Despite All The Adversity, Utah Basketball Hopeful For Opportunity To Keep Playing
Mar 12, 2025, 1:29 PM
SALT LAKE CITY—Utah basketball lost to UCF last night, 87-72. Despite the loss, coaches and players alike hope for another opportunity to keep playing.
There are layers to pick apart this season, as a number of big-picture factors played a role in how it all unfolded.
Down the stretch, it would’ve been understandable for players to check out. Yet, they showed up and continued to compete.
After a tough loss to UCF in the Big 12 Tournament, Utah basketball has a big offseason ahead, here are the takeaways from tonight's action. https://t.co/nMYuFJtMWs
— Steve Bartle (@BartleKSLsports) March 12, 2025
Be proud of the way this group battled through adversity
In a results-driven business, the recent results did not go in Utah’s favor. It’s been a turbulent few weeks for this group of players. Their head coach, the man primarily responsible for bringing this group together, was fired. And then battled through a difficult stretch of games to finish the season.
Despite their struggle to the finish line, this group deserves a bit of credit. What these players experienced the last three weeks has been hard, even more so as the fanbase grew frustrated.
“Certainly proud of our guys in terms of how they’ve handled all the adversity in the last three weeks,” interim head coach Josh Eilert said after the game. “I told them in there how proud I am, and how excited I was every day to jump on the floor with them.”
Despite mounting external pressures, players rose above the chaos and continued to play for one another. Results are everything in sports, and though the results didn’t go in their favor down the stretch, this group played with effort each night.
“They didn’t choose me as their leader, but they didn’t skip a beat,” Eilert shared. “They continued to battle for me each and every night, and I’m very proud of their effort the last two or three weeks.”
Utah to play in the College Basketball Crown tournament?
“I think it’s a little too hard to ask that question right now, but I’m 100% all in.” Eilert said of the opportunity. “I’m excited about it, but I know players need to make decisions. I think it’d be special to have another opportunity to battle with these guys.”
The College Basketball Crown is a new 16-team men’s postseason tournament. The event will occur at the MGM and T-Mobile arenas in Las Vegas from March 31 to April 6 and air on FOX and FS1.
“There’s a chance for us to play in the FOX tournament, so if we can keep playing, I would love to keep doing that, but we’re not going to force anyone to keep playing,” senior Gabe Madsen said.
The tournament will feature schools from the Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East conferences and at-large participants. Two automatic qualifiers will be selected from each participating conference, and a select committee will choose additional teams.
“I want to go to battle with them in Vegas and string some more wins together—if we have that opportunity, they’re a special group,” Eilert shared.
Runnin’ Utes welcome 𝘼𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙣 back home as head coach.
READ MORE ➡️ https://t.co/NQsm3NNKiL#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/E1VENAnUTi
— Utah Basketball (@UtahMBB) March 6, 2025
The issues for Utah last night
Utah got off to a great start in the game. Roughly ten minutes into the action, they jumped out to a 12-point lead. They seemed to get anything they wanted at the rim and ended up with 28 points in the paint. However, Utah’s shooting outside of the painted area was abysmal.
“Congrats to UCF, they made a lot of plays, a lot of runs especially early in that second half that we couldn’t counter,” Eilert shared. “The way we shot the ball tonight—4-for-26 from three, in a lot of ways that’s our identity, and the shots just didn’t fall. Consequently, on the other end, it seemed like they were throwing it in the ocean.”
After UCF stormed back, Utah failed to respond as needed, particularly in the second half. The Knights jumpstarted the second half with a 7-2 run that forced an early timeout by Eilert, however, Utah didn’t adjust like they needed to.
“Top to bottom, I don’t think we had the sense of urgency we needed in the second half,” Eilert shared. “A couple of guys did and we got production out of it, but the runs they kept making, we just didn’t have answers for.”
Unfortunately for Utah, the Knights continued to ride the momentum and went on a 10-0 run after the timeout. Then their lead ballooned to 20 points before Utah made a run that cut it back to single digits. However, the Knights responded to that run and would cruise into the win the rest of the way.
Another factor in last night’s loss was the absence of Ezra Ausar, who could not play last night due to an injury he suffered against BYU.
“Ezra, we were monitoring the situation, he kind of got his knee buckled up in Provo,” Eilert shared. “We were monitoring him and doing all that we could 24/7, hoping to get through this first game and have him for tomorrow.”
Utah certainly missed his scoring punch, as Ausar had been the leading scorer over the last month. Utah didn’t have the options to attack the UCF defense without him.
“It certainly had an impact because he’s been playing really good basketball for us, probably our leading scorer the last five games,” Eilert said. “Not having him, the force he plays with at the rim, that hurt us.”
Keanu Dawes met the challenge
In Ausar’s absence, Keanu Dawes stepped up in a big way for Utah. His evolution this season has been special to watch. After minimal playing time to start the season, Dawes became more and more productive as the season progressed. He just has a natural knack for producing and that was as evident as it’s been all season long last night.
“KD is a special player, I’ll never forget coming into the program and questioning KD’s value,” Eilert admitted. “And he’s just continued to improve each and every day. He’s got the right mindset, he’s got the growth mindset in so many ways.”
After an early second half jumper from Mike Sharavjamts, Utah went scoreless for four minutes to start the second, as they settled for too many shots from distance. Eilert challenged the group, and one player answered the call.
“We were a little tentative around the rim, and I challenged several of these guys, including Keanu, and he turned it up,” Eiliert shared. “He’s a special player and his value keeps on skyrocketing, and I look forward to him blossoming over the next couple of years.”
When asked about his performance, Dawes didn’t hesitate, and admitted that it didn’t matter. “Yeah, I had a double-double,” Dawes said. “It definitely would’ve been up there but we didn’t win, so it doesn’t mean anything.”
UP NEXT – The College Basketball Crown Tournament?
Despite the loss, Utah might be headed for post-season play. The College Basketball Crown is a new 16-team men’s postseason tournament that will take place from March 31 to April 6 in Las Vegas and air on FOX and FS1.
The tournament will feature schools from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Big East, in addition to at-large participants. Teams that did not participate for the NCAA Tournament will be eligible for the event, with two automatic qualifiers coming from each participating conference, and additional teams chosen by a select committee.
Beyond that, the offseason is nearly upon us and there will be plenty for Alex Jensen and Utah to do. Given Craig Smith’s firing, the transfer portal is open to Utah players, however, it’s important to note that the portal doesn’t officially open nationwide until March 24.
