FORT WORTH, Texas — It’s only been two and a half weeks, but Utah already is a quarter of the way through its first Big 12 men’s basketball schedule.
Things started rough — Utah lost its first three conference games, including two against top 25 schools, by an average of 25.3 points.
The last two games, though, the Runnin’ Utes have looked much more competitive in one of the nation’s toughest basketball conferences, beating Oklahoma State at home by 21 before earning a wire-to-win victory at TCU on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Utah will play its third game in eight days when the Utes host rival BYU at the Huntsman Center (7 p.m. MST, ESPN+).
What has stood out about Utah’s two-game win streak?
For Utah coach Craig Smith and his group that includes 10 newcomers, there’s been — and will continue to be — a learning curve as the Utes traverse their first season in the Big 12.
“You can talk about it until you’re out of your mind. You can just talk and try to lecture and but I think there’s a certain point you’ve got to feel it, and you have to experience it, and you’ve got to go through it yourself,” Smith said.
“... The physicality that this game is played with, every league is built a little bit differently, so you’ve got to kind of adjust accordingly. And I feel like we’re starting to figure some things out.”
Utah is showing better resiliency
The Utes faced double-digit deficits often in their three straight losses to begin Big 12 play, against then-No. 25 Baylor, Texas Tech and No. 3 Iowa State.
Smith and his players, though, have reiterated that the turn of resiliency began before Utah headed to Ames, Iowa, to face the Cyclones.
While the Utes lost by 23, they had it at a six-point game with 13 minutes left before Iowa State started pulling away. Still, Smith liked the physicality he saw out of his team, beginning with that Iowa State game.
That led to the Utes taking charge from the get-go against Oklahoma State, as they stormed out to a 12-0 lead and never trailed in beating the Cowboys 83-62 for the program’s first Big 12 Conference win.
On Wednesday, Utah kept their toughness trend going, as they went into TCU and walked out with a 73-65 win.
Again, the Utes grabbed an early lead, and while the Horned Frogs — who were previously unbeaten at home — continued to chip away at the Utes’ lead, though Utah had an answer each time.
“You’ve got to have poise and composure when you’re on the road. You have to have a tough mentality,” Smith said. “You know when, when they did make those runs, we were able to answer the bell.”
Added Keanu Dawes: “Overall, we finished both halves strong. We can learn, we can’t let them come back, because there will be teams — I mean, they’re a very good team — but there will be times where it’s hard to stop the team from coming back with that momentum.”
Improved efficiency and effort on both offense and defense
While it may be too simplistic to lump both the offensive and defensive improvements together, like Smith has reiterated time and again, excelling in those two elements are tied together for the Utes.
Utah’s shot selection has improved during this two-game win streak, and the Utes have done a better job not letting turnovers lead to easy points like they did so often against Baylor and Iowa State.
The Utes shot 55.6% from the floor against Oklahoma State and made 49% of their field goals against TCU, moving the ball through the post to help facilitate the offense.
Utah also routinely got to the free-throw line in both games, making 17 of 24 against Oklahoma State and 19 of 29 against TCU.
“I think you’ve seen us in the last couple games really pick that up (ball movement) and just take what the defense has given us and just not try to make it like the big plays, just take what they give us,” Utah guard Gabe Madsen said.
On defense, the Utes have held both the Cowboys and Horned Frogs to under 40% shooting — at 33.3% and 37.5%, respectively.
Smith has emphasized being able to guard personnel, and against TCU, that included not letting one of the Horned Frogs’ star guard, Noah Reynolds, get going as much as he has in recent games.
“With Reynolds, just like any really good scorer, I just think you got to really change up your looks with them. You know, whether it’s schematically, throw different defenders on them, because everybody’s a little different with their length, their size, their physicality. We mixed up defenses a little bit,” Smith said.
Utah’s coach said his team couldn’t hang its head when Reynolds, who had been averaging just over 20 points per game in league play prior to Wednesday, found ways to get his points.
“He got going for a while, and then, you know late, I thought we did a better job to make the shots a little bit more difficult,” Smith said. “Those guys put a lot of pressure on you, but that’s this league.”
Smith later added, regarding his team’s defense, “We had to mix it up a little bit just to try to keep them off balance. We just made enough plays on that end.
The emergence of Keanu Dawes
One of the things that jumps off the stat sheet from Utah’s last two games is how dominant Dawes, the sophomore forward, has been.
He scored 16 points in both games while shooting 75% from the floor.
Dawes also averaged 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the two wins, and against TCU he made a pair of key defensive stops in the final minute.
On one, he blocked a layup attempt from Vasean Allette that could have made it a four-point game. Then on TCU’s next possession with Utah up six, Dawes stole the ball, and the Utes wrapped up the win from the free-throw line.
Smith called out his ability to finish possessions, saying, “The dunks were really, really nice, but his ability to finish around the basket.”
Dawes averaged 22 minutes in those two games, including 23 against TCU. That’s the most he’s played in a game against a Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponent.
“Just got to keep going. I can’t be satisfied because we won one game,” Dawes said. “We’ve got to keep going and just keep stacking good days.”
Smith praised the growth he’s seeing from Dawes after the Oklahoma State win.
“The sky’s the limit for KD. You know, he puts the time in. He gets in the gym, he spends extra time. He cares,” Smith said.
While some of Dawes’ highlight dunks may earn the bulk of the spotlight, Smith highlighted a defensive learning moment for him against the Cowboys.
“I thought he got off to a little bit of a slow start on the defensive end, and they went to a timeout,” Smith said. “To his credit, I kind of jumped on him, got after him a little bit. It was a couple things, and he self corrected. And I thought from that point on, he was really good.”
Dawes, who saw his minutes dip for a spell during nonconference play and to start Big 12 action, is now regularly in the rotation as one of the Utes’ first players off the bench.
“What I’m really proud with KD is he’s really hung in there and stuck with it. You know, it’s not always easy, and you’re losing and your minutes are a little bit (down). Maybe he played like that because he went through that, too, you know? I mean, there’s a lot of ways to look at this stuff,” Smith said.
“Maybe he got better because he had to go through some of that stuff, and you find out who you are, too. There’s a lot of ways to look at things, but I’m proud of him. … He’s a very talented guy, and man who knows what his future is going to hold as to where he can go, but he can really grow in some areas, too.”
What lies ahead?
In the immediate future, there’s the matchup against BYU. Last year, Utah beat the then-No. 11 Cougars at the Huntsman Center, handing BYU its first loss of the season.
This year, they’ll play two games, with the Cougars hosting the Utes on March 8 in the regular-season finale for both squads.
Between now and then, there are 13 other matchups against Big 12 competition, including the likes of Houston, Kansas, Arizona and West Virginia, as well as a rematch against Baylor.
Given the positive trajectory of the past week, though, things look a bit better this week than they did even seven days ago.
“We’re learning how to make some plays, and we just need to continue to grow and develop, get better and better every night,” Smith said.