Alex Jensen wants to see more from Utah basketball after surviving Purdue Fort Wayne

Runnin' Utes came away with another narrow win after nearly squandering a double-digit lead

Utah Runnin' Utes head coach Alex Jensen watches play against the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons during the second half at Jon M. Huntsman Center. | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Without any other context provided, a 5-0 start under a first-year head coach who had to assemble his roster from scratch sounds like it would be a cause for celebration for most college basketball teams.

Upon closer examination of Utah's early returns, there were more reasons to question how the Runnin' Utes would fare when faced with stiffer competition than there were justifications to rejoice for a program that's been dormant for the majority of the past decade.

Monday night's nonconference tilt against Purdue Fort Wayne was yet another instance of a lower-tiered mid-major opponent being able to hang around and keep things interesting before Utah decides to shut the door in the closing minutes.

Despite a productive night offensively — fueled by another 20-point performance out of Terrence Brown — the Runnin' Utes couldn't put away the Mastodons for good until it got down to crunch time, exhibiting the same mental lapses and errors Jensen echoed during some of his other postgame press conferences.

Going roughly 5 minutes without a bucket down the stretch of the second half certainly didn't help the cause, though Utah's lack of physicality on the defensive end of the floor didn't make fending off its pesky Horizon League foe any easier. The Runnin' Utes allowed the Mastodons, who ranked No. 224 in offensive efficiency on KenPom, to score 17 fast break points, finish with 42 points in the paint and shoot 22-of-38 (57.9%) from inside the arc.

Those factors contributed to Purdue Fort Wayne's ability to make things interesting in the second half after digging itself into a 16-point hole in the first half. Utah's lead was trimmed down to as low as six points multiple times over the course of the last 3 minutes of regulation, as the Mastodons went on a 7-0 scoring run during a cold stretch from the Runnin' Utes before making it 74-68 with 1:22 remaining following a triple from Maximus Nelson.

Utah guard Don McHenry responded about 30 seconds later with a 3-pointer of his own, pushing his team's lead back to nine with under a minute left to play. That allowed the Runnin' Utes to ice the game at the free-throw line, where they went 8-for-8 from over the course of the last 35 seconds of regulation.

"Just got to put a complete game together," Jensen after the game. "And like I told them, when we get that lead, that's when you got to crank it up on the defensive end."

Heading into a multi-team event consisting of two matchups with power conference foes and another involving a mid-major with plenty of NCAA Tournament experience, Utah's coaching staff would probably like to iron out some more wrinkles during Thursday's home game against Cal Poly (7 p.m. MT) before heading down to Palm Springs, California, for the last three games of the Acrisure Series.

Through its first five games, the Runnin' Utes yielded 77.8 points per game to opponents that, on average, ranked No. 305 out of 365 teams in the country in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. Four of the five teams Utah played to start the season achieved their season-high in points upon visiting the Jon M. Huntsman Center (excluding games against non-Division I schools), with all but one (Holy Cross) crossing the 70-point threshold in regulation.

Only time will tell if Jensen's group tightens its grip defensively over the coming weeks as the Runnin' Utes face four top-100 KenPom teams before entering an even more brutal stretch to start Big 12 play in January.

Here's what Jensen had to say about his team's defensive effort after Monday night's game.

On Utah's defensive lapses

"I tell our guys all the time — especially the last couple days — is to not beat ourselves. I think it's just a mindset of, 'how I fit on the court with the other four guys, and what my job is.' I think the last two games we started well, executed the game plan and then it starts to work. Then we end up [committing] turnovers or we just kind of lose that mental focus on our job and how we fit into the team."

"We're getting better at it, but that's what I tell them all the time — that's what good teams do, is you get the lead and then you crank it up, especially on the defensive side."

On the importance of making six 3-pointers in the first half

"The best part about them early on is that they were assisted. We always tell them that the 3s; when they come on, you change sides of the floor as you get to the third side. That's usually a much better shot. But at any level you play, when the threes are assisted, it's a great shot, and it kind of brings the team together. But, again, we kind of lose our patience and try to make things happen on the first side of the floor."

On adjustments that can be made after the Mastodons outscored the Runnin' Utes in the paint

"[Purdue Fort Wayne's] three guards coming in tonight averaged 50 points combined. We were aggressive with them on the pick and roll. So I think mostly the block-outs, offensive rebounds, I think, were most of the points in the paint, and then just missed assignments on the weak side."

"Again, going back to that mental focus and concentration ... because we wanted to pressure them at the point, which left us vulnerable underneath. If somebody forgot their assignment, it makes it hard to rebound as well. But I think we executed pretty well for most of the night."

On what he'd like to see from his bench unit moving forward

"I think my message to the team is, I'm not worried about scoring. We got to take care of the other end, and then that'll work out itself. I think we can score off our defense, is what I'm trying to tell them. I think that's what we're fighting right now, because we get the lead and natural human nature, your mind goes to scoring."

"I'm truly not worried about the bench points. We're still figuring out a rotation. James is in his second game back. There's a lot of different lineups that we might have to use that nobody's seen yet."