What Utah's Alex Jensen said ahead of Big 12 matchup vs. Houston

Runnin' Utes head coach discussed the team's matchup with the Cougars and more during his recent media availability session

Utah Runnin' Utes head coach Alex Jensen guides his program into a Big 12 battle against the Houston Cougars. | Aaron Baker-Imagn Images

The Utah men's basketball program returns to the Huntsman Center Tuesday night to take on what head coach Alex Jensen believes to be the "hardest-playing" team the Runnin' Utes (9-14, 1-9 Big 12) will have faced all season.

Given the manner in which Houston embodies Kelvin Sampson's hard-nosed, competitive nature — and all the success the program has enjoyed over the past few seasons while doing so — Jensen's assessment of the Cougars (21-2, 9-1 Big 12) is about as accurate as could be.

Jensen discussed what makes Houston so formidable, as well as his own team's identity, the approach his players have and the key difference between the NBA and college level ahead of Tuesday night's 7 p.m. MT tipoff from the Huntsman Center.

On what makes Houston so good

"I think [Houston is] well-coached. There's not a better coach in the conference [than Kelvin Sampson]. I think there's a lot for myself and us to learn from them, because they do what they do, and they're really good at it."

"And [Sampson] gets the players that fit them well. He's one of the few coaches that's won everywhere he's gone. It'll be a good challenge for our guys. I tried to warn them: this'll be the hardest-playing team that we've played against."

On Utah's resilience

"I'll give them credit; I think we've played hard for the most part, and we've never given up. We've dug ourselves holes that we've come back from. But my job every day is to help them get better, which I just told them about 10 minutes ago."

"I think we're just trying to be more consistent [and] not have those three or four minute stretches where we dig ourselves those holes."

On Terrence Brown developing an all-around game

"Terrence needs to be more aggressive. Terrence needs to have more of a well-rounded complete game. Not just scoring; he's got to do it with his defense and passing, and he's gotten better at that."

On Keanu Dawes' assertiveness

"He's a lot more assertive. I think he's getting more comfortable — not as comfortable as I'd like — and I think with TB and Don, he's like the third guy that I think that'll kind of relieve some of the pressure. It's not his nature, but we need him. He needs to for his career, and we need him to be aggressive."

On the biggest difference between coaching in the NBA vs. coaching in college

"Well, there's a lot fewer games. And in the NBA, you can sometimes get the luxury to have a bad week or two; in college, you can't. A bad week could be the difference in a lot of things."

"The interesting thing will be how college basketball evolves, when they put up more guardrails. I think it'll be easier to kind of anticipate where it's headed. So, it's interesting now because it's a combination of the G League, Europe and the NBA."