Crunch time, the critical home stretch — whatever you want to call it — is officially here for the University of Utah men’s basketball team.
The surprising Utes, currently tied for fourth place in the Pac-12 with Oregon and a half-game out of third place, have played their way into the conversation for postseason play.
“In the position we are in, it is a great thing. Iron sharpens iron. So when you play the best teams, you are going to find out real quickly where you are at. … I just have this good feeling that good things are going to happen in terms of our prep and readiness.” — Utah coach Craig Smith
Unlike the past few seasons, mid- and late-February games mean a lot this year, beginning Saturday when Utah (16-9, 9-5) plays host to rival and traveling partner Colorado (14-11, 6-8) at the Huntsman Center.
Tipoff is at 8 p.m. and the game will be televised by Fox Sports 1.
For the just-off-the-bubble Utes, who have a NET ranking of 54, the next six games will go a long way in determining whether they return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016, host a game or two in the NIT, or hit the road in the NIT.
Not making the NIT is also in play, but for that to happen Utah would probably have to completely collapse.
Of course, they can earn the Pac-12’s automatic bid for the Big Dance if they can win the conference tournament next month in Las Vegas, not impossible considering the Pac-12 isn’t among the better Power Six leagues this year. But that’s a topic for another day.
If the season were to end today, Utah would probably be in line to host an NIT game.
But the Utes obviously want more, which is what makes the next six games so intriguing. There’s an opportunity, albeit not a great one, to move onto the NCAA Tournament bubble, with road games at No. 4 Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado representing Quad 1 win opportunities and a home game against No. 7 UCLA also falling into that category.
USC visits Feb. 25 for Senior Night, but the Trojans’ NET ranking dropped to 57 after Thursday’s blowout loss to Oregon so that wouldn’t be a Quad 1 win for the Utes at the present time.
“Everything we want is still right in front of us,” coach Craig Smith said after the Utes downed Cal 61-46 last Saturday.
However, the Utes hit this stretch at less than full strength, not a positive development for a team that still needs a lot more from its bench. The Utes were getting decent contributions from their bench through January, but when second-leading scorer Gabe Madsen sustained a lower right leg injury that will cause him to miss the rest of February’s games, at least, sixth man Lazar Stefanovic was pressed into a starting role and the bench became dangerously thin.
Utah got just six points from its bench in a 78-72 home loss to Stanford and 10 in the 61-46 victory over Cal. Against the Bears, six players logged 26 minutes or more.
Smith has said he doesn’t want to shorten his rotation, but at this point of the season it is all about getting wins.
“I don’t want it to be (shorted),” he said. “I want to be able to play guys. I want to be able to have a bench. So, the guys gotta be able to prove it consistently, and that is what will be good this week. We will get some good practice time in here, and hopefully we will get our legs back.
“And then for the guys who haven’t been playing much, get them some good time in the gym. I will say two of the last three practices, some of these bench guys have performed well, and so now we need them to consistently carry it over into the game.”
Senior Jaxon Brenchley is one of those guys who practiced well last week, and Smith rewarded him with 26 minutes against the Bears. In turn, Brenchley had his best game of the season, with 10 points and three rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting.
“With Gabe being out, I kinda knew coming into the (Cal) game that we would need some more spark off the bench,” Brenchley said. “I knew I needed to, if my number was called, go compete.”
Smith said more of the same will be needed from Brenchley, who played a lot as a freshman in 2019-20 when Larry Krystkowiak was the coach and he was fresh off a church mission to Taiwan.
“I have told you guys how much better (Brenchley) has gotten,” Smith said. “He just hasn’t had the playing time to be able to necessarily demonstrate that on game day. It was fun to see.”
Smith said he turned to Brenchley because the Cache Valley native “has been there, and done that” and also due to his leadership ability.
“We just felt like Jaxon had a great look (before the game),” Smith said. “He is a veteran guy. His leadership, his experience, and his passion, we just felt like we needed a lot of things that he brings to the table, and he was outstanding tonight.”
Smith said Brenchley has improved all facets of his game.
“He is a smart kid. He is tough. He loves the Runnin’ Utes, and he has really improved his jump shot,” Smith said. “He is just a tough-minded kid that plays hard. … You produce, you perform, you play. I just felt like it was time. A lot of other guys have had opportunities and you gotta seize those moments. Was really happy for him and for our team that he was able to do that.”
Other possibilities for bench contributions down the stretch, or at least until Madsen returns, are senior Bostyn Holt and freshmen Wilguens Exacte and Keba Keita.
All three have shown flashes at times, but been inconsistent. And Holt has dealt with some nagging injuries.
“We gotta keep looking at who can really impact winning consistently,” Smith said. “… We gotta be able to figure out our bench, and who and how we can contribute that way. Because it is hard when it is a game-to-game thing.”
Whoever it is — guards Luka Tarlac and Mike Saunders and walk-on Eli Ballstaedt are also candidates to contribute more down the stretch — will face top-flight competition the rest of the way, Smith said.
“In the position we are in, it is a great thing. Iron sharpens iron. So when you play the best teams, you are going to find out real quickly where you are at. … I just have this good feeling that good things are going to happen in terms of our prep and readiness. We have a group of competitors, and I am excited for what lies ahead.”
