Road Struggles Continue as Runnin' Utes Fall to USC Trojans in LA

The Runnin' Utes road game cold streak continued as Utah fell to USC by a score of 68-64 at the Galen Center in Los Angeles, California.

Utah kept the game close but failed to prevent the Trojans from taking the lead in the second half. With a combination of costly turnovers and poor shooting, Utah couldn't overcome themselves and let USC, who had a 10-14 record entering the game, leave with a home win.

It was a poor shooting night for both teams, but the Runnin’ Utes got the short end of the stick. As a team, Utah shot 36.7% from the field and a measly 19% from beyond the arc.

Even the teams usual knockdown shooters struggled. Gabe Madsen, the Utes senior guard and three-point specialist, went 1-6 from deep as an above 40% three-point shooter on the season.

Only two Utah players scored double-digit points. Deivon Smith led the team with 19, shooting 6-17 from the field and 7-8 from the free throw line. Smith also added nine rebounds and seven assists to his stat sheet, nearing what would have been his third triple-double of the season.

Center Branden Carlson was the only other Ute to score over 10 points. Carlson had one of Utah’s more efficient performances, scoring 15 points with two triples and a handful of other scores.

Despite the loss, Utah’s night in Los Angeles would have been even worse if it had not been for a strong defensive performance from Keba Keita.

Keita was by far the Runnin' Utes most efficient player of the night, making plays on both ends of the court and keeping the team in the contest. Keita had nine points on 4-5 shooting but also added two monster blocks and two steals to keep Utah in the game with his impressive defensive efforts.

Looking forward, Utah will stay in California and take on the UCLA Bruins, on Sunday, Feb. 18. The Runnin' Utes dismantled UCLA in January during an almost 50-point victory (90-44) at home. However, since then, the teams couldn't be on more different trajectories. Erik Haslam of Haslametrics.com wrote about the two teams' upcoming meeting on X:

“The Utes' game at UCLA on Sunday will be a contest featuring two teams headed in different directions. Utah is 354th in our Momentum metric, while UCLA is fifth. The Bruins have won six straight and eight of nine, climbing nearly 100 spots in our rankings over the last month.”

The data is clear as day, Utah needs to fix whatever has caused them to lose five of their last six games. Utah is going to need some magic if they want to finish out the regular season strong and gain a berth into the NCAA’s March Tournament.