For the second time during Big 12 play, Utah is on a two-game road swing.
Unlike the first time, though, when the Runnin’ Utes traveled to Manhattan, Kansas and Provo, this one involves travel out to the far eastern reaches of the conference.
Utah already lost the first game of this road trip when the Utes blew a five-point lead with 1:56 to play in a 69-65 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday.
The back end of the road swing has Utah heading to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers on Wednesday (6:30 p.m. MST, FS1).
Sunday’s result was the closest the Utes (9-16, 1-11 Big 12) have come to a win since beating TCU on Jan. 17, before their current seven-game losing skid.
Per ESPN Analytics, Utah had a 74% chance of winning against Cincinnati when Keanu Dawes scored to give the Utes a 65-60 lead with just under two minutes to play.
Over the final 90 seconds of the game, though, the Bearcats outscored Utah 9-0 while the Utes were 0 of 4 from the field and missed the front end of two 1-and-1s.
“I do kind of go back to those things that you can control every game, and we just got to keep getting better at that. We were in a great position (to win),” Utah coach Alex Jensen said in his press conference after the game, per video from BearCat Journal.
“A lot of guys on my team haven’t been in this position. I keep talking about a maturing process. Got to continue to head in that direction.”
There were positives to take from Utah’s effort in the loss, among them the fact that their grittiness helped them out-rebound the taller Bearcats 40-30, including 16-8 on the offensive glass.
“That’s something we give up in a lot of the games in the conference is size. We did a good job of that,” Jensen said.
As has been the case too often this season, though, the Utes suffered lulls at the most inopportune times in losing to Cincinnati.
That included not being able to come up with a defensive rebound with 1:34 to play — if Utah would have secured the possession, the Utes would have gone into the final 90 seconds with the ball and a five-point lead.
It’s those lapses that have plagued Utah this season, and in this case, Cincinnati made the Utes pay for it. Day Day Thomas scored to make it 65-62, and less than a minute later, the Bearcats recaptured the lead for good.
Now, the Utes will try and build off the positives as they face a West Virginia team that is trying to stay in contention for the NCAA tournament. In ESPN’s latest bubble watch outlook, the news outlet lists West Virginia as a team with “work to do.”
The Mountaineers can ill afford a stumble against a Utah team that is lowest among Big 12 teams in the NET rankings, at No. 129.
Honor Huff leads the West Virginia attack — he is averaging 15.6 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals per game, while Brenen Loriant (11.3 points, 5.1 rebounds) and Treysen Eaglestaff (9.9 points, 4.7 rebounds) also play big roles.
The Mountaineers are tough defensively, too. They allow the second-fewest points among Big 12 teams (63.8) and are rated a top 25 team nationally in defensive efficiency by Team Rankings. West Virginia is top 10 nationally in defensive efficiency at home.
Though it’s unclear how many of the players on Utah’s current roster will be around next season, Jensen continues to stress to his players the importance of staying aggressive, even amid the struggles.
That kind of mentality and stick-to-it-ive-ness — and not allowing mistakes to make them tentative — will have lasting effects.
“It’s game to game. I asked them after, ‘Were you good enough to win that game? You are if we play hard and we play better,’” Jensen said.
“Give credit to Cincinnati. It’s the maturity process being at this level and confidence is huge, especially on the road. But I’ve told multiple guys on my team, ‘I can’t believe in you more than you do, that doesn’t work. You got to go out there and make mistakes of being aggressive, not the mistakes of being passive.’”