Utah Basketball Ready For Toughest Stretch Of The Season

Entering the college basketball season, everyone knew it was going to an exciting, eventful and crazy four-and-a-half months.

Now near the end of the regular season and the drama appears to be full steam ahead, and Utah is no exception.

Due to COVID-19 protocols throughout the season, the Utes have had to reschedule numerous games. Now that new schedule is ready to either make or break their season as Utah is set to play five games over 10 days, three of which come against the top three teams in the conference.

Utah is set to begin this brutal stretch when it plays Oregon State on Thursday in Corvallis, Oregon. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

NEXT UP: #Utes will fly to Corvallis to face Oregon State on Thursday, February 18 at 6:30pm MT on @Pac12Network.#GoUtes🏀🔴 pic.twitter.com/gq2ZcW236q
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) February 16, 2021

Utah appeared to be in phenomenal shape entering this stretch when it won three games in a row entering last Saturday's contest with Stanford, a team the Utes took down in Salt Lake City earlier in the season.

Unfortunately the Utes fell short with a 73-66 loss to the Cardinal, a defeat with starters Rylan Jones and Mikael Jantunen out. That severely depleted the depth of the team, making the climb to victory too steep to overcome

“The game was kind of a tale of two halves,” Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We got off to a great start, had an awful lot of energy. We were defending, made baskets, and then we went through that dry spell at the end of the first half, which was a little bit of a combination of missing some open looks and they put an awful lot of pressure on us. I thought we got sped up.”

It was the second game without starting point guard Rylan Jones, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury — although he was seen on the bench against Cal and Stanford wearing a sling. His timetable for a return is unknown at this point.

The Utes were able to overcome the absence of Jones when they faced off with Cal last Thursday night, and that's because they still had Alfonso Plummer available. But with Jantunen unavailable — expected to miss the next few weeks to play for Finland at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 Qualifier — the Utes' lack of depth really shown through against the Cardinal and it's now a major point of emphasis moving forward.

“We gotta control what we can control, and we are focused on the guys who are suiting up for us every night,” forward Timmy Allen said postgame against the Cardinal, not allowing the loss of two starters to be used as an excuse for the defeat.

While it's definitely possible the Utes get Jones back beginning Thursday night, or soon thereafter, the loss of Jantunen is going to hurt because he's expected to be gone for the rest of the regular season.

According to Krystkowiak, Jantunen will miss the next few weeks competing for Finland and going through COVID-19 protocols, but is expected back in time for the Pac-12 tournament, set to begin on March 10. The decision for him to leave was set in stone long before it became an issue as the COVID-19 pandemic forced a different schedule compared to normal.

“This goes back to when we originally recruited Miki,” Krystkowiak said. “It was always going to be a promise made on my part that he could take part in all the (Finnish) national team events. … Any other year, it doesn’t have that impact. There have been a lot of discussions and it kinda came down to the wire with the direction that we went.”Utah is still one of the hottest teams in the conference with wins in three of its last four games and five of its past eight.

If Utah wants to make a serious run at the postseason, especially through the Pac-12 tournament, getting a victory over Oregon State is going to be vital. Not only will the win right the ship following the loss to Stanford, it will give the Utes some much needed momentum when they face Oregon, UCLA and USC in three of their next four games.

The good news for the Utes is that Timmy Allen continues to thrive in a more ball-dominant role over the past month. He's the only player in the Pac-12 to rank in the top-11 of scoring, rebounds and assists, averaging 17.0 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

He's averaging 18.9 ppg over the previous 10 games, all of which he's scored in double figures, all while posting a 10-rebound and 10-assist performance in separate games as well during that stretch.

With Jones and Jantunen gone, a lot more pressure has fallen on the sharp-shooting of Alfonso Plummer and inside presence and Branden Carlson.

Plummer is averaging 13.3 ppg on 36.3% shooting from beyond the arc. He showcases the ability to go nuclear at any moment, making him a serious threat the very second he crosses half court.

Carlson is coming off a dominating performance against Stanford when he finished with a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. He's averaging 11.8 ppg over the past six games, up from his 8.6 ppg average throughout the season.

Standing in Utah's way are the Beavers and the dynamic backcourt of Ethan Thompson and Jarod Lucas. The Utes are all to familiar with both players as Thompson is one of the top guards in the conference and Lucas is the one who ended Utah's season last year with a buzzer-beating three-pointer in the Pac-12 tournament.

Thompson is the catalyst as Oregon State often goes as far as he takes them. He's averaging a team-high 15.7 points and 3.8 assist per game. Lucas is his sharp-shooting mate, putting up 12.7 points per game while knocking down 41.2% of his shots from three-point territory.

Warith Alasithe is the big man in the middle, averaging 8.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

While Thursday's game may be the first of a brutal stretch, it's arguably the most important. A win can put the Utes in the right mindset and as evidenced lately, this team is capable of going on a run of victories.

“Definitely,” Carlson said when asked if Utah has improved. “I think we are on the rise up, because I think our team is a lot better than our record shows. We are a better team, we have better chemistry than what we have seen. We are better at just what we do. From here on out, we are going to be showing what we really can do as a team.”

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