It’s a telling contrast, even if the sample size is small at the moment.
If you look at the Big 12 men’s basketball scoring leaders this season while considering every game — both nonconference and league matchups — Utah guard Gabe Madsen is second in the conference with a 16.5 points-per-game average.
If you narrow that scope to only conference games after the first week of league play, Madsen is nowhere to be found on the list of top 25 scoring players in Big 12 action.
That’s because Madsen has seven total points over the Runnin’ Utes’ first two Big 12 games, as teams have focused on stopping Utah’s fifth-year senior and top scorer.
In the Utes’ 93-65 home loss against Texas Tech on Saturday, Madsen was 0 for 6 from the floor, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range. His four points all came from the free-throw line.
It’s only the second time since his freshman season that Madsen hasn’t made a field goal in a game he’s played — and the previous time he only played two minutes before being hurt against Oregon on Jan, 28, 2023.
“Gabe obviously has been in a little bit of a funk. He knows it, everybody feels it,” Utah coach Craig Smith said after the loss to the Red Raiders. “He’s a fifth-year guy. He’s a confident kid. He’s got to dig in. We believe in him, his teammates believe in him. We’re trying to find ways to get him some easy shots.”
That’s just one of several issues Utah (8-5, 0-2 Big 12), which is on a three-game losing streak, is trying to sort through right now.
Still, the sooner the Utes can get their star shooter going again, the better it will be for a Utah team trying to find ways to be competitive in its new league.
Over Utah’s last four games, Madsen has failed to reach double-figures, dating back to the Utes’ last win, Dec. 17 against Florida A&M.
How rare is this stretch for Madsen, who’s scored 1,169 points since he arrived at Utah four years ago? He hasn’t had a four-game stretch where he failed to score in double-figures since his freshman season, back in 2021-22.
Also during this four-game stretch, Madsen hasn’t had a game where he’s put up double-digit shot attempts. In the team’s nine previous games, he passed the double-digit attempt threshold every time.
Saturday’s six attempts was a season-low, one game after he went 1 of 7 from the field in a 25-point loss to Baylor to start Big 12 play.

In two conference games, Madsen has shot 1 of 13 from the field.
He’s shot 20.6% from the field in the last four games, after shooting 47.4% during the season’s first nine games. Three of his four worst 3-point shooting games of the season have come in the team’s three-game losing streak.
“We’ve got to find a way to get him going. He’s a marked man. I mean, every game we go into he’s getting the best defender. They’re game-planning to take him away,” Smith said.
The game plan from opposing Big 12 teams has included limiting offensive opportunities for Madsen, as well as his brother Mason Madsen.
“Gabe and Mason are both outstanding players. If you give them any room at all, they’re gonna hurt you and make you pay,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said after the Bears beat Utah 81-56 in Waco, Texas, last Tuesday.
In that game, Gabe Madsen scored three points, with his lone points coming on a second-half 3-point make, while Mason, Utah’s second-leading scorer, tossed in 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 2 of 7 from 3-point range.
Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland told reporters that the Red Raiders were fine challenging post players like Zach Keller, Jake Wahlin and Keanu Dawes to hit contested 2-pointers over allowing the Madsen brothers to get good looks.
Red Raiders guard Chance McMillian played 35 minutes — four over his team-high average this season — and often drew the defensive assignment against Gabe Madsen. He eventually asked for a breather, a rarity for the Texas Tech guard, McCasland said.
While that led to Keller (12 points), Wahlin (10) and Dawes (11) scoring above their averages, the Madsen brothers were kept in check.
McCasland likened the matchup to an “endurance test,” “who can stay the course with the energy and physicality over the course of the entire game.”
“We were able to play so many guys to stay connected,” McCasland said.
The task is on Utah and its coaches to find ways for Madsen to get going again, and getting guys like Keller, Wahlin and Dawes to build off a solid night for each on the offensive end.
“You’ve got to be able to have go-to sets and go-to plays for your best player. And guys got to be able to find him (at the) right times,” Smith said. “At the same time, we got to have some other guys that can be able to make some plays, too. And, you know, make them pay. That’s why you play five-on-five.”
Smith said during times like this — when things are snowballing — “you’ve got to be able to cut your problems in half.”
“Generally speaking, usually your problems — things aren’t usually as good as they seem, and probably not quite as bad as they seem,” the coach said. “And it certainly doesn’t feel good right now. You’ve got to be able to cut your problems in half.”
It’s a daunting task, given who’s next on Utah’s schedule.
Up next is a matchup at No. 3 Iowa State on Tuesday. The Cyclones are 12-1, coming off a 19-point win over the same Baylor team that beat Utah by 25 and are the second-highest rated Big 12 team in the NCAA’s NET rankings — at No. 5, they are one spot below Houston.
Those aren’t ideal circumstances, and are compounded with finding ways to get Madsen’s offensive game back on track as teams game plan to stop him. That wasn’t unexpected for Utah, coming into one of the most competitive conferences in the country.
Even then, getting Madsen going again is a priority for the Utes.
“Cut our problems in half, get him some clean looks, and just got to get his confidence back. And that’s easier said than done sometimes,” Smith said.