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The Runnin’ Utes have already set one doubtful document for futility on this injury-, illness- and suspension-filled basketball season, dropping 10 straight video games for the primary time for the reason that program started in 1908.
One other undesirable document might occur Thursday night time when the also-struggling Oregon State Beavers roll into Salt Lake Metropolis for a 7 p.m. contest that can be televised nationally by ESPNU.
The Utes (8-14, 1-11) haven't solely misplaced 10 straight video games, they've misplaced 4 straight dwelling video games, one thing that has occurred solely eight instances of their lengthy and superb historical past.
They’ve by no means misplaced 5 in a row at dwelling, be it at Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse (which opened in 1939), or the Jon M. Huntsman Heart, which opened in 1969 because the Particular Occasions Heart.
There may not be a greater alternative the rest of the season to get again within the win column for the primary time since they beat Fresno State 55-50 on Dec. 21 for the Runnin’ Utes, as Oregon State (3-16, 1-8) can also be struggling via a disappointing yr.
The Beavers have misplaced 5 straight video games, not tasting victory since beating the Utes 88-76 on Dec. 30 in Corvallis.
Utah, coming off a heartbreaking 77-73 double-overtime loss at Washington final Saturday, will stay at dwelling this Saturday and host red-hot Oregon earlier than embarking on a three-game street swing to Colorado, Stanford and California.
Are the Utes dropping hope?
Hardly, graduate switch Marco Anthony and coach Craig Smith mentioned Tuesday as they mentioned the upcoming homestand at a information convention within the basketball apply facility. It's a new month, and time for a brand new begin, they mentioned.
“I really feel just like the streak we have now been on has been that plateau. So, simply the way in which life goes. We're due for that progress spurt. I really feel like January ending is that point for us,” Anthony mentioned, referring to a e book he lately learn known as “Chop Wooden, Carry Water.”
January was simply essentially the most forgettable month in Utes basketball historical past, and never simply because they went winless. They had been blown out in some video games, misplaced on last-second pictures or in time beyond regulation in others, and performed with out key gamers equivalent to heart Branden Carlson in most of them.
“After all it has been powerful, however I really feel like when every part is all glitters and rainbows, that’s when you find yourself on the excessive street,” Anthony mentioned. “Each time you might be dropping, like we are actually, that’s when it reveals your true character. (We're) simply making an attempt to construct off that and never quitting and understanding this can be a marathon we're going via.
“Morale is excessive, and it retains us going and it retains us desirous to get higher every day so we will’t get out of this droop that we're in,” Anthony concluded.
There’s no time like the current.
Smith mentioned a evaluation Tuesday of the Dec. 30 loss at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis confirmed “we have now gotten so much higher.”
That enchancment goes to present itself within the win-loss column quickly, Smith believes.
“However all you may management is your angle and your effort,” he mentioned in response to a query about how he manages to maintain smiling in every single place he goes. “You gotta preserve teaching, and present up daily with power and enthusiasm and hopefully encourage your guys, whether or not it's the teaching workers, or your assist personnel, or the fellows in your program, to maintain aspiring to be the very best we will be as a group, on a person foundation, to continue to grow and creating.”
Smith skilled some dropping streaks and tough seasons when he was an assistant underneath Tim Miles at Colorado State and Nebraska, however as a head coach at Mayville State, South Dakota and Utah State he’s by no means had a dropping season.
“That is actually the toughest stretch (he’s had) as a head coach,” he mentioned. “…So we will sit right here and mope round and sulk and pout and really feel sorry for ourselves, however that doesn’t do something. … And so that you gotta be your greatest daily.”
It seems the Utes can be shorthanded inside once more Thursday night time; Smith mentioned on his coaches present on KALL 700 on Monday night time and reiterated Tuesday that nothing had modified with regard to backup heart Dusan Mahorcic, suspended “indefinitely” previous to final Saturday’s recreation at Washington for a violation of group guidelines.
“I'm going to stay with the quote (from the information launch), and we'll see what occurs from there,” he mentioned Tuesday when requested if Mahorcic will play once more this season.
Smith made a reference to current occasions galvanizing the group throughout his radio present, however when requested to expound on that Tuesday, he demurred. He did say the group “felt totally different” vs. the Huskies.
“We simply had a steely sort of look to us,” he mentioned. “You recognize what I imply? We had a gritty look to us. Our chemistry was huge time. You may simply really feel the unity throughout the group. That’s simply what it felt like. I received’t go any additional than that.”
Additionally Tuesday, the Utes introduced that they'll play within the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida (Suncoast Credit score Union Enviornment) on the campus of SouthWestern State Faculty.
The match is Nov. 21-23, 2022, and also will function Georgia Tech, Marquette and Mississippi State within the Seashore Division. Matchups, recreation instances and broadcast plans can be introduced later.
“I imply, we're going to have a unique group subsequent yr in a whole lot of respects, I feel,” Smith mentioned. “And so I feel it's nice to get on the market immediately and see the place you might be at, comparatively early within the season.”