There were plenty of things going against Utah heading into their matchup against No. 22 Arizona on Wednesday night.
The Runnin’ Utes headed to Tucson, Arizona, less than 48 hours after finding out Craig Smith was out as head coach and Josh Eilert was the team’s interim coach.
The Wildcats were coming off a 1-point loss to BYU at home and needed a bounce-back effort.
It was far from a successful night for Utah in its 83-66 loss Wednesday inside legendary McKale Center, though there were some positives to take away from a Utah program that is now largely looking toward the future beyond this season, even with a handful of games that have to be played out.
“I just told the guys in there that I didn’t recruit these guys. They didn’t choose to play for me. They came here play for somebody else,” Eilert said. “So the situation they’ve had to deal with last couple days and how they responded is (they’re) ultimate professionals. It just shows that what kind of kids and are representing this program, and I’m really proud of the way (they handled it).”
The more talented Wildcats overwhelmed the Runnin’ Utes, particularly in the first half, and led by double digits the entire second half.
The Utes’ turnover issues were problematic. The Wildcats turned 12 Utah turnovers into 19 points, with most of that damage being done in the first half (nine Utah turnovers turning into 17 Arizona points).
That helped Arizona take a commanding 46-32 lead into the break, and Caleb Love, the star Wildcats guard, was a force once again.
He scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half and made six 3-pointers, while adding seven assists and four rebounds.
“I’d like to see him miss a couple shots,” Eilert joked, while adding, “He played really good. I probably should have locked him earlier, and done some different things defensively to keep it out of his hands, probably made that adjustment too late. He’s one of the best in the league and when he’s on, he’s on. And tonight he was, he was on.”
The more skilled Wildcats had four players in double figures, outshot the Utes 41.3% to 33.9% and outrebounded the visitors 45-39.
The most promising part of what’s been an emotional couple of days for Utah was the play of sophomore Keanu Dawes.
Let’s leave the conversation about whether he’ll stay in Salt Lake City for another day.
The forward had a season-high 18 points against the Wildcats, tying the career-high 18 he scored as a true freshman last season at Rice.
“Some guys get different looks when they go on the road, and you kind of see it whether they have it or not,” Eilert told 700 AM in his postgame interview. “And I told (Dawes), we’re gonna play with confidence, we’re gonna play with force, and then I’m gonna reward that. And that’s what he gave me.”
Dawes was efficient offensively, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor, making 1 of 2 3-point attempts and hitting all five of his free-throw attempts.
Dawes had his third double-double this season, finishing with 10 rebounds, while adding an assist and a block.
He was rewarded with 26 minutes of playing time, the second-most he’s played all year, behind only 30 minutes in an earlier win over Cincinnati.
Those minutes were fairly spread out, with 12 in the first half and 14 after the break.
That gave him an opportunity to contribute heavily in both halves, and he did well at that, scoring 11 points in the first half and 7 in the second.
He spread his rebounds out evenly over the two halves.
“When he attacks that glass, he’s as good as he been in the league at going and getting second-chance opportunities,” Eilert said.
The interim coach was impressed with the fight his guys showed in the second half, though, when Utah was only outscored by 3 points overall and was able to stay relatively even on the offensive glass and second-chance points (12-11) after getting dominated in the first half.
By game’s end, there were a few other notable efforts for the Utes (15-13, 7-10 Big 12).
Ezra Ausar ended up with 18 points and five rebounds, Lawson Lovering added 6 points and 10 rebounds, and Gabe Madsen scored 10 points and paced Utah with a career-high seven assists.
Even after falling behind by as many as 24 points, the Utes kept fighting and even cut it to an 11-point deficit with just over a minute to play.
That lead was pushed back out to 17 with a couple late 3-pointers from Arizona, but the message to Eilert was clear: His team was going to fight, even on a night where the Utes lost for the 14th straight time in Tucson, a streak dating back to 1986.
“Winning on road, and especially at a place like this with against a team that really doesn’t really have any holes, you can’t get down and and turn the ball over and dig yourself that big of a hole,” Eilert said. “So I’m proud of the resilience, proud of what they gave me. A lot of kids would shut it down and then turn it off, but they kept fighting.”