For about 24 minutes on Tuesday night, CSU Pueblo was giving Utah a game in the Runnin’ Utes’ lone exhibition game.
Utah led by just eight points with 16 minutes left in its matchup with the Division II school, but the Utes started meshing on both ends of the floor and went on a 29-7 run over the next eight minutes to run away with a 98-67 victory at the Huntsman Center.
It’s not a big surprise that Utah took some time to get going — the Utes saw a major overhaul of their roster this offseason, thanks to portal attrition from guys like Deivon Smith and Keba Keita and the loss of star Branden Carlson.
It’s a longer learning process with this team.
With that in mind, there were some things that should inspire some excitement from a new-fangled roster that includes nine newcomers.
Who was in the starting 5?
The Utes marched out a starting five that included two returning starters, Gabe Madsen and Lawson Lovering, along with three transfers in Miro Little, Mike Sharavjamts and Ezra Ausar.
Utah coach Craig Smith stressed earlier this offseason that this roster will be known for its versatility — and that certainly is reflected in a starting lineup that included Little at point guard, along with Sharavjamts, who is expected to be another key ball handler for the Utes.
Smith said the starting rotation isn’t totally set yet with the season opener against Alcorn State next Monday, and there will be rotations to figure out as the year goes on — again, not a surprise considering the roster turnover.
But the coach was pleased with the overall effort, and after he admitted he thought long and hard about forgoing an exhibition game in lieu of another closed scrimmage — like they had two weeks ago against Nebraska — the coaching staff chose to go through with an exhibition.
“You’ve got to be able to see the big picture in all of this stuff,” Smith said. “... At the end of the day, I just thought that we just felt like as a staff, when you have all these new players, I think it’s important to put the uniform on and just feel all that stuff — starting lineups, national anthem.
“I just think you have to go through that kind of stuff and grow.”
How did Miro Little, Utah’s new point guard, look?
Fair or not, Little, the Baylor transfer who is expected to be Utah’s top facilitator, is going to have Deivon Smith’s shadow hanging over him for a time. Smith was a revelation for Utah out of the portal last year, becoming a triple-double machine, but now he’s at St. John’s.
In Little’s first game in a Utah uniform — not counting that closed scrimmage against Nebraska — there were some positives mixed in with other elements that will use some work.
Little scored his first points on a nice driving layup to put Utah up 7-4, and he finished the game with four points, though that came on 2 of 8 shooting.
He also had nine assists to just one turnover, and added five steals.
Another time where his shiftiness was on display: the 6-foot-3 guard found a trailing Lovering in transition for a slam to make it 53-42, with a nifty little move into the lane.
There’s going to be some growing pains watching Little mature as a player, but he brings excitement and athleticism to the court.
“I’m getting there, getting there,” Little said. “Every game is gonna be better. It’s not gonna be perfect yet, but it’s gonna get there.”
Which other newcomers stood out?
Ausar is expected to help fill a lot of the scoring void left by Carlson, and on this night, he showed off that capability.
The 6-9 Ausar had several big slams while shooting 5 of 8 from the field, and perhaps more importantly, he delivered from the free-throw line, making 4 of 6. He had 14 points.
True freshman Ibi Traore, who originally signed with Oregon before flipping to the Utes this summer, saw some early play — he was one of the first players off the bench for the Utes, and he ended up having a nice night overall.
Traore finished with nine points, four blocks and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
Mason Madsen began to heat up as the night wore on, and the fifth-year senior transfer finished with 15 points, including four 3-pointers, while also making a highlight-worthy assist (more on that in a minute).
What did the returnees show?
Gabe Madsen joked that he’s struggled with exhibition games in the past but he didn’t Tuesday night — he was clearly the best player on the court and got off to a hot start by hitting his first 3.
Madsen finished with 13 points and four steals, a good sign after he missed several weeks during training camp due to an injury.
The team’s other returning starter, Lovering, had an efficient night with nine points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. A scary moment happened with 8:29 to play, though, as he fell to the ground, then limped off the court, heading straight to the locker room.
Smith did not have an update on the severity of Lovering’s injury after the game.
The biggest night, though, belonged to another senior — guard Hunter Erickson. The Timpview High product had a game-high 17 points, shooting 6 of 7 and 5 of 6 from 3-point range, while showing off the kind of offensive firepower he had going at the end of last season.
Erickson and Mason Madsen also connected for the play of the night, when Madsen stole the ball, and then he lobbed a beautiful pass to Erickson in transition, with the 6-3 Erickson slamming it home.
“At first I thought it was maybe a little high, and you guys all felt the same. I know you did, but Hunter went and got that thing and it ended up being the perfect pass,” Smith said.
Erickson and Madsen, in particular, helped spark the Utes’ big run in the second half, and the coach noted the growth he’s seen in Erickson this offseason.
“Hunter is such a mature kid. He’s so mature. … Now he’s been in the system for a year. He knows what to expect on a day-to-day basis. He’s such a poised guy,” Smith said.
Things to work on
Utah jumped out to an 18-point lead with five minutes to play in the first half, but the Utes allowed CSU Pueblo to get back into the game over the next five minutes and Utah took just a nine-point lead into the break at 45-36.
During that stretch, the Utes’ defense — which looked locked in for much of the night — left a lot to be desired.
The Utes, who struggled at the free-throw line for a lot of last season, also started slow from the line before finishing 11 of 18.
Those are the kinds of lapses and bumps the team will continue to work on as the season begins — the night was an overall success, though, in getting the returnees and newcomers on the court in a game atmosphere together.
“I mean, it’s to be expected, just some jitters for everybody, first game with fans and whatnot, and just throwing on the jerseys,” Gabe Madsen said. “So, but I think we got, like you said, we got to go in a little bit there in the second half and settled in.”