule for a resume-building victory.
The Utes come into the game at 14-10 on the season with some big wins under their belts, including a neutral-court win over Kentucky and home wins over BYU and Minnesota.
However, that’s not nearly enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament. What’s clearly lacking on their resume is a road victory over a ranked team, and the Utes could get that with a win over the Ducks. Besides being ranked No. 17 in the AP poll, Oregon is ranked No. 25 in the NET poll, which the NCAA uses to help determine its tournament selections.
“No, we’re in a short-term deal. That stuff will take care of itself. The job at hand is most important to us right now.” — Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak
The Utes have been ranked in the 60s and 70s in the NET rankings for most of the Pac-12 season and dropped to No. 78 after Thursday’s loss. To get any consideration for an at-large berth, the Utes must win today, because their only remaining road games are against a faltering Stanford team (lost six of last seven) and Cal, which is 11th in the league standings. And even with a win Sunday, the Utes must win most of their remaining regular-season games to get at-large consideration.
Utah coach Larry Krystkowiak isn’t thinking about the NCAA Tournament right now. Asked what he thinks about NET rankings and postseason chances, he says he’s only thinking about his next game.
“No, we’re in a short-term deal,” he said. “That stuff will take care of itself. The job at hand is most important to us right now.”
After the big loss at Oregon State Thursday when the Utes trailed by as many as 25 points before losing by 19, their attention turned to Oregon, which came back after trailing by 11 with 16 minutes left to win by eight over No. 16 Colorado Thursday night.
That put the Ducks back in a tie for first place in the Pac-12 standings at 8-4 and they’re 19-6 overall.
Payton Pritchard, an All-American candidate, leads the team with a 19.3 scoring average on 38.6% from 3-point range and 6.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game. Chris Duarte averages 14.0 ppg and 5.5 rpg, while Will Richardson averages 10.4 ppg and 45.9% from 3-point range. Other expected starters are Shakur Juiston (7.6 ppg) and Chandler Lawson (4.9 ppg).
Not only is Oregon a good team, its traditionally been a team that has given the Utes more trouble than any other in the conference. The Utes are just 2-16 against Oregon since joining the Pac-12 nine years ago, including last month’s 69-64 loss at the Huntsman Center. Their only win in Eugene came in their last appearance here two seasons ago when they took a 66-56 victory.
The Utes were happy to get Both Gach back in the lineup after he missed four games with a leg injury. Freshman Jaxon Brenchley took his place in the starting lineup and averaged 4.6 ppg in five games. Krystkowiak gave no indication of which of the two will start along with Timmy Allen, Riley Battin, Branden Carlson and Rylan Jones.
“Both gave us a boost,” said Krystkowiak. “Having some additional depth was nice, but collectively we need to be better.”
The Utes have been practicing in Portland for the past two days at the Portland Trail Blazers facility. After Sunday’s game, they’ll return home for a pair of games against UCLA Thursday (8:30 p.m. MST) and next Sunday against USC (4 p.m.).